I believe I can Fly

[stingrey]

Hi all,

Just want to share this Winged-Ant taken few days ago.
Just wished the shadows was not too obvious. Did not take to much shot as this Ant was very active and after a while leave me alone because She Really can Fly.


Happy New Year to everybody.

[tchuanye]

Nice and sharp Rey! Good to see you posting here again to share your works with the rest!

[stingrey]

CY,
Thanks for your comment.
Been very busy the past few weeks.

[Garion]

Nice stuff, sharp and good exposure.

[stingrey]

Thanks Steven.

[melvynyeo]

Nice pict! What beautiful wings

Thanks for sharing.

Ps the shadows does not bother me.

[stingrey]

Thanks Melvyn.

[BobCheong]

Wonderful shot Stingrey! Nicely exposed and tack sharp!

[stingrey]

Thanks Bob.

[stingrey]

Manage to find some info.

To tell the truth, such winged ants are young individuals that will mate in the near future, and the wings are used at the time of their nuptial flight.
Young female and male ants of the Camponotus japonicus species grow in the nests and become adults with four wings each autumn. These adults pass the winter in the nests and crawl out of there. These female and male ants will then mate with each other.

Mating will take place in the evening of a muggy day. To begin with, male ants will take off flying into the air as they are lighter than the females. Females, which have larger and heavier bodies, take off from a blade of grass or stones as if they have leapt from there.

Female Ants fly toward a male ant by trailing the pleasant odor that he releases. In this context, it can be said that wings play a crucial role in the mating of ants. A male ant of the Camponotus japonicus species, will fall to die after mating.

On the other hand, wings are useless for workers because they do not mate.

Queen - The queen begins her life with wings, which she uses while mating. After mating with a male ant (or many males), she flies to her nesting area. She then loses her wings and spends her life laying eggs.

Workers - Workers are the many sterile (non-reproducing), wingless female worker ants who are the daughters of the queen. These workers collect food and feed members of the colony, defend the colony, and enlarge the nest. Most of the ants in a colony are workers.

Soldiers - Soldiers are large workers (sterile females) who defend the colony and often raid other colonies, capturing slaves.

Males - Males are small ants that have wings. They fly from the colony to mate with a queen. They die soon afterwards.

[Pixelated]

Nice shot, good exposure and very sharp.
Very good write-up also.
Thanks for sharing those info.

[stingrey]

Thanks for your comment.
Just manage to find those info and think it was good to let everybody knows.

[Pixelated]

Agree with you Stingrey.
It's good to know and find out some comments about our picture for improvement. But... it will be better if we can also find out some info about the subject to raised our awareness about them.

Appeciate very much your effort in digging info to share us here.
Thanks for sharing.

[stingrey]

Thanks.

[Pixelated]

Don't mind sharing your set-up.?
Camera, lens, etc...

[stingrey]

Originally Posted by Pixelated Don't mind sharing your set-up.? Camera, lens, etc...

My set up.
Nikon DSLR, S180mm f3.5, SB800 on Wimberley Flash Bracket.

Originally Posted by alucard time for me to post "that photograph" Rey?

AW,

[cerebrus]

Great shot! Ants are way to fast for my cam, have never been able too get a decent shot of them.

If I am not mistaken, some queen ants bite off their wings. Their bodies then dissolve their own wing muscles, to provide sustenance while their first batch of eggs hatch.

[knowknow]

[stingrey]

Thanks Cerebrus and knowknow.