Seems like ants have taken a back seat to other things this year. Regardless, here are a few of my favorite photographs from 2014.
Even missing a leg, a Pogonomyrmex warrior is ready to defend her nest.
Not sure what these Solenopsis workers are finding so interesting on rush milkweed buds.
Sometime I wasn’t intending to feature ants. For example, I was more interested in the delicate Thurber’s cotton flower than the rover ant visiting the nectary.
Like other cotton plants, the Thurber’s cotton also has extrafloral nectaries that attract ants.
Nothing is more exciting than finding princess ants about to swarm after the first rains of summer.
How about Messor pergandei taken at my favorite place to visit ants? (A good place to look for ants if you don’t mind dodging mountain bikes, that is. )
Do you have an end-of-the-year post of nature photographs? Feel free to share your link in the comments.