Field number NAM2011-184. Nest in soil in farmyard. Photographed by Duncan Robertson.
This Ocymyrmex worker was photographed single-handedly carrying this dead Camponotus fulvopilosus worker (see associated observation) back to the nest. Photographed by Duncan Robertson.
Nest in soil under rock. Field number NAM2011-286. Photographed by Duncan Robertson.
Almost missed her with the sunset back lighting this beauty, G. permeabilis!
The bug is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/127365954
DCIM\100GOPRO\GOPR0404.JPG
kicked over in molerat mound
with @jamesmorton
Male in foreground, female in background:
Woodhall 2020, p. 158
This is Xysmalobium rhodanthum but the dictionary will not accept the name
On the key it appears this species is the largest of the Malagasy small Bothroponera species, overlapping in size with the smallest of the large, which is a bit of a contradiction. They are quite large ants, so I was surprised to learn there are larger species.
Dug up from a ground nest by myself and Malalatiana Andrianantenaina. They sting hard!
I'm somewhat sure this is mysticum since queens were flying, but I'm having trouble distinguishing from M. rogeri. The clypeus looks round enough for mysticum...
Extracted from under the bark of a dead log. Log had been pointed out to me by Fielisy "Fidel" Bemaheva, who is an extremely knowledgeable old hand at Madagascar ants.
CRG 1224
Caterpillar: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/103264271
Photo taken by Hayden Loffler
Tree with "sweet" sap; attracting many insects.
Flowers with pollinators and other visitors. See Shuttleworth & Johnson 2008 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2008.00418.x
This small, very striated black Polyrhachis (a very groovy ant... ) was found in Eastern coastal belt forest. Measures 6.8 - 7mm. Appears to be arboreal. I found 2 nests on the trunks (large branch in one case) of 2 different large, established trees. Both nests had a short, tubular nest entrance fashioned from grass/fibers somehow meshed together (see photos). The one nest was under bark and moss and the other extended into a superficial envelope - like pouch made against the side of the tree which was smooth without a thick bark. I have correlated with Antwiki and Antweb and it is an excellent match. Ants of SA p95.
The minors of C braunsi (see other post for Majors). The description in ants of SA p54 for this species is perfect. I found these minors slowly meandering up and down a tree trunk at the edge of Eastern coastal belt forest. Not only did they look like Cataulacus as suggested in Ants of SA but they occurred with Cataulcus on the same trunk. These minors were about the same size as the Cataulacus measuring in the 4-5mm range. The minors have slightly narrower heads than the majors that are not as heavily pitted and the anterior edge of the pronotum is very acute. The block-like propodeal hump / saddle is quite something!
my favorite find of this years trip!
See her swinging her bolas: https://youtu.be/DKMrKwTNV5k
Some more wonderful photos of this lady by photographers much better then moi. She is quite a celebrity!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/101951926508391/permalink/4394361263934081/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/101951926508391/permalink/4397220953648112/
3 whorled leaves, bases adnate
Mooi River Highlands Grassland
Mantid-egg parasitic wasplets magically appear on ootheca as the tiny nymphs are hatching.
Seemed to ignore the nymphs, but crawled all over the otheca, presumably trying to sniff-out unhatched eggs?
See Ootheca: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/91706572
: الملاحظ
Allal Fadili
: تحرير
Reptiles Mag - مـجـلـة الـزواحـف
On thin soil over rock
With Roger Hogg’s permission to contribute to Palmiet Nature Reserve project.
About 30cm long in Strandveld vegetation
Short sturdy stems up to 200 mm, growing on Sekhukhune heavy mineralised soils.
These ants usually roam around solitary or in small numbers. This is an unusual observation of about 300 ants congregating to engage in what appears to be a mock battle. They are surely capable of crushing each other with their large mandibles but over an 18-hour intermittent observation period not a single ant appeared to be injured.
They wrestled all afternoon and through the night, slowly dispersing early the next morning. The only casualty was a smaller Droptail Ant that wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time.