cardsweek5

Audience Participation Cards

Question and comment cards are available for visitors to fill out. The cards are posted on the wall and jANeT, the Nurturing Specialist types in the answers each day. Some fifty cards were received during the first week of the exhibit. Visitors of all ages are responding to the cards.

selected cards from week five - 28 February - 3 March 2000

Your Question:

Why are ants so small?

jANeT's Answer:

It is basically a physics thing. Ants have an exoskeleton on the outside of their body. This limits how big they can grow. It can also only support so much weight from the inside.

Your Question:

What keeps the ants so harmonious and cooperative?

jANeT's Answer:

Basically it is just a stew of chemicals in the colony. All of these help keep everything in order and letting them know what to do.

Your Question:

How many babies do ants have at one time? Thank you.

jANeT's Answer:

The queen ant lays one egg at a time. All the eggs grow up at the same time, so at one time there might be lots of 'ant babies' in the nest. Look in the boxes for the whit 'grub-like' things - these are eggs, larvae and maybe pupae.

Your Question:

Was your childhood interest in ants influenced by the fact that the word"ANT" was embedded in your name? Was your name feature one of the job specification so for your current employment? I guess I would qualify to work with hens and oxen and poor Carol would be limited to dealing with cars!!

jANeT's Answer:

No, I never actually noticed the 'ant' in my name until my boss showed me. The name coincidence was a big perk. I am counting on my last name to add some diversity to my like though.

Your Question:

1-Do ants have a pupa stage! 2- If so how can it be distinguished? 3 - In the "hilly: exhibit, what is the source of heat on the (plastic?) strips that seem to emerge from below and come up and over the 2 rock boxes on the 8-ball side? 4-Do any of the rock boxes serve a purpose beyond being decorative pedestals?

jANeT's Answer:

1-Yes. 2-It is white and looks like an ant that is curled in a ball. Just before it emerges, it will darken and the eyes become dark. 3-They are heat tapes. Designed for reptile cages. 4-The rock boxes provide visual interest and are a pedestal for the other boxes of the colony.

Your Question:

When our entomology club went out to find ants in late February we didn't find any ants, why?

jANeT's Answer:

During the winter months ants usually hang out underground and don't forage. The temperature above ground is too cold for them to move around. Also there isn't any food around in the dead of winter. They have started moving around in the last week or so as the temperatures warm up and more insects are around to eat.

Your Question:

Why do ants bite?

jANeT's Answer:

Ants bite to carry their food. They bite other things that hurt them or threaten their nest. It is how they protect themselves. Some ants can also sting - just another way of protecting themselves from something that is bothering them or threatening their food.

Your Question:

Have you read the novel Dust? It is about the death of all the insects and what devastation follows.

jANeT's Answer:

No. I look forward to reading it. Maybe that would be a good book to read next week when I am no longer taking care of the ants here at the gallery.

Your Question:

While you were working you were saying something. Way were you saying? (The kids thought it was changing(?))

jANeT's Answer:

I talk to the ants about how they are doing. I ask them questions about their emotional health and how they are getting along. Betty, an ant that I am worried about has to be checked on each day. She keeps getting lost. Other parts of the conversations are private - - just between the ants and me. I whistle while I clean.

Your Question:

Does the color pink have calming effect on the ants?

jANeT's Answer:

Maybe. They basically behave the same way - even if I come into the gallery in my civilian clothes. Mostly people's breathe and vibrations on the tables is disruptive. They may get used to my voice, but I don't know.

Your Question:

How do you know if an ant is a boy or a girl?

jANeT's Answer:

Boy ants have wings and are bigger than the worker ants. They have very small heads. The girl ants are all the worker ants and the queens. The worker ants are all the ones doing the foraging and the most numerous in the colonies here. The queen is much bigger than the worker ants and usually has a large abdomen too.

Comments and observations:

I perceive jANeT to be much like a worker ant - not allowing herself to be distracted while fulfilling her required role to benefit the colony. But jANeT doesn't interact at all with anyone and doesn't ask for assistance. Even the ants get help from their sisters - don't they?

Week 1	Q&A
Week 2	Q&A and Comments
Week 3	Q&A
Week 4	Q&A