made this NSFW so as not to trigger arachnophobic comrades. Where my fellow arachnist anarchists at? This little guy is the spinybacked orb weaver. Probably my favorite species of spider. Funny thing I dont like insects but spiders are awesome.
made this NSFW so as not to trigger arachnophobic comrades. Where my fellow arachnist anarchists at? This little guy is the spinybacked orb weaver. Probably my favorite species of spider. Funny thing I dont like insects but spiders are awesome.
Speaking of ant or bee queens, or of termite kings and queens, is human projection. The organizational structure of eusocial insects is decentralized and free of hierarchies. Seeing a well-ordered line of worker ants makes us think of steep military hierarchies, but ants do not need generals to form a line. They do that independent from any central authority. Each individual operates guided by chemical clues placed by their fellow hive members. This is known as stigmergy ("work by / through signs"). You find a food source, you place a marker and other workers will carry food home to the anthill until the source is depleted. You see that the hive needs to be extended, you place a marker and everybody passing by will help building until it's done. This is how a tiny termite, literally a squishier, smaller kind of cockroach, an incredibly irrelevant seeming creature when viewed individually, can become a force reshaping its entire environment by turning dead wood into giant termite hills. By working together in a collective that is integrated so deeply that scientists call it a superorganism.