Are human beings evolving into honeypots?
Saturday, June 28th, 2008I’m learning a lot about honeypot ants. They are incredible little creatures. Also known as repletes or storage ants, certain members of these ant colonies serve as living storage jars for the nectar gathered by the other workers. Their abdomens extend many times bigger than the ant originally was, such that each of these living vessels looks like an ant with a grape stuck on its butt.
As I learned from reading an article called “Sweet Dreams,” in the April, 2008 issue of Natural History Magazine, repletes “hang from ceilings of domed chambers in the underground nest.” The other worker ants fill up the repletes with nutrients. The repletes get so large that they are forever trapped inside the nest, hanging from the ceiling. What purpose do repletes serve? “During time of scarcity, repletes regurgitate nectar to colony members, an especially valuable asset in arid environments.”
My question, then, relates to the dramatic onslaught of obesity in humans. If viewed traditionally, obesity is life-shortening and often deadly. In fact, it’s senseless. What if it’s not senseless, though? What if the many huge people among us are sacrificing themselves for the well-being of those of us who are not huge? What if the numerous humans who are obese are actually storing up nutrients to aid the rest of us in times of scarcity?
I know that this theory of human evolution might strike some as absurd and, indeed, it is (and I do speak as a former fatty). Yet this is the image I had while reading about honeypot ants.
This post was written by Erich Vieth
