Ants are not ideal pollinators, as they don't move as efficiently among plants as do flying insects. But they are capabable of picking up and moving at least some pollen, as demonstrated by this Formica incerta field ant on Queen Anne's Lace. Townsend, Tennessee.
A wily field ant- Formica dolosa- gathers nectar from a flower at Indiana Dunes National Park.
My #Formica #subsericea queen is very skittish and if there is a loud nose or vibrations she runs out of her nest and tries to hide in the water feeder. Only she is much too large for this to work. Poor girl.
Pleased with this shot of a field ant (Formica subsericea) grabbing a pile of eggs. Tennessee.
Even the queen moves quickly. They are always fighting over who gets to carry what. There is generally a small clutch of eggs in the nest and I have never seen them set it down. An ant is always proudly holding the cluster of new eggs and she won’t let her sisters help her hold it. I think they must sit it down when it’s dark and quiet in the nest— but if I’m taking photos? well we never get to see them calm first that reason! Ants notice photographers! #formica #ants #antvideo
Molecular #phylogeny of #Formica #ants!
Parasitic colony founding is likely to be an intermediary step between free-living hosts and slave-maker parasites
A desert field ant, Formica perpilosa, on the banks of the Rio Grande in Big Bend, Texas.
A queen ant, Formica vinculans, after her mating flight. Illinois.
I just think MC Esher did an excellent job drawing this ant. Ant fans, was his model #Camponotus or #Formica ? what do you think? The mesonomal hump seems ambiguous… This is a worker but i see dimples that could be ocelli what is going on here?#ants
Two Formica thatch-mound ants engaging in trophallaxis.
As the primary function of this behavior is to mediate communication and spread information around the colony, ants do it far more frequently than nutrition requires.
(Formica obscuripes, Wisconsin)
#ants, #antkeeping, #camponotus, #atta, #queenant, #Hymenoptera, #eusocial, #arthropods, #formica, #antnest, #formicarium, #ant, #flyingantday, #lasius, #fireant, #polyrachis, #Dynomyrmex, #Formicidae, #Aculeata, #antalgorithim, #eusocialintelligence, #Doleromyrma, #Leptomyrmex, #mutualism, #Trophobiosis, #Coevolution, #Myrmecophily
Just some stuff to follow for me and maybe you.
