Archetype

Giant Bronze Ants

Artist Susan P. Cochran has created a fascinating set of giant ants as part of her insect series of bronze sculptures.

I particularly like the balance between anatomical detail and artistic interpretation, as one can recognize in the sculptures all the essential characteristics of an ant.

Part of her inspiration, she explains, comes from the social nature of ants, something she reflects in the composition of an egg-laying queen being attended by three workers.

The impression in real life must be fantastic. I hope some Museum of Natural History of similar research institution decides to purchase and display some of this work at their entrance yard.

› Continue reading

Tags: Ants, Art

Homology Weekly: Acidopore

Acidopore of a Formica fusca worker (Scanning Electron Micrograph, Roberto Keller/AMNH)

It is popular knowledge that ants secrete formic acid. What most people don’t know is that only a well-defined subgroup of species have this capacity. Female ants in the subfamily Formicinae have an acid producing gland that sprays its content through a special opening at the rear end of their abdomens, aptly called the acidopore. › Continue reading

Tags: Acidopore, Ants, Formic Acid, Formica, Morphology