Bullet Ant Sting
The pain caused by this insect's sting is known to be greater than that of any other Hymenopteran, and is ranked as the most painful according to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, given a "4+" rating, above the tarantula hawk wasp.
It is described as causing "waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours". It is thought that the ant has evolved this way to ward off any predators who would normally unearth them....a paralyzing neurotoxic peptide isolated from the venom is poneratoxin, it affects voltage-dependent sodium ion channels and blocks the synaptic transmission in the insect central nervous system.
The Satere-Mawe people of Brazil use intentional bullet ant stings as part of their initiation rites to become a warrior.The ants are first rendered unconscious by submerging them in a natural sedative and then hundreds of them are woven into a glove made out of leaves (which resembles a large oven mitt), stinger facing inward. When the ants regain consciousness, a boy slips the glove onto his hand. The goal of this initiation rite is to keep the glove on for a full ten minutes. When finished, the boy's hand and part of his arm are temporarily paralyzed because of the ant venom, and he may shake uncontrollably for days. The only "protection" provided is a coating of charcoal on the hands, supposedly to confuse the ants and inhibit their stinging. To fully complete the initiation, however, the boys must go through the ordeal a total of 20 times over the course of several months or even years...macromicroextreme macrosextreme macromacrographyphotomacrographystackingapiladocloseupsnic320nico320nicolas reusensnatureinsectinsects
83 pictures Stacked in Zerene Stacker Pmax
This picture is a CELEBRATION of the 50.000 visits to my Flickr acount !
;)macromicroextreme macrosextreme macromacrographyphotomacrographystackingapiladocloseupsnic320nico320nicolas reusensnatureinsectinsects
182 pictures stacked in Zerene Stacker PMax
What are you waiting for...? ! ? !
;)
Yes, it´s a small Winged Aphid...macromicroextreme macrosextreme macromacrographyphotomacrographystackingapiladocloseupsnic320nico320nicolas reusensnatureinsectinsects
Cephalotini is a tribe of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Although they are wingless, biologists have observed them gliding.They will glide back to the trunk of their tree, which is much safer than the ground or water below. They are among a number of groups of gliding ants. They feed mainly on nectar and avian excretion.
Have Fun!
Cephalotini es una tribu de hormigas perteneciente a la subfamilia Myrmicinae. A pesar de que no tienen alas, los biólogos han observado que pueden planear saltando desde los árboles y controlando la dirección de la caÃda.Se deslizan nuevamente al tronco de su árbol, que es mucho más seguro que el suelo o el agua de abajo. Se encuentran entre una serie de grupos de hormigas voladoras. Se alimentan principalmente de néctar y excreción aviar.
This one took me like 4 hours of total work to get this result.....! Hope it was worth it ;)
128 pictures stacked
Around 7x magnification (microscope lens on bellows & 60D Canon)
Possibly Acromyrmex (THANK you very much Mr.DMX for the Id research !!!) ;)
Acromyrmex species have a hard outer covering called the exoskeleton, or cuticle. It functions as armour, protection against dangerous solar waves, an attachment base for internal muscles, and also prevents water loss. It is divided into three main parts; the head, thorax, and abdomen.
There is also a small segment between the thorax and abdomen called the petiole, which is split into two nodes in Acromyrmex species.
The antenna are the most important sense organs that Acromyrmex species possess and are jointed so that the ant can extend them forward when it wishes to investigate an object. They can retract them back over its head when in a dangerous situation, for example, a fight. Acromyrmex species have eyes but their eyesight is very poor.
Like all insects the eye is "compound", meaning that it is made up of many eyelets called ommatidia, the number of these eyelets varies according to species. In the worker castes male ants tend to have more ommatadia than other castes. The ocelli, which are generally found on top of the heads of queen Acromyrmex, are thought to aid aerial navigation by sunlight.
Acromyrmex are dark red in color. In addition to the standard ant anatomy, the back of the thorax has a series of spines which help them maneuver material such as leaf fragments on their backs.
Acromyrmex can be identified from the closely related Atta genus of leafcutter ants since they have 4 pairs of spines and a rough exoskeleton on the upper surface of the thorax.macromicroextreme macrosextreme macromacrographyphotomacrographystackingapiladocloseupsnic320nico320nicolas reusensnatureinsectinsects
64 pictures stacked in Zerene of this wonderful ant from the peruvian amazon
Possible Specie: Daceton Boltoni (Subfamily: Myrmicinae Genus: Daceton)macromicroextreme macrosextreme macromacrographyphotomacrographystackingapiladocloseupsnic320nico320nicolas reusensnatureinsectinsects
