Formica integroides wood ants tending pine aphids (California, USA)
Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS D60.
ISO 100, f/13, 1/200 sec, twin flash diffused through tracing paper
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Here's an old shot from the files:
Formica aerata- the grey field ant- California
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS D60
ISO 100, 1/200 sec, f/13, flash diffused through tracing paper
 Formica accreta, Northern California
I wish I could say I knew what these ants were doing. Hiding from the photographer, perhaps? Formica of the fusca species group are notoriously shy insects, but not all of these ones seemed to be equally spooked.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x …
Trichodes ornatus, the ornate checkered beetle. California.
Don't let the pretty colors fool you. Trichodes ornatus, like many checkered beetles, is a fierce predator whose larvae attack the young of wood-boring insects.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS D60
ISO 100…
Ceruchus piceus - Stag Beetle - New York
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS D60
ISO 100, 1/200 sec, f/13, flash diffused through tracing paper
That is a magnificent shot! Only this year did I notice ants moving about my patio day and night, and come to find out they were tending aphids in the bushes outside my patio fence. That's how I found your blog: doing some research on who the ants were, who the aphids were, and what the two were doing in my shrubs. Though the IDs still elude me, I did find an explanation for their conspiracy via your work--and that's a huge step forward from where I started. Now I at least can appreciate their tireless activities as a form of survival whilst I bang my head against the wall for some names.
Thanks Jason! Glad to hear the story of how you ended up in my comments section.
This photo is actually an older shot I took 5 years ago, forgot about, and then found it again this morning. What I like most about it is the crypsis of the aphids in the shot. You'd hardly be able to tell they were there but for the attention of the ants.