damondeionno: Pictures of ants from Madagascar (21. Nov 2007 15:45)

I spent some time in Madagascar right at the end of 2006. I particularly enjoyed a visit to Marojejy national park which contains a variety of montane rainforest. Marojejy only has about 300 visitors per year, and half of these are academics. It's extremely remote and contains a large number of endemic species, and that's within Madagascar where 80%+ species are endemic. I thought I might share some of the ant pics that I took. Please keep in mind a number of factors which meant getting really great pics was difficult.

1. The terrain was extremely tough, and the conditions less than ideal. This meant that my girlfriend and I were pushed to our physical limits. Sometimes tiredness took precedence over getting good focus.

2. We didn't have the camera we have now.

3. We were constantly being attacked by leeches. If you stood still, they crawled up your legs. It was too hot for full trousers.

damondeionno: (21. Nov 2007 15:53)

Large Odontomachus species

damondeionno: (21. Nov 2007 15:57)

Same species. Poor focus, but you can see the 2 sensory hairs that trigger the mandibles, if you look closely. These ants would've been approx. 15mm in length.

damondeionno: (21. Nov 2007 16:07)

At one point I saw a small swarm raid by what I believed to be an Amblypone species. About 50 ants gradually moved as a swarm in an amoeba like fashion. They then attacked an Odontomachus nest which was concealed under the leaflitter. The Odontomachus workers responded by rapidly leaving the nest carrying whatever brood they could and retreated 50 cm or so and waited still. The worker in this picture is holding 2 eggs in it's long mandibles.

damondeionno: (21. Nov 2007 16:13)

I would estimate that the Odontomachus nest only contained 20 or so workers. Here you can see some of the Amblypone ants in their swarm. One of them is carrying an oddly shaped Odontomachus larvae. I presume they were going to eat it, along with the rest of the brood they captured.

damondeionno: (21. Nov 2007 16:16)

Close up of larvae

damondeionno: (21. Nov 2007 16:21)

Odontomachus from below

damondeionno: (21. Nov 2007 16:27)

I believe these ants to be Crematogaster (please correct me if I'm wrong). They lived in large carton nests in trees. The flower to the left in this picture is a wild ginger. These ants were more often seen at higher altitudes.

damondeionno: (21. Nov 2007 16:36)

Crematogaster carton nest. Approx 80 cm x 50 cm

damondeionno: (21. Nov 2007 16:38)

There were many, many other species of ants. Numerous different pheidole, camponotus etc. But I didn't get good pics of most of them.