Ant Metamorphosis

August 4, 2009 by myrmecos

Here’s an image for the textbooks:

gracilis2 Ants, like butterflies, pass through egg, larva, and pupa phases on their way to adulthood. While in Florida earlier in this summer I found a nest of the twig ant Pseudomyrmex gracilis with brood present in all stages, providing the material to make these images.

The key was placing the developing ants on a glass slide. This provided distance between them and the cardboard background, so that the backdrop is blurred while the insects remain in sharp focus. These images are not what I’d call fine art, but I’m happy with them as solid illustrations of ant biology.

gracilis3

photo details (both photos): Canon mp-e 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f/11, 1/160 sec, twin flash diffused through tracing paper

Posted in Ants, Nature, Science | Tagged biology, development, metamorphosis, pseudomyrmex | 15 Comments

15 Responses

on August 4, 2009 at 10:15 am Roberto Keller

Fantastic!
on August 4, 2009 at 1:58 pm James C. Trager

For some reason, my first response to this is it makes me think that someone needs to write an introductory (i.e., children’s) book on ants with modern concepts and illustrated with modern fine photography. This could be a great inclusion in such.
on August 4, 2009 at 6:43 pm Tommy

I’d hang it on my wall.
on August 4, 2009 at 6:53 pm myrmecos

James- If you want to write one, I’ll supply the images!
on August 5, 2009 at 3:01 am liudvikas

The only thing it lacks is a queen laying eggs. 🙂 Also mating ants. 🙂
You should make some photos of the XXX action of the ant world. 🙂
on August 8, 2009 at 8:04 pm atheist of peace

So I am not the only person who takes pictures of ants then? Heya man thanks for posting this. Great pics. I would love to see more, and to learn more on the topic.
on August 9, 2009 at 1:03 am Marcus harman

Excellent idea about the microscope slide!
on August 9, 2009 at 6:22 pm Bug Girl

Very nice!
on August 11, 2009 at 6:43 am JerryCS

I’d like to see some information on the biology of this species.
on August 20, 2009 at 11:28 am Nagraj

that’s wonderful work and many thanks for sharing……..this is first time i am seeing different stages of ant life cycle…….all famous text books usually carry drosophila or butterfly images ………………is it possible to have a higher resolution of these images???

Thanks
on September 20, 2009 at 4:00 am Ian Atkinson

Nice picture. It certainly illustrates the insect’s life cycle very clearly.
on September 22, 2009 at 9:07 am wayne stratz

wonderful photo, used it to show metamorphosis in my zoology class
on November 8, 2009 at 6:26 am td

i do not see the stages in which ants grow written down
on March 4, 2010 at 10:34 pm Big Ant

I am still a college student majoring in Entomology. This is really awesome! Love your pictures and specific knowledge related to this microworld.
on September 16, 2010 at 7:01 pm peighton

i think its disgusting and gross i don’t like it