Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their geniculate (elbowed) antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists.
Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen individuals often living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies that may occupy large territories with sizeable nest that consist of millions of individuals or into the hundreds of millions in super colonies. Typical colonies consist of various castes of sterile, wingless females, most of which are workers (ergates), as well as soldiers (dinergates) and other specialised groups. Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called "drones" and one or more fertile females called "queens" (gynes). The colonies are described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony.
Ants have colonised almost every landmass on Earth. The only places lacking indigenous ants are Antarctica and a few remote or inhospitable islands. Ants thrive in moist tropical ecosystems and may exceed the combined biomass of wild birds and mammals. Their success in so many environments has been attributed to their social organisation and their ability to modify habitats, tap resources, and defend themselves. Their long co-evolution with other species has led to mimetic, commensal, parasitic, and mutualistic relationships.
Ant societies have division of labour, communication between individuals, and an ability to solve complex problems. These parallels with human societies have long been an inspiration and subject of study. Many human cultures make use of ants in cuisine, medication, and rites. Some species are valued in their role as biological pest control agents. Their ability to exploit resources may bring ants into conflict with humans, however, as they can damage crops and invade buildings. Some species, such as the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) of South America, are regarded as invasive species in other parts of the world, establishing themselves in areas where they have been introduced accidentally.
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Non-native ants are breaking down biogeographic boundaries and homogenizing community assemblages
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How 16th Century Trade Made Fire Ants an Early Global Invader
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I'm going to be a complete shill for 8BitDo here and sing the endless praises of the Pro 2 controller. As a usually-switch sometimes-emulators-on-a-Linux-laptop gamer I have never been so happy with a gamepad. This design wasn't slapped together ad-hoc. Everything about it feels and handles wonderfully, this was very well thought-out. I got it on a whim as a replacement for a thumbstick-drifting official switch pro controller. I just wanted something reasonably comfortable with Hall effect thumbsticks that wasn't too expensive. I wasn't expecting to get the best controller I've ever used.
Oh, and ABXY buttons are in the proper place with the proper labels, SNES style. Not those weird-ass reversed Xbox labels, or the Playstation labels intended for toddlers who haven't yet learned their local alphabet.
And you can even change the battery! Official replacements are USD$6. Slide battery cover off, swap battery, put battery cover back on. It's such a wonderful novelty nowadays to swap batteries on a gadget as easily as I used to on my walkman. Update, it turns out that not only is the official battery replaceable, but you can also use two regular AA batteries instead.
That thing basically looks like if someone mushed a Playstation 5 Pro pad and a SNES pad together. Wii Classic Controller Pro with Dualshock characteristics. My wife showed me this ages ago, and while our current combo of 8bitdo M30 and Series X pad works well, I wonder if the Pro 2 would do both jobs as well. Kinda banger lookin pad.
Basically, yeah. Literally the only thing I don't like about it is that it can't wake up a sleeping Switch.
The button remapping software on Android is actually pretty good. No stupid account creation required. I especially like that the paddle buttons (which don't exist on official Switch controllers) can be remapped to do fun things like activate turbo on an ad-hoc basis for any other button. Hold the button to be made turbo, press the turbo button (mapped to a paddle button), and voila, that button is now a turbo button. Same step to un-make it turbo. Or you can set them up as macros.
I got the "Classic" colour scheme, meant to evoke the colours of the original Game Boy. They even duplicated the look and texture of the D-pad. Now that's attention to detail. This stock photo's white balance is off a bit I think, the ABXY buttons are much more vivid.
That Gameboy pad looks fuckin awesome. The paddles are a big selling feature for me, good to hear you can do fun stuff with em.
pro 2 is great, use it for both emulation and switch, works really well