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TIL an ant mega-colony exists across 3 continents and is thought to contain billions of ants, all of which recognise each other to be from the same colony. The largest part of the colony is in Europe (news.bbc.co.uk)

submitted 1 year ago by Madbrad200@lemmy.world to c/todayilearned@lemmy.ml

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[–] SmokeInFog@midwest.social 11 points 1 year ago

Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same inter-related colony, and will refuse to fight one another.

The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.

What's more, people are unwittingly helping the mega-colony stick together.

Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica.

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