#harvester ants

[fatchance]

Harvesters.

[futurebird]

I just realized that Messor barbarus can't sting. And now I need to rethink something I thought was obvious about seed collecting ants.

Pogonomyrmex and Veromessor (the genuses of harvester ants we have in the Americas) can sting. It seems that much like "Army Ants" the group "harvester ants" isn't as cohesive as I thought.

That said... they are somewhat related, both practice social hybridogenesis.

I'm stunned. Ants shock me every single day! They can't keep getting away with this!

Please don't ask me to explain this yet I'm still trying to understand what the heck these ants are even doing.

[morbidsmenagerie]

Insectarium again, harvester ants got an upgrade

[andmaybegayer]

It's been a moment since I uploaded any macrophotography. This harvester ant stumbled onto my jacket from somewhere so I carried her out, but I did take a moment to photo and video her. Looked a little sluggish at first but she wandered off under her own power quite capably.

Ants can be a real pain to photograph, they're small, dark, and skittish, not to mention many species are extremely shiny so they're hard to illuminate. One of the masters of ant photography is Alex Wild, a doctor of entomology at the University of Texas.

[arachnophanatic]

Harvester ants / genus Pogonomyrmex

Rated a 3 out of 4 on the Schmidt sting pain index, with their bite described as “inflaming your nerves for hours rather than minutes … bold and unrelenting.” The red ones also tend to be aggressive.

[noovorous]

I was attacked by sudden desire to lie on the ground and watch ants. Specifically, I deeply crave to watch a nest of Messor barbarus, which is not present in my geographic location and which I had a chance to observe many years ago, abroad, for a few minutes maybe. Being a slave of own caprices and desires can be frustrating sometimes.

[cedarlili]

My idea of Fun

My idea of Fun

New place, new critters and plants. There’s people and conversations too, but the time to wander quietly was a welcome moment. Nothing to worry about, nothing tugging at my conscience to get done. Just me and whatever I can find. Sticky glands help this bur propagate, I’m guessing. Tiny yellow compositae Ants moving slow in the cold weather make for good photos. Pogonomyrmex rugosus, the…

[thewolfnessphotography]

Desert harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex rugosus)

[protoindoeuropean]

btw this was the napping spot

if you even care

[impulseimpact]

harvestant nektlant and coloniant

harvestant and coloniant

based on the red harvester ant, endemic to Mexico and the US they are known for their relationship with plants as their primary food is seeds which they store in their nests, helping the seeds to disperse at the same time. they tend to have seed and rock trails surrounding their nest which makes it easier to identify them

[source1] [source2]

nektlant (nektli=nectar in nahuatl)

based on the honeypot ant, a strange species of ant where some members work as storage by keeping the food they ate on their abdomen and then climb to the ceiling where they stay attached untill the food is needed, these ants are also harvested by humans who sometimes eat the storage ants as candy, some even use their "honey" as medicine for certain illnesses

[source]

[leconcombrerit]

In the gray zone where you've read enough spoilers to know about some major events but not enough to know exactly how things go afterwards so you're even more distressed than if you hadn't read anything at all.

You will find me compulsively refreshing any review sites I can find until I have The Information.

[artbyrewcana]

I am the ant - original piece by me

2nd in a six piece series based on Heather Morgan's value based integration exercise

link to first piece

[futurebird]

I had a nice time drawing a Pogonomyrmex occidentalis pupae today. I'm trying to improve my drawing skills-- There are many problems here.

-shadow is off, should be more shadow under the gaster (I think?) -doesn't look translucent enough -It's overworked, but I claim that's my "style" (not really LOL) -I made a mess with the blur tool. Had to clean it up, but it still feels blurred. No more blur for me. -I don't know what I'm doing with that blue shadow It's supposed to be reflected light? Like it's not bad, the mandibles look nice. And I feel like I understand the geometry of how ants fold their legs better. Could not find a reference image of an ant from *below* to see exactly how the legs attach. Looked at one of my pet ants and annoyed her greatly!

[morbidsmenagerie]

PDX insectarium!

[autistic-shaiapouf]

This is gonna bother me until I say it but as I rewatch the CAA I'm being reminded that people do think that queen ants "give orders" to the rest of the colony when there is no chain of command in an ant nest and the queen's role is grossly overstated

[bearslices]

I never would've thought that plants could make me so happy until I started to propagate vegetables. Seeing these little green sprouts from my garlic cloves brings me immense joy