Inside the brood nest of the specialist centipede predator Stigmatomma oregonensis. Note the larvae feeding on a centipede carcass at left. Quincy, California, USA - Alex Wild Photography - Insect Photography

Cryptic Ants: Life in the Litter

Scarcely noticed by human observers, thousands of cryptic ant species live entirely underground in soil, rotting wood and leaf litter. These small, often blind insects are predators, scavengers, and farmers of root insects.

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An undescribed Stigmatomma dracula ant species from Madagascar. A large portion of the world's ant fauna remains undocumented, especially in the tropics.

Madagascar

Inside the brood nest of the specialist centipede predator Stigmatomma oregonensis. Note the larvae feeding on a centipede carcass at left.

Quincy, California, USA

Ouch! A dracula ant (Stigmatomma oregonensis) sinks her sting deep into the head capsule of a centipede.

Quincy, California, USA

Strumigenys louisianae is a tiny trap-jaw ant that has traveled around the world with human commerce.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Strumigenys emmae workers are scarcely larger than the sand grains in the soil they inhabit.

Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA

Strumigenys rogeri prowls in the leaf litter of of Florida forest.

Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA

Strumigenys rostrata

Urbana, Illinois, USA

Miniature predatory ants (Strumigenys rostrata) tend to larvae in the brood nest.

Urbana, Illinois, USA

Inside the brood nest of the specialist centipede predator Stigmatomma oregonensis. Note the larvae feeding on a centipede carcass at left.

Quincy, California, USA

Canon EOS D60 |

More details: exif |

Original size: 2655x1867 |

Current: 800x563 |

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Cryptic Ants: Life in the Litter

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