Mastodawn

The laundry ant colony has at least given me something interesting to point my cheapo USB microscope at.

Lots of workers looking after the larvae, some callows, and a few alates.

The bright light from the USB microscope clearly agitated them, which suggests to me I might be able to persuade them to move the brood out of the linen press by opening the doors, taking out the linen, and thereby denying them the darkness that they need to feel that the brood is safe. I'm sure they'd only move as far as the nearest dark nook or cranny, but that would still be a move in the right direction.

#Ants #Antstodon

Anthony Horton 1d ago

Ladies, I generally don't mind having a few ants around the house, but I really don't think a shelf in our laundry press is a good place to keep your brood.

#Antstodon #Ants

Peter Drake Mar 11

One for @futurebird :

https://spectrum.ieee.org/3d-scanning-particle-accelerator-antscan

#antstodon

Antscan's 3D Scanning Reveals Ant Anatomy

How does a particle accelerator help us understand ants like never before?

IEEE Spectrum

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Peter Drake Sep 23, 2025

@futurebird The board game designers have your back.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/416079/march-of-the-ants-evolved-edition

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/446699/ants

(I have not played either of these games ... yet.)

#BoardGames #ants #antstodon

March of the Ants: Evolved Edition

Expand your colony and evolve your ants in this fast playing 4X nature game.

BoardGameGeek

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neville park Sep 15, 2025

Anyway here's the ant nuptial flights I found. The workers are tiny, like, 1mm or something. I think they are the same species? They resemble citronella ants, but much smaller and not as yellow. *Lasius*? *Brachymyrmex*?

I did also see another kind of alate so multiple species are likely having mating flights right now.

#antstodon #insects #ants #Hymenoptera #Formicidae

neville park Sep 17, 2024

_Lasius_ nuptial flight day!!! _L. neoniger_, I'm pretty sure. These are some of the most common ants I see, but I'd never seen a nuptial flight till now.

I found an alate the moment after she detached her wings!

#bugstodon #antstodon #insects #ants • #Hymenoptera #Formicidae #Lasius

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zungi Jun 14, 2024

@natureworks
"#Antstodon" should be a tag which gets decent use.

inwit Apr 21, 2024

Hi, @futurebird! What do you think of the cutest flatmates I ever had? They are around 1.5mm long and help me clean the kitchen every day... could you help in determining their species?

#antsOfMastodon #ants #antstodon #nature

David Epithet Sep 23, 2023

Pilifera-group big-headed ant (Complex Pheidole pilifera). Lakeview Mountains, yesterday.

#nature #NaturePhotography #bugs #insects #ants #antstodon #hymenoptera #bugstodon #SouthernCalifornia #insektenSamstag

neville park Sep 22, 2023

_Lasius_ nuptial flight in High Park the other day! The small bright yellow workers solicitously coax the winged reproductives out of the nest so they can take flight, mate, and found nests of their own.

These yellow ants have always creeped me out a bit. Their holes are very large, big enough to put your finger into, but the ants never seem to go in and out; they sit clustered just inside the entrance.

Apparently many _Lasius_ species live entirely underground tending root-feeding aphids and are only seen at the surface for nuptial flights. Maybe that's what I've been seeing—the workers waiting to escort the alates out.

#bugstodon #antstodon #insects #ants #Hymenoptera #Formicidae #macro 🐜