Hi, @futurebird! What do you think of the cutest flatmates I ever had? They are around 1.5mm long and help me clean the kitchen every day... could you help in determining their species?
Today, on cool critters which share our planet, but which we seldom notice, let's meet the Pagoda ant (Crematogaster sp.).
These tree-dwelling ants are amongst those bugs which have pioneered the making of cardboard (much like the 'paper' wasps which build papery nests from chewed-up plant fiber).
Found in forests, woodland, and scrub jungles, but also in the parks and gardens of urban Mumbai, their large pagoda style nests are not only hard to miss, but also earn them the 'pagoda' moniker.
It's been a few days since I've opened the enclosure for her colony, so she must have been lost in the apartment for several days. She managed to not get eaten by a spider or by #pica! (yes Pica will eat ants)
I know it's hard to believe but I mostly keep this account to try to get people to watch my ant videos. (why I want people to watch ant videos is a question I can't really fathom...) I made a really good new video today with a time lapse that shows how heat sensitive Camponotus discolor are. They move their pupae constantly to maintain ideal development conditions.