Ant Music

I did it!!!

I was determined to get a blip of ants, and I did it. This was one of the very few images that I considered even remotely good enough. But I like it because they are communicating, and you can see the jaws on Ant # 1 quite clearly, as well as the stripped arse on Ant # 2.

There is an Ant Highway on one of the echium stalks so I knew that if I persevered long enough, I'd get something worth while. These are one of our smaller ants, maybe about 3 mm long. (Myrmicinae sp.).

This is the largest subfamily in Australia, based on both the number of genera and the number of species. Myrmicines range greatly in size, with the smallest about 1 mm long and the largest up to 10 mm. Australia has over 350 species placed in 41 genera, and includes two genera and many species which are currently undescribed. Eight of the genera are restricted to Australia.

One of these days I'll get brave and see if I can get an image of a bull ant. They are much bigger and have a bite to match. I would not want to mix with one of those.

Oh, and if you don't get the reason for the title of this blip you are (a) far too young to remember Adam Ant, or (b) not interested in pop music of the 70's and 80's. Ant Music