The best ant watching by far, though, has to be out on the patio. Most of the year you can find at least one or two ants walking back and forth across the patio (to where or for what, we don't quite know) along the ant path. Eva and I are well trained in stepping over the ant trail, particularly at this time of year. We love watching the different ant styles- the small ants, the medium ants, the large ants... How cranky they seem to be with one another. How the larger ants look slightly perplexed. How the small ants swarm more around their ant hill openings. How the ants come out of their holes sometimes alone, sometimes in groups. How when they are in groups they snip at one another and seem confused by so many other ants being around. How they are all going in the same direction, along the same path, with such a purpose but still seem slightly absent minded about the whole thing. Unstoppable. Not quite comprehensible to human minds.
Right now the queens are coming out of the medium and large ant colonies in large numbers and yesterday Eva and I had fun helping the ones who were trapped by the patio screen find their way out- helping them with their life purpose and all that {what queen ant doesn't dream of flying off to start her very own ant colony after all?}. There were so many queens out yesterday they were practically swarming in the patio and you can imagine my surprise today when I went out on to the patio and saw even more queens with so many helper ants all around them, ostensibly helping them find their way? Making sure the coast was clear? Making sure the queens don't get cold feet and go back into the colony? Just milling around chatting with one another about the big day? Eva thought some of them were trying to decide if they might want to go off with the new queens to help set up the new colonies? Who can really say except the ants. Maybe some of those ant scientists out there fearlessly studying the social lives of ants? Don't tell me they aren't out there. I haven't tried googling yet. The last time I googled ants I got discouraged because the majority of the information I found was on how to um exterminate them. So not quite the information I was looking for. Ahem.
Ant watching 101. The ant path with strings of ants marching along on their mission. The ants on this path are all medium ants. Usually there will be a large ant here and there but they are definitely in the minority. I think the large ants are my favorite type of ant. Unless you count the very wee babiest ants of the small ants who are the smallest of the small and who elicit a squeal of delight from Eva.
Large queen ant making her way to her destiny. Swarm of medium and large queen ants (and helpers) coming out of one of the colony doors on the patio.
2 comments:
You are by far more of an ant expert than me! I would not have even known those were queens. :/ I did do quite a bit of ant watching as a child though. Maybe I should return to it. :) I am not quite as patient with them in the house however. This place was in constant attack mode last year. We saw some teeny tiny ones on our front porch today and Akasha was delighted. She seems to really be developing a love of bugs. She has been loving those beetles (?) that show up all over this time of year. I asked somebody the name of them once, but have already forgotten it. She lets them crawl on her arm and just SQUEALS with laughter!
box elder bugs?
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