Atta cephalotes leafcutter ants.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
Tenebrio molitor, pupa.
Arilus cristatus, the wheel bug, is a predatory insect common in the eastern United States.

Urbana, Illinois, USA
A Texas Leafcutter Ant (Atta texana) carrying a leaf back to her nest, where it will be fodder for the fungus that sustains the ants.

Austin, Texas, USA
A Texas Leafcutter Ant (Atta texana) carrying a leaf back to her nest, where it will be fodder for the fungus that sustains the ants.

Austin, Texas, USA
Texas Leafcutter Ants (Atta texana)

Austin, Texas, USA
Backlit by the photographer's flash, an Atta texana worker negotiates the precarious climb down a tree trunk.

Austin, Texas, USA
A Texas Leafcutter Ant (Atta texana) carrying a leaf back to her nest, where it will be fodder for the fungus that sustains the ants.

Austin, Texas, USA
Atta texana

Austin, Texas, USA
Atta cephalotes leafcutter ants.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
Atta cephalotes leafcutter ants.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
Atta cephalotes leafcutter ants.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
See photo in original gallery.
all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013