The text discusses unique professions in the animal kingdom, starting with honey ants that store food for their colonies by consuming and storing simple sugars. These ants are considered a delicacy and have been consumed by Australian Aborigines for centuries. The text also talks about beavers, which create healthy river environments and protect water and biodiversity, but are often in conflict with farmers due to their dam-building activities. Additionally, the text mentions goats that are used to prevent forest fires by creating fire barriers through their grazing activities.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. About 75,000 years ago, the first people found themselves on the territory of modern Australia.
2. The harsh conditions of Australia accelerated the progress of the Aboriginal people.
3. Aboriginal people invented medicine, weapons, and other essential tools.
4. Ants have been doing similar things in the animal world, with no strange or unnecessary professions.
5. The largest ants are marauders and serve as buses for smaller ants, delivering them to the battlefield.
6. Honey ants work towards storing food for the entire colony.
7. Honey ants were first described at the end of the 19th century, but scientists still have not fully understood them.
8. Honey ants are found in several genera at once, and their peculiarity is to store food for the entire colony.
9. Future storekeepers are raised since childhood and accustomed to a large amount of food.
10. If a colony loses all its living storehouses, ordinary workers can become honey ants within a couple of weeks.
11. Honey ants cannot move around for most of their life and spend time underground.
12. When a colony needs food, a worker ant approaches a honey ant and strokes it on the antennae, causing it to spew out a little of the nutrient liquid stored inside.
13. The liquid stored inside honey ants consists of simple sugars like plant nectar and aphid secretions.
14. The liquid is collected by worker ants and fed to the honey ants until they swell to the size of grapes.
15. Some honey ants can be more than a centimeter long and weigh almost a gram.
16. Honey ants have been considered a delicacy and have been eaten by humans, with some describing their taste as sweetish, pleasantly bitter, or sweet and sour.
17. Australian Aboriginal people used honey ants as a source of sugar and other useful substances.
18. Beavers create a healthy river environment for other creatures and protect water, preserving biodiversity.
19. Beavers can help fight drought, forest fires, and climate change.
20. Beaver dams can block rivers, causing floods that can destroy huge areas used for crops or livestock.
21. The US forestry industry suffered over $22 million in damage in one year due to flooding caused by beavers.
22. Beavers can help stop deserts by building dams on rare rivers, changing the landscape and improving water quality.
23. Goats and sheep can help stop fires by creating fire barriers by grazing on low-lying plants.
24. Goats can move over rough terrain without getting stuck and can help prevent the spread of fire or slow it down.
25. In areas cleared by goats, flames from forest fires can fall from 4.5 meters to less than 1 meter in height.