Did you know that ants are among the cleanest of insects?
I caught this weaver ant grooming its antennae meticulously. It was taking its time, to make sure it did a great job. You can see in the shot that it is brushing its left antenna with its foreleg. (There is a larger version to view if you like.)
Ants lick themselves with an oily saliva to clean and oil their bodies. Their antennae are an important sensory organ, so they groom and clean them very often. An ant pulls one antenna with its front leg, using a special brush of hairs which grows at the “wrist”. Then it uses its mouth to remove any dirt from the brush. It repeats these motions until it is satisfied.
Ants also groom each other. Older ants will help young ants to clean their antennae and bodies.
It's a super tough call, but your ant shots might be my favorite. You manage to capture detail and personality - which is pretty tough to do for these wee things!
LOVE IT! When you mentioned the adults helping the little ones clean it reminded me of the nurseries in african termite mounds. Ever see that documentary "Mysterious Castles of Clay"? I cried when the ants came to fight the termites.
@shirljess These red weaver ants are territorial and do bite something fierce. I only shoot the loners, when I see one or two on a leaf. If I see them in a group, or busy weaving their nest, I avoid them completely.
Excellent capture and narrative, Livia! You should put a book together with your written observations and sell it on line as a digital file! I'd bet all kind of bug lovers would buy it! =)
We get almost used to your amazing bug photos but they really are so interesting, this one almost looks like a cartoon character. I bet theres bug organisations that would buy your photos.
Love your shot .... fab detail and interesting narrative. However, I'm not on very good terms with ants right now.....while out walking the dog the other day, I stepped right into a fire ant hill (not visible yet). I am finding that peroxide and/or Benadryl cream helps relief the itching ;-)
Just love this shot, but even more, the information that shows what's going on! As a science teacher (fifth graders), I teach about animal behaviors - learned and inherited traits. This will be such a great photo to show my students in September when I go back! Thanks! A fav!
Great shot! And such interesting information! Funny (quirky)- there's a passage in the Bible that talks about how industrious the ants are and that they are a good example. But the part about the ants helping each other is also a great example too!
You have a serious knack for getting awesome bug shots! What camera and lens/settings are you using? They crap over my shots! lol. Awesome shot, awesome info.. fav :)
@ozziehoffy For macro shots, I use my Sony NEX-C3 (mirrorless interchangeable lens camera) with the Sony 30mm f/3.5 macro lens. All my shots are handheld and taken in natural morning light because I don't own a tripod or any kind of artificial lighting equipment and don't want to because I don't want to lug equipment around. I just point and shoot. I get lucky when my shots turn out sharp. A lot of them don't. XD
@myautofocuslife They're really awesome :) You have great steadiness!! I know what you mean... I don't lug a lot around, I keep any extras in a bag in my car lol. Most of my shots are at home anyway. I usually shoot at the opposite end of the day to you lol... but I do own a tripod now cos I tell you, I do not have the steadiest hands if I'm trying handheld macro in a light that's too low lol. I have also just invested in a macro ring flash but waiting to receive it... I'm hoping that opens up a whole new can of worms.. so to speak ;)
A great, big, meticulous, well groomed and clean "THANK YOU!" to everyone for stopping by! I do like to take photographs of these weaver ants, I think they look great with their color and long legs. Thank you so much for being so supportive. Please know that I am grateful, and feel encouraged by your comments. Again, thank you.
