Ants in blue pants

[fossil finder]

Wasn't sure where to post this but here seems appropriate. The other day we were out camping near Moree and had just returned to the van after fossicking around for suiseki specimens around dusk. We poured some wine and sat back in the camp chairs to watch the sunset when I noticed alot of rather large ants closing in around us. I remembered a previous experience where placed an apple core placed near our tent to distract hungry ants from eating us alive so I did the same again. They ignored the apple core and seemed more interested in my toenails! Despite the strange behaviour they didn't bite but soon turned their attenion to a blue plastic shopping bag I had used to carry stones in and before we knew we were transfixed by minature centurians dismantling the bag and carrying off pieces back to the nest over 15m away. There was a storm rumbling around at the time so maybe they were going for the blue tarps?

[Jarad]

Arthropod SES preparing for potential storm damage?

[Pearcy001]

How cool! I really wish I knew what they were making now haha

[Theodore]

That's so cool Fossil Finder. Thanks for posting!


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[peterb]

Hey F/F that's quite fascinating , thanks for sharing . Wish we knew what they were doing with it.
Peterb

[wattynine]

And great shots as well, excellent macro.
Maybe insulating parts of the nest?
Watty

[Phoenix238]

Fascinating behavior and excellent photo's

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