A Rainbow of Ant Larvae

On a recent trip to Colorado, I got to spend a few hours in the Rocky Mountains at about 7500 feet. It was an ant lovers paradise. Virtually ever stone I flipped had a colony of ants under it. I found six different species in no time flat.

Although I tried to disturb them as little as possible, I was struck by the range of sizes, shapes and colors of the larvae, so I did manage to snap a few photographs.

The larvae in this case were white. Do you see the egg stack next to the larva at the bottom towards the middle? I’m pretty sure that one is about to have a snack.

Under a nearby rock, some of the larvae and pupae were bright yellow.

These were orange. In contrast, the eggs on the left are the usual white.

This was a different nest, but the larvae are the same orange color.

It was fascinating to see so many colors of larvae in one place. Wish I could have spent a couple of days there.

This is the view those ants have 🙂