Friend or foe? Two Monomorium pharaonis worker ants briefly touch antennae along a pheromone trail.

Icononzo, Tolima, Colombia
Friend or foe? Two Monomorium pharaonis worker ants briefly touch antennae along a pheromone trail.

Icononzo, Tolima, Colombia
Camponotus sp.

Morretes, Paraná, Brazil
Ants are dominant scavengers in most terrestrial ecosystems. Carcasses of other arthropods are quickly discovered and carried back to the nest. Here, Anonychomyrma workers cooperate to transport the body of a dead carpenter ant.

Harrietville, Vicotoria, Australia
Pheidole xanthogaster

Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Pheidole xanthogaster

Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Dolichoderus bispinosus gather minerals from bird droppings. Some nutrients can be hard to find in the rainforest, but animal droppings are a ready source and often attract ants.

Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
A colony of Dorymyrmex thoracicus cone ants has discovered a beetle larva and arrive in large numbers to bring it back to their nest.

Amaicha del Valle, Tucuman, Argentina
Paratrechina longicornis crazy ants scavenging a trap-jaw ant carcass.  Paratrechina group-transport their food, a rapid method, allowing them to secure resources before slower but more aggressive competing species.

Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA
A colony of Dorymyrmex thoracicus cone ants has discovered a beetle larva and arrive in large numbers to bring it back to their nest.

Amaicha del Valle, Tucuman, Argentina
A colony of Dorymyrmex thoracicus cone ants has discovered a beetle larva and arrive in large numbers to bring it back to their nest.

Amaicha del Valle, Tucuman, Argentina
A colony of Dorymyrmex thoracicus cone ants has discovered a beetle larva and arrive in large numbers to bring it back to their nest.

Amaicha del Valle, Tucuman, Argentina
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all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013