An Eciton burchellii army ant worker plugs a pothole. Note how her nestmates use her as a stepping stone.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
An Eciton burchellii army ant worker plugs a pothole. Note how her nestmates use her as a stepping stone.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
A minor Eciton burchellii army ant worker serves as a stepping stone by sitting in a gap in the trail.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
An Eciton burchellii army ant worker plugs a pothole. Note how her nestmates use her as a stepping stone.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
An Eciton hamatum raiding party has discovered an ant nest in the leaf litter, and workers begin to dig in. This army ant species is a specialized predator on other social insects.

Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Marking an ant with a unique pattern of paint allows researchers to keep track of her activities in a laboratory colony.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
Cephalotes varians turtle ants. To enter her nest in a mangrove twig, a foraging worker must pass the door-guarding soldier whose head is roughly the same size and shape as the entrance. These ants don't build the nests themselves; rather, they inhabit burrows made by beetle larvae.

Florida Keys, USA
Cephalotes varians turtle ants. To enter her nest in a mangrove twig, a foraging worker must pass the door-guarding soldier whose head is roughly the same size and shape as the entrance. These ants don't build the nests themselves; rather, they inhabit burrows made by beetle larvae.

Florida Keys, USA
Formica obscuripes nestmate workers engaging in trophallaxis, or the social sharing of liquid food.

Wisconsin, USA
An Eciton burchellii army ant worker plugs a pothole. Note how her nestmates use her as a stepping stone.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
An Eciton burchellii army ant worker plugs a pothole. Note how her nestmates use her as a stepping stone.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
An Eciton burchellii army ant worker plugs a pothole. Note how her nestmates use her as a stepping stone.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
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all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013