Tag: insects
Ants, side gate video???
We have a side gate rarely used. Ants go across the top of it to go up the wall. I assume they are harvesting guano from the bats that are sometimes in residence there.
I opened the gate the other day and, noting the ants’ confusion, left it overnight to see how they resolved the issue the next day.
Next day, I forgot about it. Until our dog joined us in the nearby park. I had left the front gate open, and the rear sliding glass door, and it hadn’t taken him long to figure out he could push the side gate open.
The ants had established a new route along the ground, but the old scent pathway was still there and so a few made it out on the gate, only to have to turn around and go back.
I closed the gate again. Have at it, ants!
(I left the sound because at times it has been so noisy lately.)
A critter on the dog walk yesterday.
Las hormigas locas
The crazy ants. As soon as a foreign “invader” stick is added, they’re all over it – immediately!
Ant hills
The ants have been busy lately in our dog walk area. For some reason, sand beneath the surface is a different color, making the hills particularly conspicuous. I find it interesting how many of them have appeared.
I don’t think they’re always there. Do they appear and disappear, like the several kinds of frogs, from one day to the next?
We also spotted a little snake, ~ 25 cm long, that all six dogs (happily) didn’t notice. From a clump of grass, it zipped between my legs to the safety of a nearby hole. No photo. Happened in seconds.
So how many ant species are there in Uruguay? I’m not counting.
How many ant species do you think there are in the world? Seriously, take a guess, then click here.
Monsters in the yard
Our friend Gundy sent photos of a monster caterpillar in their yard. I had some incredibly camouflaged tomato hornworms a few years ago in my first garden here. I actually pointed to them from less than a meter away, and people couldn’t see them!
But this – wow.
She also sent a couple links about caterpillars:
Fotos de orugas (just learned a new Spanish word if you were paying attention 😉
Why you might not want to pick up that cute fuzzy caterpillar