ant |
bottle |
top 10 words in brain distribution (in article): engine cell energy gas produce type form speed species air |
top 10 words in brain distribution (in article): design time line allow produce size water require device provide |
top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article): vehicle fuel wheel car power gear design aircraft wear passenger |
top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article): animal species power breed cat wolf hunt common switch dog |
times more probable under ant 30 20 10 6 4 2.5 1.25 1 1.25 2.5 4 6 10 20 30 times more probable under bottle (words not in the model) | |
A phylogeny of the extant ant subfamilies. "'Ants'" are social insects of the family "'Formicidae'", and along with the related wasps and bees, they belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. Today, more than 12,000 species are classified with upper estimates of about 14,000 species. They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and a distinctive node-like structure that forms a slender waist. Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen predatory individuals living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies which may occupy large territories and consist of millions of individuals. These larger colonies consist mostly of sterile wingless females forming castes of "workers", "soldiers", or other specialised groups. Ant colonies also have some fertile males called "drones" and one or more fertile females called "queens". The colonies are sometimes described as superorganisms because ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony. Ants have colonised almost every landmass on Earth. The only places lacking indigenous ants are Antarctica and certain remote or inhospitable islands. Ants thrive in most ecosystems, and may form 15–25% of the terrestrial animal biomass. Their success has been attributed to their social organisation and their ability to modify habitats, tap resources, and defend themselves. Their long co-evolution with other species has led to mimetic, commensal, parasitic, and mutualistic relationships. Ant societies have division of labour, communication between individuals, and an ability to solve complex problems. These parallels with human societies have long been an inspiration and subject of study. Many human cultures make use of ants in cuisine, medication and rituals. Some species are valued in their role as biological pest control agents. However, their ability to exploit resources brings ants into conflict with humans, as they can damage crops and invade buildings. Some species, such as the red imported fire ant, are regarded as invasive species, since they have establish themselves in new areas where they may be accidentally introduced. Taxonomy and evolution. The family Formicidae belongs to the order Hymenoptera, which also includes sawflies, bees and wasps. Ants evolved from a lineage within the vespoid wasps. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that ants arose in the mid-Cretaceous period about 110 to 130 million years ago. After the rise of flowering plants about 100 million years ago they diversified and assumed ecological dominance around 60 million years ago. In 1966, E. O. Wilson and his colleagues identified the fossil remains of an ant ("Sphecomyrma freyi") that lived in the Cretaceous period. The specimen, trapped in amber dating back to more than 80 million years ago, has features of both ants and wasps. "Sphecomyrma" was probably a ground forager but some suggest on the basis of groups such as the Leptanillinae and Martialinae that primitive ants were likely to have been predators under the soil surface. During the Cretaceous period, only a few species of primitive ants ranged widely on the Laurasian super-continent (the northern hemisphere). They were scarce in comparison to other insects, representing about 1% of the insect population. Ants became dominant after adaptive radiation at the beginning of the Tertiary period. By the Oligocene and Miocene ants had come to represent 20–40% of all insects found in major fossil deposits. Of the species that lived in the Eocene epoch, approximately one in ten genera survive to the present. Genera surviving today comprise 56% of the genera in Baltic amber fossils (early Oligocene), and 92% of the genera in Dominican amber fossils (apparently early Miocene). Termites, though sometimes called "white ants", are not ants and belong to the order Isoptera. The termites are actually more closely related to cockroaches and mantids. The fact that ants and termites are both eusocial came about by Convergent evolution. Velvet ants look like large ants, but are wingless female wasps. Etymology. The word "ant" is derived from "ante" of Middle English which is derived from "æmette" and "emmett" of Old English and is related to the Old High German "āmeiza" from which comes "Ameise", the German word for ant. The family name "Formicidae" is derived from the Latin "formīca" ("ant") from which derived Portuguese "formiga", Spanish "hormiga", Romanian "furnică", French "fourmi", etc. Distribution and diversity. Ants are found on all continents except Antarctica and only a few large islands such as Greenland, Iceland, parts of Polynesia and the Hawaiian Islands lack native ant species. Ants occupy a wide range of ecological niches, and are able to exploit a wide range of food resources either as direct or indirect herbivores, predators and scavengers. Most species are omnivorous generalists but a few are specialist feeders. Their ecological dominance may be measured by their biomass, and estimates in different environments suggest | A bottle'" is a container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth." Bottles are often made of glass, clay, plastic or other impervious materials, and typically used to store liquids such as water, milk, soft drinks, beer, wine, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, ink and chemicals. A device applied in the bottling line to seal the mouth of a bottle is termed a bottle cap (external), or stopper (internal). A bottle can also be sealed using induction sealing. The bottle has developed over millennia of use, with some of the earliest examples appearing in China, Phoenicia, Rome and Crete. The Chinese used bottles to store liquids. In modern times for some bottles a legally mandated deposit is paid, which is refunded after returning the bottle to the retailer. For other glass bottles there is often separate garbage collection for recycling. History. Since prehistoric times, bottle containers were created from clay or asphaltum sealed woven containers. Early glass bottles were produced by the Phoenicians; specimens of Phoenician translucent and transparent glass bottles have been found in Cyprus and Rhodes generally varying in length from three to six inches. These Phoenician examples from the first millennium BC were thought to have been used for perfume. The Romans For wine. The glass bottle was an important development in the history of wine, because, when combined with a high-quality stopper such as a cork, it allowed long-term aging of wine. Glass has all the qualities required for long-term storage. It eventually gave rise to "château bottling", the practice where an estate's wine is put in bottle at the source, rather than by a merchant. Prior to this, wine would be sold by the barrel (and before that, the amphora) and put into bottles only at the merchant's shop, if at all. This left a large and often abused opportunity for fraud and adulteration, as the consumer had to trust the merchant as to the contents. It is thought that most wine consumed outside of wine-producing regions had been tampered with in some way. Also, not all merchants were careful to avoid oxidation or contamination while bottling, leading to large bottle variation. Particularly in the case of port, certain conscientious merchants' bottling of old ports fetch higher prices even today. To avoid these problems, most fine wine is bottled at the place of production (including all port, since 1974). There are many sizes and shapes of bottles used for wine. Some of the known shapes: Codd-neck bottles==. In 1872, British soft drink maker Hiram Codd of Camberwell, south east London, designed and patented a bottle designed specifically for carbonated drinks. The "'Codd-neck bottle'", as it was called, was designed and manufactured to enclose a marble and a rubber gasket in the neck. The bottles were filled upside down, and pressure of the gas in the bottle forced the marble against the washer, sealing in the carbonation. The bottle was pinched into a special shape, as can be seen in the photo to the right, to provide a chamber into which the marble was pushed to open the bottle. This prevented the marble from blocking the neck as the drink was poured Soon after its introduction, the bottle became extremely popular with the soft drink and brewing industries mainly in Europe, Asia and Australasia, though some alcohol drinkers disdained the use of the bottle. One etymology of the term "codswallop" originates from beer sold in Codd bottles. The bottles were regularly produced for many decades, but gradually declined in usage. Since children smashed the bottles to retrieve the marbles, they are relatively rare and have become collector items; particularly in the UK. A cobalt coloured Codd bottle today fetches thousands of British pounds at auction. The Codd-neck design is still used for the Japanese soft drink Ramune and in the Indian drink called Banta. Plastic bottles. Plastic bottles (e.g. two-liter) used for soft drinks can withstand typical internal carbonation pressures of 2–4 bar (30–60 psi.), because the plastic is strain oriented in the stretch blow molding manufacturing process. Aluminum bottles. The aluminum beverage bottle, launched in 2002, also known as a bottlecan, is made of recyclable aluminum with a resealable lug cap that fits onto a plastic sleeve. Some studies have concluded that aluminum provides for increased insulation keeping beverages cooler longer than glass. Capsules. Some jars and bottles have a metal cap or cover called a capsule. They were historically made of lead, and protected the cork from being gnawed away by rodents or infested with cork weevil. Because of research showing that trace amounts of lead could remain on the lip of the bottle, lead capsules (lead foil bottleneck wrappings) were slowly phased out, and by the 1990s most capsules were made of aluminum foil or plastic. |