Prenolepis imparis - winter ant (queen)
Urbana, Illinois
Photo details: Canon mp-e 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f13, 1/250 sec, diffused flash
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A velvet mite forages over a rotting log in Urbana, Illinois.
I don't photograph all that many mites, but if these miniature arachnids are your thing you should visit Macromite's amazing mite blog.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f13, flash…
Pyramica clypeata
Urbana, Illinois
photo details: Canon mp-e 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper
Prenolepis imparis - The Winter Ant
Champaign, Illinois
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon 20D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper
Looking like a trilobite, or perhaps a mutant millipede, a heavily armored beetle larva crawls through the leaf litter in an Illinois forest.  This predaceous insect belongs to the family Lycidae Lampyridae, the net-winged beetles fireflies.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a…
Is Prenolepis more closely related to Lasius and/or Brachymyrmex than to other formicines, or are the similarities just secondary? I mean, they both have tiny males and tiny workers, and their queens also do look similar.
More closely related to Nylanderia and Paratrechina. Trouble is, most non-parasitc formicine queens look a lot alike, one of the reasons for mainly worker-based ant taxonomy.