Usually I don't post things older than the late Palaeolithic period, but #insects embedded in amber never cease to amaze me - the sheer age!
This ant preserved in its finest detail is some 50-million-year old.
Found in Gujarat, India.
📷 Photo: University of Bonn
@ninawillburger You should add a little text bubble saying "Oh, bollocks". It's probably the last thing he thought.
Edit: he was a she.
How can you tell? (sorry, I'm totally ignorant when it comes to...well any biology🤦)
@FandaSin @davep @ninawillburger
How can you tell the sex of an ant? Generally if the ant has no wings it's female. All worker ants are female. Male ants are very rare and in most species they will have wings. So if you see an ant without wings (most ants) it's female.
If you see an ant that has wings it's called an "alate" there is a 50/50 chance it's female in that case. Queen alates tend to have larger heads, male alates have very small heads and big eyes.
Bees are also mostly female.
@futurebird @FandaSin @davep @ninawillburger
Every june, near the solstice, the ants who lived under my cottage and kept the termites away would have a flight. The archway to my porch would be arc’s with alates and attendants.
I’d sit with them and watch
Nina Willburger
David Penfold 
myrmepropagandist
FandaSin
Medea Vanamonde 🏳️⚧️