Alex Wild on insects, science, and photography
Ecologists have long known that an animal’s metabolism is related to its size in a rather predictable way. Large animals process more energy than small animals, but they do so with an efficiency such that, pound for pound, they use less. A cow may weigh as much as 15,000 mice, but an ounce of cow [...]
Pogonomyrmex badius Harvester Ants Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D. ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffused twin flash
While in Arizona, I chanced upon a set of ant fights that I’d observed several times previously. Single workers of the maricopa harvester ant Pogonomyrmex maricopa would approach a nest of their competitor, Aphaenogaster long-legged ants, and spend a few minutes drawing heat from the guards before wandering off. The interaction is common enough that [...]
No, I haven’t forgotten you all. We’re still busy moving to the new house. Blogging will remain slow until we get the internet connected, and given the way that AT&T has managed to botch just about everything else so far I don’t know if that will happen any time soon. (There’s really nothing like the [...]
Ants of the genus Pogonomyrmex (“Pogos”) are known to myrmecologists as the classic harvester ants of North American deserts. They are conspicuous insects, the most noticeable of the desert ants, and something of a model organism for studies of ecology. Numerous scientific papers on pogos are published each year, and one species- Pogonomyrmex californicus- is [...]
Here’s a question for my myrmecologist readers. Has anyone published observations of ritualized fighting among colonies of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants? I know such behavior was famously studied by Bert Hoelldobler in Myrmecocystus, and that ritual combat has been noted in Camponotus and Iridomyrmex. The reason I ask is that the pogos in my front yard [...]
In our front yard we’ve got a busy nest of Pogonomyrmex rugosus seed harvesting ants. Warming weather brought them out for the first time last week, and every now and again I go out to see what they’re up to. Lots of digging, it seems. Pogonomyrmex is greek for “Bearded Ant”, named 150 years ago [...]
A personal blog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
Myrmecos- derived from the ancient greek word for "ant"- hosts Alex's musings about these and other little creatures that share our planet.
Questions? Email alwild [at] myrmecos.net; or follow @Myrmecos on Twitter.
