Heavy Load
A couple of harvester ant workers labouring on the promenade at Olhão. I'm pretty sure they belong to the Genus Messor, but am less sure of the species. They don't have brown heads so they are not Messor barbarus, a widespread pest in Iberia. My best guess is that they are Messor bouvieri.
In common with many harvester ants the workers come in a range of sizes. The smallest locate food sources and lay trails whilst the medium and large sizes drag food back to the nest. The larger ant in this shot is about 7-8mm long - about half the size of its sunflower seed load. The seeds were being dragged back to a newly excavated nest entrance that had caused obvious damage to the cobbled surface of the promenade.
Heavy Load
A couple of harvester ant workers labouring on the promenade at Olhão. I'm pretty sure they belong to the Genus Messor, but am less sure of the species. They don't have brown heads so they are not Messor barbarus, a widespread pest in Iberia. My best guess is that they are Messor bouvieri.
In common with many harvester ants the workers come in a range of sizes. The smallest locate food sources and lay trails whilst the medium and large sizes drag food back to the nest. The larger ant in this shot is about 7-8mm long - about half the size of its sunflower seed load. The seeds were being dragged back to a newly excavated nest entrance that had caused obvious damage to the cobbled surface of the promenade.