Subscription Center
Alex Wild is an Illinois-based entomologist who studies the evolutionary history of ants. In 2003 he founded a photography business as an aesthetic complement to his scientific work, and his natural history photographs appear in numerous museums, books, and media outlets. Follow on Twitter @myrmecos.
Alex Wild is an Illinois-based entomologist who studies the evolutionary history of ants. In 2003 he founded a photography business as an aesthetic complement to his scientific work, and his natural history photographs appear in numerous museums, books, and media outlets. Follow on Twitter @myrmecos.
Chicago's Middlefork Savanna is among the world's last remaining tallgrass oak savannas
I hope you’ll forgive a post with no point other than to share a few photos.
Yesterday I drove to Chicago in search of an ant I’d not yet photographed for an Ants of North America project. The ant is the charismatic Dolichoderus mariae, a species that isn’t actually all that rare but seems to magically elude me every time I go looking for it. Other entomologists have recorded D. mariae from the area, so I figured I had a good shot at finding some.
The Middlefork reserve hosts a beautiful landscape of tallgrass savanna and restored prairie. While the insect fauna I encountered was indeed plentiful and diverse, my precious Dolichoderus stayed frustratingly out of sight. I was ultimately unsuccessful.
Still, the trip wasn’t a complete wash. Below are a few non-target photos from the afternoon:
Formica montana tending Publilia treehoppers for honeydew. A dominant ant of the northern prairies, yet one I'd not previously photographed.
Formica montana worker ant with Publilia nymphs
A Lytopylus wasp (Braconidae) lays an egg. These insects are parasites of seed-feeding moth larvae. (Thanks to Mike Sharkey for the ID)
Campylenchia latipes, the widefooted treehopper, is a thorn mimic.
The presence of the winter ant, Prenolepis imparis, suggests summer is at an end. Here, a worker tends aphids on the underside of a leaf.
I disturbed a nest of Crematogaster cerasi acrobat ants. The workers rushed in to rescue the exposed brood.
Goldenrod in full bloom
About the Author: Alex Wild is an Illinois-based entomologist who studies the evolutionary history of ants. In 2003 he founded a photography business as an aesthetic complement to his scientific work, and his natural history photographs appear in numerous museums, books, and media outlets. Follow on Twitter @myrmecos.
Rights & Permissions
Dissecting the controversy about early psychological response to disasters and trauma
What unconventional fuels tell us about the global energy system
Winning the War against Cervical Cancer
The SciArt Buzz: ScienceArt On Exhibit In May/June 2013
My Heart is in Oklahoma now #OklahomaStrong
An Unheralded Breakthrough: The Rosetta Stone of Mathematics
See what we're tweeting about
BecCrew Nature's @Scitable Blogs Network has relaunched with 10 new blogs: http://t.co/3NWFYIgF0X. Already a fan of Saltwater Science! #Scitable
DNLee5 “@Bashir_Course9: @journosofcolor: Writers of color are everywhere in journalism. Follow us. http://t.co/skTipNpqAw” even science?
BoraZ #SciAmBlogs Tuesday – Oklahoma, HPV, Weil’s postulate, immunity and reproduction, global energy, UK wallabies... http://t.co/z0uHERGwAD
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
Share
Email
Print
Add a Comment
You must sign in or register as a ScientificAmerican.com member to submit a comment.
Click one of the buttons below to register using an existing Social Account.