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Chapter 125 [Formic Acid]

Chen Ruolan was very determined, and the brows that had been tightly locked just now slowly relaxed, because she had clearly seen that these little guys on the ground were all opening their small "big mouths", and they were devouring the silver bar vigorously, as if they were eating some delicious meal. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Although their movements are very subtle, and many ants may not even seem motionless at first glance, if you look carefully for a while, you can see that they are indeed eating the silver bar.

This scene is rare and interesting, everyone was a little surprised for a while, although they have all seen ants eat food, but ants eat silver, today is the first time to see it.

"What the hell......" Wu Dakui rubbed his eyes vigorously, a little incredulous, but the scene in front of him was already very clear.

Although he didn't want to believe it, how could such a thing be faked in front of everyone's eyes?

Looking at these little guys, Gao Ji was also interested, bent over to look at it, and discussed a few words with Gao Xueling next to him from time to time. He heard Wu Dakui muttering something in a low voice again, and couldn't help but raise his head and ask: "Wu Huyuan, you just shouted so loudly, it is impossible to say anything, now what?" ”

Wu Dakui glanced at Li Qingshan, who was squatting over there, smiled awkwardly, and then responded: "My lord, it seems that what Lord Li said seems to be ...... It should be true, just ...... It was arbitrary just now! ”

Although he was extremely unconvinced, and he didn't want to admit defeat in front of Gao Xueling, the facts were in front of him. But he had to obey.

The black lines on the ground slowly thickened. More and more ants are coming. There are also some who seem to have eaten enough and turn back along the original route.

Although they have come and gone, the team is not chaotic at all, like a well-organized army.

Gao Ji smiled and watched for a while, and suddenly patted his head, as if he remembered something important, and turned around and re-entered the stone vault.

Everyone was a little puzzled, but fortunately, Gao Ji came out in a hurry. Compared with just now, there was an extra golden bracelet in his hand at this time.

"Ling'er, where was the jade just now?"

"Here." Gao Xueling was a little puzzled, took the jade from the maid's hand and handed it to Gao Ji, not knowing what he wanted to do.

I saw Gao Ji holding a gold bracelet in his left hand and a jade in his right hand, squatting down and gently placing it in the ant pile.

Seeing this, Gao Xueling also guessed his purpose, and hurriedly opened his eyes to look at the ants on the ground.

But the ants turned a blind eye to the gold bracelets and jade. Just treat them as ordinary obstacles and climb directly over them. Didn't make any stops.

At this moment, it seems that they only have the silver bar, what gold bracelet, what jade, to humans is much more valuable than silver, but to them, it is simply a floating cloud.

"So that's the case, I said why is this theft so strange!" Seeing this scene, Gao Ji seemed to have figured out a lot of things, and suddenly smiled a little dumbly, "It seems that this official has already saved people...... No, it's already an ant. ”

He had always thought that the thieves had only stolen silver, but turned a blind eye to gold and jade, out of ridicule and provocation against him, and only then did he realize how ridiculous the idea was.

Regarding Li Qingshan's statement that ants steal silver, he suddenly had no doubts in his heart, but Gao Xueling lowered his head thoughtfully.

When Li Qingshan and Chen Ruolan also came over to watch, she stepped forward and asked: "Li Gongzi, although the facts are very obvious now, I still have many questions in my heart, I don't know if Li Gongzi can answer them for me......

She has always been a little arrogant and never asks people easily, but today's incident is much beyond her cognition, and in desperation, she has to ask.

Although he had already seen her in the small garden just now, but when he got closer and took a closer look at her, Li Qingshan also felt that this woman did have an extraordinary appearance.

Looking at the suffocatingly beautiful face in front of him, the young man's heart couldn't help but tremble slightly.

It's just that he already has a place in his heart, so the woman in front of him is beautiful, and he doesn't have too many ideas.

"If Miss Gao has any questions, just ask, as long as you know it, you must know everything, and you will say everything."

Gao Xueling nodded, glancing at the silver bars and ants on the ground, "Young Master Li, is the reason why these ants eat silver really just because the silver has a soft texture?" ”

"What does Miss Gao think?" Li Qingshan asked with a smile.

"I don't know." Gao Xueling shook her head, "But I always feel that this matter is not so simple. Maybe it's because of my lack of strength, no matter how soft silver is, it's hard to me, and it's always harder than wood, but I've never heard of ants eating wood or anything else. ”

Gao Ji thought about it and felt that her words made sense, "Yes, yes, Lord Li, this official looks at the concentration of these ants when they gnaw silver, it seems that they like to eat silver very much, what is going on?" ”

"This question does get to the point," Li Qingshan thought for a moment before replying, "Actually, they like to eat silver, except that it is softer than copper and iron, and can be used in their mouths, there is really a special reason." ”

"What is the reason?"

The father and daughter asked almost at the same time, and Chen Ruolan was also a little curious.

"It has to do with their body structure, and they contain a substance called formic acid."

"Formic acid?" Everyone had obviously heard of this for the first time.

"Yes. When the concentration of formic acid is too high, ants will go out to excrete or look for food to reduce the level of formic acid in the body. Li Qingshan explained seriously, "...... Silver can help them consume this formic acid, so as soon as ants come across something made of silver, they will unceremoniously eat it. ”

Formic acid has a certain corrosiveness. In nature, formic acid is mainly found in the bodies of bees and some ants, and most of the ant species of archback and spiny ants have this acid, and some caterpillars can also secrete it, but Li Qingshan did not say this.

“…… And in the process of gnawing, they will also secrete formic acid in their mouths, which is corrosive and will further soften the silver, making them easier to eat. ”

"I see...... Why did the first ant leave in a hurry when he saw the silver? Gao Xueling asked curiously.

"Miss Gao, didn't it leave, it went back to call its companions, and then didn't a large number of ants come out?"

"Actually, I guessed this, and I was curious about how the ants told their companions the news of the discovery of silver. How did they find the exact location of the silver again after they came? ”

This is the role of chemical pheromones, which is not easy to explain, Li Qingshan thought for a while and replied: "When ants return to the nest, they will leave a smell all the way to guide their companions, and the communication between them is mostly done by smell......"

Then he explained the principle of this. In fact, about ants, such a magical animal, later generations of biologists still have many questions that have not yet been answered, so he did not talk about it in detail, involving some concepts, as long as it is something that the ancients did not understand, such as chemical pheromones, in vitro hormones, all omitted, or directly replaced by smell.

Although he only made a rough outline, everyone listened to it with relish and felt that these things were very fresh.

Especially Gao Ji, he had already seen the sensitivity of crocodiles to smells last time, so it was not difficult to understand at all, and sometimes he helped explain a few words.

"So that's ......" After Li Qingshan finished explaining, Gao Xueling looked suddenly enlightened.

Although she is well-read, it is the first time she has heard of such an unpopular knowledge, so she feels that her eyes have been opened for a while. (To be continued.) )