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LA Times Obituary Milton Levine, 1913-2011: January 28, 2011
by Valerie J. Nelson
“The creation of a toy that would become an American classic was triggered in 1956 by a Fourth of July parage of ants at a Studio City picnic.” Read More
Ant Farm
Texas woods insect
Location: River Legacy Park, between Dallas and Fort Worth, TX
January 14, 2011 11:42 pm
I found this insect clinging to a tree as I wondered through a wooded park in Arlington Texas. It’s a fairly moist area, with elms, oaks, willows, pines, and cottonwoods, and an assortment of low growing brush and vines.
Unfortunately this guy looked like he’d been dead a while and has possibly been decapitated. The body is almost beetle like, but the long protrusions/legs on the back end have me stumped. If that is the back end.
The body was around .75” long, with legs 1.5”. Wish now I’d collected it. 
Thanks! Hope to hear from you guys.
Mandy
Signature: The Little Katydid That Could
Mutilated Carpenter Ant we believe
Hi Mandy,
We are in agreement with you that this image does not represent a complete insect, but we disagree with you that it has been decapitated. At first we were confused, as were you, regarding the front of the creature, but we now believe that this is a mutilated Carpenter Ant with a missing abdomen. In most insects, the abdomen contains the most nutritional value, and predators will often feed on the abdomen of the prey leaving behind the harder head, thorax and extremities. Think of eating a lobster. It is all about the tail. We are linking to an image of a Carpenter Ant on BugGuide that you may use as a comparison. What you have mistaken for legs on the back end would seem to be the antennae on the head.
OH! Now that you say that I can see it. 
Good grief, that sucker was huge. Thanks, Daniel!
AZ ant
Location: Tortilla Creek, Superstition Mtns, AZ
December 26, 2010 1:06 am
I photographed this ant on 12-25-2010 in the Superstition Mtns (~2,500’). I could not identify it in the Kaufman insect guide, so I bow in your general direction if you can make an identification.
Signature: Pat Livecchi
Major Worker Carpenter Ant
Hi Pat,
Your ant looks very much like several images of Carpenter Ants posted to BugGuide, including this image of Camponotus nearcticus from Texas, however, we are reluctant to try to provide an actual species or even subgenus identification. According to BugGuide, Ants in the genus Camponotus “are often called ‘carpenter ants’ because many species nest in dry or moist rotten wood, and some may nest in wooden houses, sheds, etc. However, in the East, C. americanus and C. castaneus nest in soil, and in the West, perhaps the majority of species (but usually not those in the subgenera Camponotus and Myrmentoma) nest in soil.“ These large headed individuals belong to the caste of major workers according to a comment posted on BugGuide. The University of Missouri Extension website has a nice diagram of the various castes of Carpenter Ants.
Crematogaster Ants on Whistling Thorn
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 23, 2010 1:25 pm
Hi Daniel,
One of the favourite stories field guides love to tell guests here in Kenya is about the mutualistic relationship between Crematogaster sp. ants and the Whistling Thorn (Acacia drepanolobium). The tree provides a home for the ants in its bloated, hollow galls (see picture), and the ants provide protection from herbivores (often Giraffe) by attacking the herbivore when it comes to feed on the tree.
One just has to brush past the tree to get the ants excited and running around like crazy.
However, a while ago, I found a very interesting article showing that the relationship may not be completely mutualistic. Go to the following link and scroll down to the yellow box titled: ”Whistling Thorn Symbiosis May Be One-Sided” http://waynesword.palomar.edu/acacia.htm
Whatever the case, it’ll never cease to fascinate me!
Signature: Zarek
Crematogaster Ants
Hi Again Zarek,
You sure are keeping us busy posting all of your awesome images from Kenya. Thanks for the image of the Crematogaster Ants as well as the link and the personal observations.
Siafu
Army Ants
Siafu
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
December 23, 2010 1:27 pm
Hi Daniel,
I’ve found no Safari ants (Dorylus sp.) on your page, and they’re a very prevalent genus here in East Africa.
They’re known as Siafu in swahili, and also called Army ants for their long uniform columns.
Whenever it rains, they come out in force, forming long, thick columns in search of food.
Their soldier class have fearsome mandibles that can be used as emergency sutures if no other alternative is available. There are anecdotal reports of young or sick people dying from attacks by these ants, but I’ve never seen any hard evidence. Its not completely unbelievable, though when you see how fast they cover you if you step in the middle of their column by mistake!
I once watched a 12cm centipede get completely overwhelmed when it accidentally ran through a group of these ants. It was only a matter of minutes before there was nothing left of the centipede!
Sorry there are no clear pictures. They move too fast my my camera’s shutter at that proximity.
Signature: Zarek
Army Ants on the March
Hi Zarek,
Thanks again for sending us photos that fill a void in our archives. You action photos of Army Ants and your personal eye witness account are valued contributions to our website. Your photos also illustrate the size discrepancies between the various worker castes in the colony.
Army Ants
You’re welcome.
The very large ants with the very large heads are soldiers. The picture doesn’t display their huge mandibles very clearly, but there are a few other sites on the internet that do.
Zarek Cockar
Large ants, but what kind??
Location: Miami FL
December 20, 2010 11:54 am
Hi,
We have had a few 10mmish ants running around our Miami Florida home lately. They are fairly distinctive because they are mostly light brown with stripes on their their abdomen.
BUT last night there were tonnes of them, along with the larger and slightly darker winged-form too. These ones are about 13mm long. My picture is poor, but they look very similar in head shape to the kinds of ants I grew up watching in Ontario, Canada. Roundish head, thin thorax, striped abdomen. Antenna are about 7-8 mm long total, and without a scope it looks like 2 segments one of 4 or 5 and the other 3mm. I would love to learn roughly what kind of ant this is, if possible.
Signature: Much thanks, sue gallo
Carpenter Ants: Winged Alates
Dear Sue,
Because of their large size, we believe these are Carpenter Ants in the genus Camponotus. They are winged reproductive alates. You can read more about Carpenter Ants on BugGuide. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide a species identification.
Please can you link to this new ant site
Inbox
Tim Holtom to bugman, danielj
show details 8:00 AM (12 hours ago)
Subject: Please can you link to this new ant site
Website: http://www.antark.net/
December 8, 2010 11:00 am
Hi, I have a web site link suggestion.
antARK
http://www.antark.net/
I will provide reciprocal links =)
Thanks, Tim
Signature: Tim Holtom
Matt sent this photo a few months ago.
Hi Tim,
We got tremendous glee out of linking to your website from four different phrases in your email. We wonder if you can tell us what kind of ants are preying upon the Preying Mantis in the photo from our archives that we posted to accompany your email since you did not provide a photo. Just put a comment on the featured post advertising your new website. We hope our readership doesn’t crash your server.
ants swarming over mantis
Location: Albuquerque, NM
October 25, 2010 8:51 pm
Hi,
Thanks for identifying the blister beetle picture I sent in a few weeks ago. Today I found a mantis being swarmed by ants on the north side of Albuquerque, NM. The mantis was struggling and flopping around a bit but I couldn’t tell if the ants were biting it or not. Is this a common occurrence? I found one flickr image of ants feeding on a dead and somewhat dismembered mantis in Spain, but no other information. I also didn’t find any example of this type of observation on your site. My hypothesis is that the mantis was sluggish from the cold morning and overpowered by the ants. Thanks very much!
Signature: Matt
Ants Attack Mantis
Hi Matt,
We suspect that this Mantis may have been injured, though perhaps you are correct that it was just sluggish from the cool weather. Ants often forage in hoards and they will not hesitate to begin gathering food for the colony from a still living creature. We wish your photo had a higher resolution and that we were able to ascertain the identity of the ant species. They look very small and perhaps they are nonnative. Invasive Ant species like the Argentine Ants in Southern California and the Gulf States are severely affecting biodiversity by replacing native species and we cannot underestimate the long term effects they may have on sensitive ecosystems.
Ants Attack Mantis
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for getting back to me. I’ve attached the full resolution pictures in case the ants can be identified. By the way, is the mantis a Mediterranean Mantis? Thanks!
Matt
On a second look at mantis pictures, it looks more like a California Mantid, Stagmomantis californica. Is this right?
Matt
Ants Attack Mantis
Thanks Matt. We are inclined to agree that this does appear to be a California Mantis, or possibly the closely related Stagmomantis limbata which is profiled on BugGuide. At any rate, the Mantis is a female.
