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Ant photography thread

Started By Billy , Sep 9 2015 7:47 AM

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1100 replies to this topic

#1021 Offline kalimant - Posted June 2 2024 - 12:16 PM

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What lenses do people use? I would love to start doing ant photography along with all the other photography I do but i'm not sure if my camera/lens is good enough. I have a Canon Rebel t2i and I also have a canon 275mm lens.

 

My camera is an old Nikon D3400, and for macrophotography I use a Tokina at-X PRO M 100mm F2.8 D Macro Lens - Nikon AF Mount. No autofocus for this pairing, which is fine so far since the very shallow depth of field means I have to carefully adjust it anyways. I was being cheap and got the cheaper lens.


Edited by kalimant, June 2 2024 - 12:20 PM.

I currently maintain a site dedicated to the hyper-diverse myrmicine genus Pheidole.:

 

PHEIDOLE

 

I also own the Lurker's Guide to Leafcutters Ants

 

#1022 Offline ANTdrew - Posted June 2 2024 - 4:47 PM

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Pheidole megacephala vs Solenopsis invicta

https://keyapa.com/p...nopsis-invicta/

Vendayn would’ve loved that. Old timers will know who I’m talking about.


I really really doubt he had P. megacephala in CA. I mean, it's easy to take a pic that clearly shows the species, or send a sample somewhere. I have a feeling it was all in his imagination.
He was an imaginative fellow, so you’re probably right.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#1023 Offline kalimant - Posted June 3 2024 - 6:16 PM

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Pheidole megacephala soldier during a melee. I like this pic.

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I currently maintain a site dedicated to the hyper-diverse myrmicine genus Pheidole.:

 

PHEIDOLE

 

I also own the Lurker's Guide to Leafcutters Ants

 

#1024 Offline kalimant - Posted June 10 2024 - 12:37 PM

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Pheidole megacephala minor workers come face to face with a huge fire ant (Solenopsis invicta major).

 

The minor worker in the foreground managed to grab the fire ant antennae after this shot I think.

Attached Images

  • DSC_1281.jpg

I currently maintain a site dedicated to the hyper-diverse myrmicine genus Pheidole.:

 

PHEIDOLE

 

I also own the Lurker's Guide to Leafcutters Ants

 

#1025 Offline ANTdrew - Posted June 10 2024 - 3:26 PM

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Pheidole megacephala minor workers come face to face with a huge fire ant (Solenopsis invicta major).

The minor worker in the foreground managed to grab the fire ant antennae after this shot I think.

Vendayn would love these shots.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#1026 Offline kalimant - Posted June 11 2024 - 5:59 AM

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Pheidole megacephala minor workers come face to face with a huge fire ant (Solenopsis invicta major).

The minor worker in the foreground managed to grab the fire ant antennae after this shot I think.

Vendayn would love these shots.

 

 

I took a look at his thread and he did post very bad long distance pics of the ants that are supposedly P. megacephala. Unfortunately, they're so bad it's really hard to determine, though they do kinda look like them. In the end, he screwed up by not providing solid evidence (whether clear pics or samples sent out) for all his storytelling.

Anyways, that pic above was part of the melee that happened when bait meant for the Pheidole was discovered by Solenopsis foragers.

In the end, that huge Solenopsis major was pinned down and its limbs separated by roving majors. A major tried to sever the gaster from the thorax, but was unable to...

Notice the minor pulling something from the tip of the gaster though....even though the major could not sever the petiole area, another major crushed the abdomen near the stinger and stuff spilled out (yes, ewwww).




 

Attached Images

  • DSC_1351.jpg

Edited by kalimant, June 11 2024 - 6:02 AM.

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I currently maintain a site dedicated to the hyper-diverse myrmicine genus Pheidole.:

 

PHEIDOLE

 

I also own the Lurker's Guide to Leafcutters Ants

 

#1027 Offline GOCAMPONOTUS - Posted June 11 2024 - 6:36 AM

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Wow  pulling even from the back! These remind me of Oecophylla


Currently keeping: 2 C.vicinus colonies.2 C.sansabeanus. 1 C.leavissimus. 2 C.Ca02. 1 V.pergandei. 4 T.immigrans.1 F.pacifica. 1 C.hyatti

1 M.ergatognya

 

 

 

 

Trying to get my hands on :C.modoc,A.vercicolor, and Any Honeypots

  

 

 

#1028 Offline kalimant - Posted June 11 2024 - 10:08 AM

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Wow  pulling even from the back! These remind me of Oecophylla

 
You're talking about the two-ant "daisy chain" in the front?


I currently maintain a site dedicated to the hyper-diverse myrmicine genus Pheidole.:

 

PHEIDOLE

 

I also own the Lurker's Guide to Leafcutters Ants

 

#1029 Offline GOCAMPONOTUS - Posted June 11 2024 - 12:54 PM

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No, the minor pulling the stinger


Currently keeping: 2 C.vicinus colonies.2 C.sansabeanus. 1 C.leavissimus. 2 C.Ca02. 1 V.pergandei. 4 T.immigrans.1 F.pacifica. 1 C.hyatti

1 M.ergatognya

 

 

 

 

Trying to get my hands on :C.modoc,A.vercicolor, and Any Honeypots

  

 

 

#1030 Offline GOCAMPONOTUS - Posted June 13 2024 - 6:56 PM

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My newly eclosed C.us-Ca02 nanitic

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Edited by GOCAMPONOTUS, June 13 2024 - 6:56 PM.

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Currently keeping: 2 C.vicinus colonies.2 C.sansabeanus. 1 C.leavissimus. 2 C.Ca02. 1 V.pergandei. 4 T.immigrans.1 F.pacifica. 1 C.hyatti

1 M.ergatognya

 

 

 

 

Trying to get my hands on :C.modoc,A.vercicolor, and Any Honeypots

  

 

 

#1031 Offline AsdinAnts - Posted June 14 2024 - 9:46 AM

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it looks edible.. 👀

#1032 Offline kalimant - Posted June 25 2024 - 9:26 AM

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Pheidole megacephala soldier grapples with incoming Solenopsis invicta fire ant.

 

https://keyapa.com/p...victa-fire-ants

 

Attached Images

  • DSC_1398.jpg
  • DSC_1400.jpg

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I currently maintain a site dedicated to the hyper-diverse myrmicine genus Pheidole.:

 

PHEIDOLE

 

I also own the Lurker's Guide to Leafcutters Ants

 

#1033 Offline Ernteameise - Posted June 25 2024 - 11:51 AM

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Some pictures I took of Atta cephalotes at the Bug Parc (Lenwade, UK).

Note the massive majors on patrol and the tiny minims riding on every leaf that is transported int the nest (to fend off the decapitation flies)

 

Inverts5.jpg

 

Inverts6.jpg

 

Inverts14.jpg

 

Inverts15.jpg


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#1034 Offline kalimant - Posted June 26 2024 - 10:00 AM

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The ongoing hostilities between incoming fire ants and Pheidole megacephala continued. Here two fire ants gang up on a lone PM soldier.

 

 

https://keyapa.com/p...victa-invasion/

 

Attached Images

  • DSC_1331.jpg

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I currently maintain a site dedicated to the hyper-diverse myrmicine genus Pheidole.:

 

PHEIDOLE

 

I also own the Lurker's Guide to Leafcutters Ants

 

#1035 Offline Ernteameise - Posted June 26 2024 - 11:44 AM

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I love all the graphic war reports coming in!


#1036 Offline kalimant - Posted June 26 2024 - 5:04 PM

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I love all the graphic war reports coming in!

 

Well, I hope you like the macro pics too, as it was very hard to get good pics in an active sidewalk of ants that are mm small ;-)


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I currently maintain a site dedicated to the hyper-diverse myrmicine genus Pheidole.:

 

PHEIDOLE

 

I also own the Lurker's Guide to Leafcutters Ants

 

#1037 Offline Stubyvast - Posted June 27 2024 - 7:57 AM

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I have a bunch of miscellaneous ones I want to share, including some of my microscope pictures! Enjoy.

 

IMG_0101.jpeg

IMG_0104.jpeg

 

A massive colony of Formica obscuripes I found at a park. Guess it makes sense that they're called "mound ants."

 

IMG_0263.jpeg

 

A desiccated tetramorium immigrans male alate, who I fed to my Venus fly-trap, then discovered its perfectly preserved body.

 

IMG_0265.jpeg

 

A parasitic mite, one of two, which I found on the above alate. Unsure of what species.

 

IMG_0768.jpeg

IMG_0769.jpeg

IMG_0770.jpeg

 

One of the most beautiful queens to see under a microscope: A myrmeca rubra dealate female, who did not survive the founding stage. I love the texture on her head. So cool! 

 

 

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Manica invidia (1 queen,  ~200 workers)

Manica invidia (1 colonies, 1 queens plus 3 workers)

Lasius niger (single queen, ~200 workers - naturalistic, predatory set-up)

Lasius americanus (1 colony, ~10 workers)

Tetramorium immigrans (3 colonies, 3 queens, ~ five workers each | 1 colony, 1 queen, ~1200 workers)

Formica aserva (aserva queen, ~15  â€‹Formica neorufibarbis workers)

 

"And God made...everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. 

And God saw that it was good." - Genesis 1:25

 

#1038 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted June 30 2024 - 9:33 AM

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I've been working on my microscopy for a little while, so I thought I'd share some of my specimen photos I'm particularly fond of.

 

Lasius claviger x latipes hybrid queen (AntWeb link for higher quality)

med_gallery_1963_1384_394000.jpg

 

 

Lasius cf. interjectus queen (AntWeb link for higher quality).

med_gallery_1963_1384_309975.jpg

 

Odontomachus haematodus worker (AntWeb link for higher quality)

med_gallery_1963_1384_349255.jpg

 

Diacamma sp., seemingly close to D. excellens (AntWeb link for higher quality)

med_gallery_1963_1384_63734.jpg


Edited by Mettcollsuss, June 30 2024 - 9:35 AM.

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My Ant Journals

 

My Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Journal

 

My YouTube Channel

 

The Ant-Keeping & Ethology Discord Server

#1039 Offline Full_Frontal_Yeti - Posted July 12 2024 - 10:03 AM

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recent ants i saw while in Indiana.
There were three different specices all around this one tree.

Some really tiny ween ones i could not get a decent pic of that formed a long line from the ground all the way up into the tree.

And two others, a camponotus of some kind, all black with a little white/translucent sriping on their gastors.  Also failed to get any decent pics of them.

 

And something very deep red head and body, black gastor.

 

here's the red and balck one, they moved in fast short jerky bursts and were hard to get pics of.

IMG_20240706_135358_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240706_135429_HDR.jpg

 

leftovers of a junebug with ants.

IMG_20240707_085616_HDR.jpg

 

 

I noticed around the tree that the different ants would freak out when encountering each other but not get to fighting. They just ran away from each other and mostly seemd to do their best to avoid the other ants around them.


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#1040 Offline Full_Frontal_Yeti - Posted July 12 2024 - 10:42 AM

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and then back home i spotted this happening on the way into work.

 

my foot for scale, US 11.5:

IMG_20240710_073739.jpg

 

IMG_20240710_073716_HDR.jpg

 

 

big size:
IMG_20240710_073759.jpg


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