Here is a poem I wrote long ago when I was on my kick of just picking something and seeing if I could write a poem full of facts. I don't believe I have posted it in The Hive before, but I don't know how to check without going back through all my posts. That's getting to be too many to go back through. The poem is called "Fire Ants".
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Genus Solenopsis there are 280 different kinds.
They sting like fire and they’re redder than wine.
Aggressive and will harm you with repeated stings.
A quarter of a million of them on you could cling.
They build nests behind things or into the ground.
The nest can be high as 18 cm and 61 cm around.
Not aggressive by nature until it’s time to eat.
Then even a small animal could meet its defeat.
They bite just to hang on and pull out of their gut.
An alkaloid venom strong enough to kick your butt.
Usually just some bad pain and then it will subside.
Unless allergic, then in a hospital you should reside.
They eliminate other insects that are competition.
Even to the point of causing their extinction.
They don’t hibernate so they are active all the year.
Except for man and phorid flies, they’ve nothing to fear.
Phorid flies don’t kill it, just lay eggs on its chest.
The larvae go into their head and has a big fest.
They have males, soldiers, workers and the Queen.
All working in unison, they’re a well-oiled machine.
Queens live for 7 years and lays 1600 eggs in a day.
Dead males, ex-virgin wings the Queen tears away.
Fire ants can be more aggressive than you’ve ever seen.
They will do whatever it takes to protect their Queen.
Photo: Pixabay - Artist: vhasanagic
Howdy y’all. It’s me, ninong7 aka UJ aka John. Just a short intro about myself. I am a Texan that has retired in the Philippines. I moved to the Philippines with my wife back in May 2010. I am retired from the US Air Force. The music I like is mostly Classic Country and Classic Rock. I guess you could say that I am “Classic”. I play dominoes when I can find someone that will play, I play chess, cribbage, spades, hearts, Empire Builder, Rail Baron, Acquire and a few other games. I like to write poems and stories (although pretty novice) and I love learning about history, just about any history. I’m at home on my computer a lot but if I could afford to, I’d be traveling and documenting my travels to post in my blog. I hope to get to know a lot of you through PeakD and Discord.Bold