Not sure the world needs yet more photographs of leafcutter ants carrying leaves, but I thought this one turned out pretty good.
Atta cephalotes, from Colombia.
@alexwild better than the Eiffel tower!
"Not sure the world needs yet more photographs of leafcutter ants carrying leaves"
Whaaaa-aaat? How could you say such a thing!
(I love the way she has her antennae drooped down. Their posture doing this is endlessly fascinating to me. )
I have this crazy idea for an art project and it would be a wall of photos, studio portraits of ants. Every single ant in an entire colony. And in there somewhere you'd have the queen. Maybe they could all have little frames too and nameplates? (might be too much)
But just so you could see them all at once.
(To keep it reasonable maybe do a bull ant colony... But leaf cutters could be hilarious. One would need a very large wall.)
@futurebird @alexwild You want to do a nest yearbook?
That’s adorable.
Exactly!
It'd probably stress the ants out too much. But if I think of a way to do it or see a chance where it makes sense...
@futurebird @alexwild I mean this comment with all good will: I see a connection between your profound awareness of and empathy for each individual ant, and your earlier post about your own school experience. You’re able to see each ant as an *individual*, not just a unit in a big machine, and that level of both observation and empathy is really beautiful.
(No offence meant, as I don’t mean to trivialize your own experience.)
@futurebird Oohhhhhhh I love it.
@futurebird @alexwild not wild at all. The 'typology' photography series is a long-standing tradition in contemporary art. Popularised first by the Bechers https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/bernd-becher-and-hilla-becher-718/who-are-bechers
@futurebird @alexwild which is a long way of saying do it
@alexwild the world knows no bounds on leafcutter ant photography
@alexwild What a beautiful shot, well done!
@alexwild
And what do the ants do with the leaves after they cut them?
They leave them everywhere.
Okay, I ant sticking around, I'll leave.
@alexwild I wonder if they ever let the wind catch it and go for a little ride.
@alexwild I can assure you that the world definitely need more photographs of leafcutter ants carrying leaves.
I mean at least I need more photographs of them and when the internet thought me one thing: When you're interested in something, there's a distinct group of people that is also interested in it.
@alexwild
I want to see one of a leafcutter ant holding a leaf insect, as if by mistake.