Sep 142014
On my Piney Woods Church Road walk early this afternoon, I encountered a large ant, perhaps half an inch in length, on a blossom of American burnweed (Erechtites hieracifolia). So far this year, I have mostly avoided ants on my daily encounters, partly because most of the ones I see are tiny and very difficult to photograph, and partly because the word “ants’ here in Georgia tends to trigger images of fire ants and their vicious bites. This ant was quite placid, allowing me to take quite a few photographs. Its black head and amber body are distinctive enough that I was even able to make a tentative identification: Camponotus americanus, a species of Carpenter Ant native to the Southeast.
