From "Life in the Undergrowth", perhaps the finest insect documentary ever made, a scene featuring Australia's intertidal ants:
A few years back I traveled through northern Queensland with myrmecologists Phil Ward and Gary Alpert. Having heard about the aquatic abilities of these ants, we searched for them in a mangrove forest just outside the Cairns airport while waiting for our flight. After a bit of looking, Phil found a foraging trail of large black ants going up a mangrove trunk.
We dropped a few into the water below, and sure enough- swimming ants! It's a remarkable behavior.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
[a guest post by myrmecologist Andrea Lucky]
Andrea & her intrepid field team in New Guinea
It was a dark and stormy night...
...actually, it was a dark and stormy morning. The dawn of the 7th day of ceaseless frigid rain to be precise, and I was reminiscing about the grand old days one week…
A Crematogaster ant is held up by a kleptoparasitic Milichia patrizii ant-mugging fly.
Last July, while wandering about the coastal forests of St. Lucia in eastern South Africa, I happened across an intriguing scene half-way up a spiny Acacia trunk. Some diminutive gray flies were pestering a…
Those of you who haven't got an ad blocker installed have probably seen this ant floating about in a promotional banner in the ScienceBlogs sidebar:
I can't speak for how others react to this image. Most, I imagine, filter it out as yet more clutter on the screen. But for a picture of an insect…
Daceton boltoni Azorsa & Sosa-Calvo 2008
Iquitos, Peru
If I had to make a list of the most beautiful ants in the world, the honey-colored trap-jaw ant Daceton armigerum would be near the top. Daceton is an unmistakable insect: large, graceful, spiny, with bulging eyes and a heart-shaped head…
Pretty stunning footage, and I do wholeheartedly agree with you regarding endorsement of the documentary.
Now we know the origin of the Australian crawl. :)
Awesome indeed. Love all 5 episodes of it.
It's fabulous to see them actually swim! Very nice indeed. And when you hear the commentator you can't be surpriced because all his documentaries are very good!
Very nice video.
BTW, I saw an episode of the new Discovery "Life" series that had qutie a bit of ant footage -- Might be worth looking up for this feature in the future. I seem to recall a "fail" that could be discussed. Somehow, Oprah doesn't quite live up to the standard of Sir David, but at least she's got to be good for drawing in new audience members for this grand show of life on Earth.
Astounding. What a wonderful adaptation; I'd never heard of this species before. Thanks for the video!
I have a mental image of you hopping on a Qantas flight covered in that nice black mangrove mud!
These are very cool ants indeed.
How on earth do they get that footage? Astounding. Inside a sunken nest! Waterproof, macro lenses? Mind boggling.
Hello Alex,
I have not ever heard about this type of ants. They have quality of swimming,then definitely it is very exciting for me,because i love knowing something special and innovative in nature.
Thanks for sharing it.
Oprah doesn't quite live up to the standard of Sir David, but at least she's got to be good for drawing in new audience members for this grand show of life on Earth.
Somehow, Oprah doesn't quite live up to the standard of Sir David, but at least she's got to be good for drawing in new audience members for this grand show of life on Earth.