I am from a region in Germany called Lower Franconia- this is the place Bert Hölldobler talks about when he writes about his youth and experiences in "Journey to the Ants" and his other books. So Bert Hölldobler's old stomping grounds is basically where I live.
Today was a very nice day with sun out, so I went for a walk and took my camera along.
I actually went out to collect some Isopods for my herb garden (soil improvement) but that was only semi- successful (I caught 4).
Anyways, even if my Isopod hunt was nothing to write home about, I was very successful finding quite a few different species of ants.
So I invite you to join me on a walk around my village, looking for ants!
Disclaimer- I am not an expert in identifying ants. So if I misidentified any of the species, please let me know!
I did NOT take any of the ants. Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints.
But if I had been inclined, there would have been quite a few wonderful opportunities.
Here are my collected Isopods:
I found a colony of wood ants Formica pratensis.
You have to love Formica- they have attitude!
I found their abandoned last years nest, but the new nest must have been in the paddock behind a electrified cattle fence. I love ants, but was not willing of braving an electric fence for this.
These girls were very busy caring for their aphid colonies on a wild cherry tree.
And again, they were very diligent on defending their cattle!
They had reason for doing so, because there were some parasitic wasps about!
I live in prime country for Acorn Ants (Temnothorax).
I am NOT making this up, but they are EVERYWHERE. Literally every acorn with a hole in it had a part of the acorn ant colony in it.
They are polydomus- meaning, they will settle in several different acorns close to each other, but they have only one queen.
I did NOT take this colony, I just collected all the corresponding acorns to show the whole colony together:
So when I said the other day I was very lazy that I bought a colony of Acorn Ants from the Antstore, this shows you just how lazy I had been- all it would have taken was a 20 minute walk.
Formica rufibarbis (or cunicularia? ) nesting at a sidewalk.
Lasius flavus under a log on a meadow
Lasius fuliginosus near some chopped wood piles- this species lives in dead wood
Formica cinerea under a piece of bark, you can even see the queen to the right:
Manica rubida, one of our largest Myrmicines
Not an ant, but the falcon that lives in our village church tower
I also picked up an unwanted hitchhiker-
this is a nymph of our most common tick, Ixodes ricinus (and these ticks love and adore me for some reason)
As you can see, there is quite a range of species around.
I am sure if I would spend more time and climb a few more fences, I could find several more.
Edited by Ernteameise, May 18 2023 - 6:00 AM.
