Neivamyrmex bohlsi. Image by: Alexander Wild (www.alexanderwild.com)

Ever watched ants forage for food? No? Do not fret then, for I have already done it for you. One afternoon on a partly cloudy day, I went to a local park and observed some rather small, vicious-looking red ants (order Hymenoptera, family Formicidae) as they traveled on the concrete of the sidewalk. Nearby was a field of grass, where their home probably was. What interested me about these ants was the way they traveled. There were two apparent intermixing groups of the same ants traveling in opposite directions, which can be seen in the rough diagram below. (more…)