3.07.2010

Underrated Ants

Keeping bees has greatly increased my appreciation for ants—not that I was ever bored by them. Like bees, ants are social insects that exhibit impressively complex behaviors and lead wildly diverse lives.Last summer I bought a cool ant-identification guide that, while difficult for a total amateur like myself to use, blew me away with the sheer variety of ants to be found in our North American backyards. This doesn't even begin to touch upon what's out there in other parts of the world—or the literally thousands of "undiscovered" species. How wonderful and appealing to be an undiscovered species in 2010; I like the sound of that!

This rather amazing video from The Smithsonian provides a "guided tour" of some of the more exotic and interesting ants out there. Enjoy!

2 comments:

Matthew said...

"The more we know, the more we are amazed." Shouldn't this be our mantra? Hmm, note the "ant" inside mantra.

Gerry Gomez Pearlberg said...

OOOOOooooo, the ant inside mantra! Now THAT is exciting! Good one!