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Nothomyrmecia macrops - Dinosaur Ant
South Australia

photograph © Alex Wild 2005

A worker of the beautiful Nothomyrmecia dinosaur ant.  These South Australian insects were long considered the world's most primitive living ant on the basis of their simple social structure and basic morphology, although recent genetic evidence suggests that a few other ant lineages (including Amblyopone and Proceratium) are actually somewhat older.  At any rate, Nothomyrmecia macrops is the last living species of a group that was found worldwide during the Cretaceous.

 
Australia, SA: Poochera.
32º43'S 134º50'E, 85m, 14.x.2005
Grazed Mallee, ants on tree trunks, 3:00am.

This image is copyrighted by the photographer and cannot be used without permission. To obtain permission to use this image, please email Alex Wild. (alwild (at) myrmecos.net).  Most of the photographs on myrmecos.net are reduced from their original size and compressed for more efficient web transmission.  In some cases, higher quality versions are available.

This image was captured with a Canon EOS D60, with a Canon 65/2.8 MPE 1-5x Macro lens.