At my oldest son's virtual school, they asked parents to volunteer and do 'virtual field trips' for the kids. As an Entomologist (the study of insects), I jumped at the opportunity to join their Zoom class one afternoon and talk with the kids for 30 mins. I told the kids that...

almost all of the ants you see are female! True story for bees as well!

Then a kid did the hand raise thing on Zoom and asked a question. "How do you know that they're all girl ants?"

That's a great question!

Here's the scientific process... You get a bug bucket and fill it with room temperature tap water. You carefully get an ant on a 5mm wooden dowel (stick) and lower the dowel into the water. The ant will instinctively separate from the dowel to take advantage of the waters surface tension. If the ant sinks, it's a girl ant. If it floats...

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📅︎ Sep 13 2022
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