Acromyrmex versicolor

Acromyrmex versicolor, the desert leafcutter. Laboratory colony at Arizona State University

Acromyrmex versicolor

A desert leafcutter, Acromyrmex versicolor, carrying a leaf back to her nest. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

Male leaf-cutting ants (Acromyrmex versicolor) lek above the desert floor, awaiting virgin queens who fly into the swarm to mate. This species flies during the Arizona summer monsoon season, early in the morning after a soaking rain. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

Acromyrmex versicolor desert leafcutter ant carrying a fragment of a mesquite seed pod. Green Valley, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

A desert leafcutter ant nest in an urban setting. Green Valley, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

The nest entrances of the desert leafcutter ant Acromyrmex versicolor are often nearly completely round, appearing like a miniature volcano. Green Valley, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

After mating, a young leafcutter ant queen sheds her wings. Acromyrmex versicolor. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

A Desert Leafcutter queen (Acromyrmex versicolor) tends to larvae in an incipient fungus garden. Tucson, Arizona, USA

A young Camponotus festinatus queen scales the vegetation around her nest to launch herself on a nocturnal mating flight. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Camponotus festinatus

Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Austin, Texas, USA.

Camponotus ocreatus

The distinct color and long limbs indicate Camponotus ocreatus. Portal, Arizona, USA

Camponotus ulcerosus

Camponotus ulcerosus major worker, showing the enlarged head she uses for plugging the nest entrance. Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

Cephalotes rohweri

Arizona turtle ant. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Cephalotes rohweri

A colony of Cephalotes rohweri inhabits the abandoned burrow of a wood-boring beetle in a Palo Verde tree. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Cephalotes rohweri

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Crematogaster depilis

Acrobat ants have stingers, but they don't use them the way we might think. Intead of stabbing their opponents, acrobat ants use their stingers like a paintbrush, smearing a frothy venom. California, USA.

Crematogaster hespera

Acrobat ants tending to ensign scales for honeydew. Weeks, Nevada, USA

Cyphomyrmex flavidus

Sycamore Canyon, Arizona, USA

Cyphomyrmex wheeleri

Cyphomyrmex wheeleri is the most temperate of the Cyphomyrmex species, occurring as far north as San Francisco, California. Here worker ants tend to their fungus garden. Austin, Texas, USA

Dorymyrmex bicolor

Dorymyrmex bicolor workers scavenge the carcass of a harvester ant. Willcox, Arizona, USA.

Dorymyrmex flavus

Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Austin, Texas, USA.

Dorymyrmex insanus

An alate Dorymyrmex insanus queen climbs a stick of grass to gain an altitudinal head start before departing on her mating flight. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Dorymyrmex insanus

A nest of cone ants showing the characteristic crater-shaped mound. MacLaughlin U.C. Reserve, California, USA

Dorymyrmex smithi

Worker ants cooperate to carry a scavenged insect carcass back to their nest. Scurry County, Texas, USA.