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#formicidae

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Ben S

And now for something different. This is one of the trap-jaw ants. If you know which one, please let me know. Several months ago, we had major rain and wind storms damaging lots of trees. I found this colony under a broken branch that has started settling into the dirt. After snapping a couple of pictures, I gently placed the branch back where it was. It must be quite stressful for them.

A large nearly black ant carries a tan pupa that is nearly as big as itself in its massive mandibles. Its head is very blocky with largish eyes and deep furrows that its antennae can fit in. The rest of its body is long and slender but out of focus.
#Formicidae#Odontomachus#haematodus
Public
Ben S

Back on by bullshit about the weavers again... It's not my fault... They are just too interesting.

The weavers were oddly calm today. No defensive posturing or holding their front legs and mandible wide defensively. I don't think I was sprayed with formic acid once. Then I saw this odd scene. Four weavers all biting and pulling a tiny black ant apart. Two of the executioners sat and preened each other as the other two absconded with the corpse.

Square format photo of the heads of four large orange ants all biting and pulling a tiny dark brown ants body in different directions.
Two of the sisters cleaning each other after drawing and quartering the tiny ant.
#Formicidae#Ants#Insects
Continued thread
Public
neville park

And here's why suspending egg sacs is a good idea. Two carpenter ants (_Camponotus_) voraciously tearing apart a different kind of spider egg sac, a ball of reddish silk fixed to substrate (in this case, tree bark, but I've also seen them on rocks). Not sure what species makes these.

On a willow tree trunk, two large black ants use their powerful jaws to pull away the fuzzy reddish outer layer of a spider egg sac.
Another view, better angle and lighting (but you can't see the silk being pulled quite as well). The egg sac is woolly, lacking the tufted points of the kind pictured upthread, and seems to be a dull brownish red with a slight golden fuzz.
#insects#ants#Hymenoptera
Replied in thread
Public
Ben S

@ewen

What these friendly guys? Ok, so not the same, but closely related Asian weaver ants. These ants are bold and a bit crazy. I've had one jump from a tree and land on my leg where it buried its mandibles. I've really enjoyed getting to know these ants. They have such big personalities! I have also seen one jump a tiny gap chasing a spider. I wish I would have been filming to know for sure.

A group of large mandibled ants are carying a larger ant up a wall. An ant has ahold of nearly all its legs, an antenna, and its waist. One of the attacking ants is hanging by its jaws that are latched onto the other ants leg.
#Tetraponera#rufonigra#Oecophylla
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