#ponerinae

[norfolknaturalist]

Ponera pennsylvanica in my backyard, June 2018. Ponerine ants (the subfamily that includes this ant) are very primitive wih respect to other ant groups. Most of their colonies are small (less than 100 workers, which may seem like a lot until you realize that many ants have colonies of at least 1000). There is often little difference between queen and worker, whereas in more "advanced" ant groups, the queens are highly distinctive. Ponera pennsylvanica hunts arthropods in the soil and nests in a variety of locations: leaf litter/stumps/soil of forests, bogs or moist fields. In this case, the ant was spotted in the remains of an old doghouse in our backyard, which is why the background is so strange (decayed carpet). . . . . . . . #myrmecology #ponerapennsylvanica #ponera #ponerinae #antscanada #macrophotography #macrowildlife #macroworld #invert_macro #insects_of_our_world #evolution #entomology #antsofinstagram #norfolkwild #norfolkcounty #blognorfolk #simcoeontario (at Simcoe, Ontario) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBGb4KtgEl8/?igshid=14rqxatkmm72y

[ants853]

My fantastic new capture!! An Trap Jaw ant queen (Odontomachus simillimus) with two larvae. While looking for isopods at night, i was turning over a set of bricks in my garden, and I found this fantastic queen. Odontomachus have really taken over half of the garden area. The garden is filled with small spiders, isopods, crickets, roaches, millipedes. Guess today I will have to go looking for baby crickets 😅 #odontomachussimillimus #odontomachus #ponerinae #antsofthailand #trapjaw #ants #螞蟻 #fourmis #ameisen #μυρμήγκια #formiche #hormigas #formigas #муравьи #アリ #macro #myrmecology #antsofinstagram #ant #antkeeping #antnest #formicarium #eusocial #bugsofinstagram #formicidae #entomology #macrophotography #insects #antcolony (at สุรนารีวิลล์ บ้านเกาะ) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrT6gaxgteg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=165idgsab3nfn

[ants853]

An alate Odontomachus Queen. I caught this queen on my garden, a residential area inside Nakhon Ratchasima city. It is not the typical primary forest where I am used to find these ponerine ants. It is quite awkward, but half of my garden is swarming with Odontomachus workers 😅 I am guessing it has enough arthropods to sustain them! #odontomachus #ponerinae #antsofthailand #trapjaw #🐜 #ants #螞蟻 #fourmis #ameisen #μυρμήγκια #formiche #hormigas #formigas #муравьи #アリ #macro #myrmecology #antsofinstagram #ant #antkeeping #antnest #formicarium #eusocial #bugsofinstagram #formicidae #entomology #macrophotography #insects #antcolony (at สุรนารีวิลล์ บ้านเกาะ) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrRSPVUleCb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1822um44w0kus

[addicted2wasps]

This is a completely made-up wasp that I had fun designing! It's a hybrid of a Dasymutilla, Pepsis and Paraponera. The idea behind it, was to create an insect with the ultimate sting. I named it: Paradasepsis gigas. Here is a sketch of a female preying upon a Vespa mandarinia. The concept is that they prey on social Hymenoptera. They would be introduced to the Orient to help control the population of Japanese hornets to benefit beekeepers and local residents. The female will ambush a foraging hornet on the wing and sting it behind the head in order to paralyze it. She then digs a burrow, lays a single egg on the hornet's body, seals the burrow and within a 2 month period, a new wasp will emerge. She stuffs her burrow with 2-3 hornets as provision for her offspring. I’m in the process of designing the male too. He will be Brachypterous, have enlarged tarsi, a slimmer gaster, straight antennae and yellow hairs. I also thought of this wasp having the ability to enter beehives and mimic/behave like a queen bee like Acherontia, to confuse the worker bees. Once the wasp has carte blanche, it enters the hive and steals some honey, but doesn't actually hurt the bees.