Ant larvae are voracious. This Ponera grub is neck-deep in the remains of an insect carcass.

Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
Ant larvae are voracious. This Ponera grub is neck-deep in the remains of an insect carcass.

Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
Aphaenogaster mariae worker returning to the nest with a moth carcass.

Urbana, Illinois, USA
Aphaenogaster mariae worker returning to the nest with a moth carcass.

Urbana, Illinois, USA
Cimex lectularius nymph taking a blood meal.  The bug feeds through a set of mouthparts that are highly modified for piercing and sucking.

Chicago, Illinois, USA
Brachymyrmex patagonicus is a South American rover ant that is spreading rapidly across the southern and western United States. Here, workers feed from a honey bait.

Tucson, Arizona, USA
Sonoran desert cacti are frequently covered in ants.  Cacti provide ants with nectar- a ready food supply in a harsh environment- in exchange for protection from herbivorous insects.  Here, two Crematogaster opuntiae acrobat ants exchange nectar they have gathered from a chain-link cholla.

Tucson, Arizona, USA
Crematogaster opuntiae gathering nectar from a cholla cactus.

Tucson, Arizona, USA
Myrmecia pilosula brood nest.

Tower Hill, Victoria, Australia
Ant larvae are voracious. This Ponera grub is neck-deep in the remains of an insect carcass.

Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
Ant larvae are voracious. This Ponera grub is neck-deep in the remains of an insect carcass.

Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
Ant larvae are voracious. This Ponera grub is neck-deep in the remains of an insect carcass.

Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
See photo in original gallery.
all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013