As a child, did you burn ants? If so, why? I'd like to know what age you did it, and if you still do it.
I burned more than a few ants with a magnifying glass when I was a kid, however I have since repented, and now just ignore them...or step on them.
Since you're going to discuss Ant torture you might as well include a hint of Pixar's "Ant Bully", from what very small piece of information I read it's all about a boy who was cruel to ants and well... lets just say he ends up getting a taste of his own medicine like all Bad Bully's should. I think most people will mess with ants, It's in our primative nature to mess with them, however we no longer see it appetising to prod sticks down their mounds and then lick the ants off the stick for nutrition, so we have to find something else to do with them. although some people do eat chocolate coated ants still.
This is a good question with no easy answer. We also used to catch bugs and throw them into spider's webs to watch the spider in action. Then there was always the fun of swatting flies out of mid air (still do that from time to time) and unceremoniously removing their wings too.
I see I have had a very protected childhood. The only bug torture I indulged in was catching dragonflies, tying them to a string and "walking" them around while they flew.
I've killed quite a few ants. The one time I burned them was with white gas poured all over a meat ant mound. The rolling flame wave wiped them all out, then we plugged their hole with gum and pitched the tent. No sense in having meat ants crawling all over us. Lots of trying to get them to release different phermones though. Put some sugar out, smash a few, scare a few, wait for others to arrive, etc. Also, throwing a log full of termites on top of an ant mound is awesome.
i fed mine about once a week. it was pretty slick how it would strike and squeeze it's prey untill it was dead. it always managed to swallow it's food from the head first. i fed mine mice with the occasional frog.
And I only did it for a short while, made sure the knot was easy to remove. I'm sure all of them were traumatised, but none of them died. And I was little, maybe eight, but I still feel bad about it.
So you left a cultural legacy of torture to propagate throughout some species of Anisoptera? At least we put an end to thier suffering right off. How cruel you are.
They always come in droves during the monsoon. They have translucent wings and iridescent bodies. I love the sound they make with their wings. So beautiful.
i remember doing something similar to a bunch of yellowjackets. i was mowing my grass when i ran over their mound, needless to say i was stung about 12-15 times before i could get away from them. later that nigh i hit on the gasoline idea. i went out there about midnight with about a pint of gas, upturned the can on their hill and lit it off. afew of them tried to fly out but their wings were burned off in the process. after the gas burned itself out i dug down about a foot or so to get the rest.
