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Project Noah Nature School
Formica obscuripes
This is two separate ant nest that have merged and formed a supercolony. The nest on the left is just under 5 feet tall and the other is about 4 feet tall. Together their diameter is about 13 feet. Also their nest continues underground to about 4 feet - pretty impressive by any nest standards. They typically build their nest close to or next to fir trees so they can easily gather the needles for nest building. Ant runs radiate from the nest in all directions and over time these runs become like miniature game trails - easily spotted. Just don't be standing in it when it's active.
Spotted in a wooded area in Federal Way, WA.
Spotted on Sep 4, 2017
Submitted on Sep 24, 2017
3 Comments
I don't know, but I would love to see it if there is one.
Wow Brian! Really amazing. I wonder if they've ever done a plaster copy of one of these nests (where they pour plaster or hot metal into the nest, let it harden and then dig it up).
Whoa! Ant mansions! They are huge! There must be over 100,000 ants in there. Crazy cool.