All this talk about copyright infringement is a real downer. It’s time to perk things up with pretty ants:
Tetramorium bicarinatum workers gather nectar from glands of an invasive mallow. Some plants use nectar to attract ants as a defense against herbivorous insects, as ants also eat insect eggs and caterpillars. (Orlando, Florida, USA)
A more field-guidey shot of T. bicarinatum. This ant is presumably native to Asia, but thanks to global trade is now found in warmer climates worldwide.
A personal blog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
Sorry but there is no evidence that T. bicarinatum is native to Africa. Bolton (1980) wrote of only a single record from Africa and that was “an obvious introduction”. Mostafa Sharaf has collected workers in Egypt and Antweb has photos of a worker from Madagascar.
Thanks for your comment, Brian. I stand corrected!
Bolton (1979) writes:
Perhaps because the bicarinatum species group is found both in Africa & Asia, I’d gotten it lodged in my head that this was an African species.
It might be but we haven’t found it in nature as yet! As you say, there are several quite similar sub-Saharan species.