Hello ,

Have you ever stopped for a moment to consider the importance of the environment for life? At the most basic level, the significance of Temperature and Humidity?

I have been keeping a close eye on the ant colonies I keep as we're approaching spring. The foraging, feeding, and nest activity have increased significantly. The workers are foraging almost constantly now, and the queens have all started to lay eggs again. The ants are depleting more of the food I give to them, and the number of eggs in the nests are exploding! The winter diapause pupae started to emerge, leading to a surge in colony numbers.

All the changes in their behaviour can almost solely be linked to the increasing temperatures and humidity. The changes are subtle, but to the ants, they are signalling the start of a new season, and with that, they are expecting an increase in food availability.

It is unbelievable to think that a temperature increase of only a few degrees Celsius and a slightly higher relative humidity takes these ants from winter diapause to spring activity.

The question now is what would happen to these ants if global warming leads to an increased average daily temperature of 1 or maybe 2 degrees Celsius? Would they ever go into diapause? Will they be able to survive the extreme summer temperatures? I'm afraid, by the time we have enough data for conclusive answers, it might be too late for many species.

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I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. - John 10:10