Saturday, December 11, 2010

Best of Ants 2010

Once again I've decided to post the best pictures I've taken all year. They're not necessarily good photos, sometimes they just are something meaningful to me in some small way. So here they are, the best of Ants in 2010.

Prenolepis imparis colony.
Prenolepis imparis colony.
Crematogaster cerasi worker wondering on my finger.
Crematogaster cerasi workers tending aphids on native plum tree.
Trophallaxis the act of an ant vomiting food for others to eat... or maybe they're just kissing.
Crematogaster cerasi workers eating a cave cricket.
Lasius interjectus workers.
A plate of rotting fruit where Crematogaster castaneus and Formica pallidefulva workers forage.
An Alate... to either Tapinoma sessile or one of the Nylanderia species.
Cocoons to Formica pallidefulva.
Crematogaster cerasi workers licking up the sap to the flower buds to Trumpet Vine.
Flowers to Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca.
This picture is special because this is the first time I've seen a Formica slave maker queen.
And this is the first time I saw a Formica slave maker doing a raid on a host colony, in my own back yard no less!
And here is the first time I was stung by a Formica slave maker ever.
Aphaenogaster rudis, harvesting Trillium seeds.
My Favorite Picture of the year! An Aphaenogaster rudis worker hauling a Trillium seed.
The Formica pallidefulva colony that moved into the nest after the slave making colony moved on. 
The odd behavior of Lasius claviger and L. umbratus queens on blooming plants of goldenrod.
Queen and Worker to a Formica pallidefulva colony.
Prenolepis imparis workers tending aphids on a grass.