ANTSTORE World of Ants

[damondeionno]

Hey people

My missus has just booked a holiday in rural Turkey for June. Due to financial limitations and trying to get our respective businesses up and running, we haven't been anywhere since Diving in Egypt and the Madagascar trip 2 years ago.

Obviously I will be spending a lot of time photographing and studying the local Ant fauna. Does anyone have any tips about nice ants I might expect to see? Websites so I can start reading up? etc. Or will it be much like other bits of Southern Europe (still good for a Londoner), Cataglyphis, Messor structor/barbarus, Pheidole pallidula, Aphaenogaster senilis, crematogaster?

[JimmyVe]

I can't say which species are living there but like you said, i think most South European ants will pass your way.

[Moiser]

I went to Turkey in Feb, the weather was terrible but I did manage to see some kind of Cataglyphis running around.

[damondeionno]

Hey guys. Have now cancelled the Turkey trip. The good news is that we are going back to Madagascar in Dec instead.

[damondeionno]

Sure is. I was speaking to a guy I know in one of the reserves yesterday. I know it's a long time away, but Madagascar is very difficult logistically and you need to plan flights (internal flights) along way ahead to get a good deal. Also there are some big problems there politically at the moment. He was telling me that Brian Fisher was with them 2 weeks ago doing a survey and that they could take me to some of the places where he was observing Mystrium and other rare ponerines. I promise even more ant pics this time and a more thorough report than last time. Also they have been having some very bad problems with illegal loggers and bushmeat poachers. Armed men in the reserves mean that they have had to close 2 of the country's most important ecological reserves to tourism and research. I have to say that when I read the news it nearly made me cry. Apparently they have armed government soldiers there now to try and get the situation under control and things look better, so they are hoping to open things up in the next couple of months. Hopefully they haven't done too much damage to the forest or killed too many of the some of the world's rarest lemurs.