myrmecos.net

 Cyphomyrmex salvini
Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala

photograph © Alex Wild 2003

Inside the fungus garden of a Cyphomyrmex ant colony.  Cyphomyrmex gardens are unusual among the fungus-growing ant genera in that the fungus grows as a yeast.  The fungi are visible here as small yellow globs.  Notice how difficult it is to see the ants themselves- several workers are present at the right side of this photograph.  Cyphomyrmex tend to freeze when disturbed, making them look like little pieces of soil.



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 Nikon Coolpix 995.