Ah! I forgot to tag @insectessociaux.bsky.social !

If I have my timelines correct, Ed had moved on to Harvard by this point. Walter Tschinkel writes on the fire ant wars quite well in his 2006 book The Fire Ants, one of my all-time favorites.

Finally, we have males. These look more similar to wasps than ants, and bear small wing spots on the outer margins, near the abdomen

This is all in service to the family. She has a mother and plenty of sisters and juveniles to feed. The queens are almost indistinguishable, bearing wing scars on the larger thorax and an abdomen ready for oviposition. Can you spot her?

Without hope, this worker #termite fights back against it's predator, biting her leg. Ultimately, the needle ant beats the crap out of it. Literally.

Any camponotus alates or is it still too early?