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| A bug’s life: Hardy ants construct tragic but ‘unique’ colony in Soviet-era bunker | A bug’s life: Hardy ants construct tragic but ‘unique’ colony in Soviet-era bunker |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| Scientists have unearthed an unusual ant colony that manages to survive despite living in the nightmarish conditions of a decrepit nuclear bunker and having no obvious sustainable source of nutrition. | Scientists have unearthed an unusual ant colony that manages to survive despite living in the nightmarish conditions of a decrepit nuclear bunker and having no obvious sustainable source of nutrition. |
| The wood ant collective has intrigued researchers who found the insects in an underground fortress in Templewo, Poland, used to store Soviet weapons up until the early 90s. | The wood ant collective has intrigued researchers who found the insects in an underground fortress in Templewo, Poland, used to store Soviet weapons up until the early 90s. |
| The two-storey bunker is not the most hospitable of places, even for an insect, according to a new study of the colony. | The two-storey bunker is not the most hospitable of places, even for an insect, according to a new study of the colony. |
| Led by Polish Academy of Sciences researcher Wojciech Czechowski, the study reveals how the colony has staved off extinction in seemingly impossible conditions, after nesting above a rusted ventilation shaft leading into the building. | Led by Polish Academy of Sciences researcher Wojciech Czechowski, the study reveals how the colony has staved off extinction in seemingly impossible conditions, after nesting above a rusted ventilation shaft leading into the building. |
| Having fallen into the manmade abyss the ants have no access to the outside world, save for a few hibernating bats and a smattering of soil. | Having fallen into the manmade abyss the ants have no access to the outside world, save for a few hibernating bats and a smattering of soil. |
| However, their ‘imprisonment’ in a limewashed concrete cellar did not spell the end for the creatures and the colony has managed to live on despite harsh conditions and total darkness. | However, their ‘imprisonment’ in a limewashed concrete cellar did not spell the end for the creatures and the colony has managed to live on despite harsh conditions and total darkness. |
| The authors of the Journal of Hymenoptera Research paper are astonished at how the insects have kept up “basic activities of nest maintenance” in a landscape completely at odds with survival. | The authors of the Journal of Hymenoptera Research paper are astonished at how the insects have kept up “basic activities of nest maintenance” in a landscape completely at odds with survival. |
| The colony’s numbers are also apparently replenished every year by misfortune: other ants falling from higher ground into the Soviet bunker crevasse. | The colony’s numbers are also apparently replenished every year by misfortune: other ants falling from higher ground into the Soviet bunker crevasse. |
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| “Through the years the mortality has been more than compensated by new workers that fall down during the active season of the free-living colony outside, and at present the number of the bunker workers is counted in hundreds of thousands,” the study states. | “Through the years the mortality has been more than compensated by new workers that fall down during the active season of the free-living colony outside, and at present the number of the bunker workers is counted in hundreds of thousands,” the study states. |
| “The ‘colony’ has evidently produced no offspring, which is due to low (though relatively stable) temperatures and scanty food in the bunker.” | |
| READ MORE: 'We're popularizing insect-eating': Japanese uni crowdfunds cricket farming tech | READ MORE: 'We're popularizing insect-eating': Japanese uni crowdfunds cricket farming tech |
| Discovered in 2013, scientists have found nearly one million worker ants but no queen, or cocoons, both key elements in reproduction. Large ‘cemeteries’ containing evidence of almost 2 million dead ants were also found. | Discovered in 2013, scientists have found nearly one million worker ants but no queen, or cocoons, both key elements in reproduction. Large ‘cemeteries’ containing evidence of almost 2 million dead ants were also found. |
| The study concludes the functioning colony is an example of the insects’ endurance: “Although superficially looking like a functioning colony with workers teeming on the surface of the mound – [the colony] is rather an example of survival of a large amount of workers trapped within a hostile environment in total darkness, with constantly low temperatures and no ample supply of food.” | The study concludes the functioning colony is an example of the insects’ endurance: “Although superficially looking like a functioning colony with workers teeming on the surface of the mound – [the colony] is rather an example of survival of a large amount of workers trapped within a hostile environment in total darkness, with constantly low temperatures and no ample supply of food.” |
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