I think it's only bees and wasps that build hexagons. Even then, they have hexagonal cells for storing honey, larvae, chutney etc., but the nests themselves aren't hexagonal.
I presume like most (all?) things in nature - bees take the least wasteful option - since cells constructed from Hexagons do not leave any gaps or waste any material that could be better used elsewhere.
They're rounded, but basically hexagonal. Why? Because hexagons are the optimal way to build a cell structure (minimum material use for equally-sized cells) and evolution is an optimization system.
w/ all our new technology and stuff, i'd *really* like to create tiny lego bricks and see what ants could do w/ them. they can build stonking nests w/ pine needles etc, i wonder what they'd be capable of w/ decent building materials.
w/ all our new technology and stuff, i'd *really* like to create tiny lego bricks and see what ants could do w/ them. they can build stonking nests w/ pine needles etc, i wonder what they'd be capable of w/ decent building materials.
Not much, but if you came back after half a million years…
w/ all our new technology and stuff, i'd *really* like to create tiny lego bricks and see what ants could do w/ them. they can build stonking nests w/ pine needles etc, i wonder what they'd be capable of w/ decent building materials.
I just grabbed the image from a google search, the emulator seems to be this one: http://k1.dyndns.org/
A speccy emulator for Macs!
I've got a cool free one for my Windows pc at home, i can find out what it's called later on this evening if you like, i do remember that there was one you had to pay for - spectaculator i think it was called, it's not that one, i'm too much of a cheapskate
i think ants would take less than half a million years. they're pretty clever. be interesting to watch them anyways, we've got loads outside the house, they're fascinating. bit annoying/amusing too mind - i was going about filling sand in the gaps of the block paving, and in one place an ant wandered over and started taking the sand back out!
...we've got loads outside the house, they're fascinating. bit annoying/amusing too mind - i was going about filling sand in the gaps of the block paving, and in one place an ant wandered over and started taking the sand back out!
...which is why you will end up with having loads inside the house! (I do, believe me; ants of all types, colours and sizes. The good thing is, of course, that they somehow keep the cockroaches under control. The bad thing being that, if there are no cockroaches around, they turn to anything remotely edible left in the kitchen...
Hmmm, I wonder what that reminds me of? Perhaps I should try to send my kitchen for a little sun-dive... )
actually, we've only ever had ONE ant inside! i think they're simply happy where they are, they've never made any excursions inside. i have noticed a distinct reduction in the number of spiders we've had in the house tho. i dunno if the ants foraging paths around and about have set up a DMZ around the house (yeah, they're all around, in the back garden too - not even had any in the garage tho, oddly) that other bugs keep away from : seen them scrapping on the path w/ other insects, they're certainly enthusiastic about defending their territory!
)