I caught this group of ants in the compost bin, busily "velcro-ing" young-uns to the back of a rhubarb leaf. I never realised the pupae were so hairy until I saw this.
Ants: sticking the kids in the nursery
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Ants: sticking the kids in the nursery
Last edited by Beatsy on Fri May 07, 2021 12:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
- rjlittlefield
- Site Admin
- Posts: 23606
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
- Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
- Contact:
Re: Ants: sticking the kids in the nursery
Nice shot & montage!
These look like nearly mature larvae, not pupae. Except for the few that spin cocoons, ant pupae look more like adult ants except they're cream-colored and have all their limbs tucked in.
The adults may have figured it was easier to bring larvae to the food, than food to the larvae.
--Rik
These look like nearly mature larvae, not pupae. Except for the few that spin cocoons, ant pupae look more like adult ants except they're cream-colored and have all their limbs tucked in.
The adults may have figured it was easier to bring larvae to the food, than food to the larvae.
--Rik
Re: Ants: sticking the kids in the nursery
Oops. Simple mis-spooking on my part - mixed the two up. Thanks Rik.
- MarkSturtevant
- Posts: 1947
- Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:52 pm
- Location: Michigan, U.S.A.
- Contact:
Re: Ants: sticking the kids in the nursery
Very interesting find! There are ants that will nest in hollowed twigs or rolled leaves. This seems similar.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters
Dept. of Still Waters