An Ant Story

Description:

While hiking along an overgrown trail, I accidentally stepped on a small mound of soft earth about 24 cm across and felt my foot sink a little. Hundreds of ants immediately poured out of two slits and began to work on the footprint (pictures 1, 2 and 3). They were only interested in the area of soil damaged by my foot. An hour later when we returned, it was almost dark and they were still working. They had almost completely erased the shape of the footprint and were re-aerating the soil (pictures 4 and 5). I guess this must have been some type of aeration ceiling that was important to the nest structure.

Habitat:

Forest and secondary growth under the San Cristobal Bridge on the Highway between San Cristobal de Las Casas and Tuxtla Gutierrez, km 15, 1,500 meters.