Nylanderia phantasma is a delicate ant found only in white sand habitats in the southeastern United States. This species is small, the color of sand, and active at night, appearing as ghostly forms gliding nearly imperceptibly among the sand grains. Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA

Paratrechina longicornis - black crazy ant. Along a sun-soaked beach on a Panamanian island, ants drink from nectaries on the underside of a leaf. Many plants attract ants with nectaries, and the ants in return help remove the plant's herbivorous pests. Isla Contadora, Panama

A minor worker of Pheidole aberrans, a small but ambitious South American harvester ant, lugs a grass seed to her nest. Correa, Santa Fe, Argentina