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  2. Her Royal Highness

Her Royal Highness

By awild on September 8, 2009.

Crematogaster lineolata queen with a retinue of workers. (Vermillion River Observatory, Illinois)

Crematogaster lineolata queen with a retinue of workers. (Vermillion River Observatory, Illinois)

This weekend we took a trip with some entomology students to the Vermillion River Observatory.  The astronomical function of the observatory has long been abandoned, but the site remains as a lovely nature reserve and one of the closest patches of decent forest habitat to where we live in Champaign-Urbana.

The acrobat ant Crematogaster lineolata was one of many ants we encountered, and in this nest the queen was right up near the surface.  She lingered long enough for me to get a few shots before she disappeared into the labyrinth of tunnels.

photo details: Canon mp-e 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D

ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper

Tags
ants
macrophotography
Photography
queen ants
social insects

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