Interesting Insects!

As well as the birds, many other animals live in your garden. Among the most interesting of these organisms are the insects and arachnids. I took some rather strange photographs of some Black Garden Ants doing some queer deeds. Check this out: An old and disused spider's web was strung across a gap in the wall cement. A woodlouse had fallen in and was hanging dead in the web. an ant came out from the hole in the cement behind the web (maybe once where the spider hid) and weaving it's way through the threads of silk, climbed on to the woodlouse. About six more ants came scuttling out and began taking tiny chunks of flesh from the body of the dead woodlouse and stashing them in the hole behind. Gross, I know, but interesting to watch too!

Woodlouse in Web

Another weird ant attack: As i put some more dried meal-worms on the bird-table, I noticed a meal-worm had fallen into a small saxifrage. I picked it up and put it back on the bird-table. Immediately ant came swarming from the plant in their hundreds. In the next saxifrage was another meal-worm. I decided not to pick this one up. an ant came out, followed by a few of her (all worker ants, and indeed other social insects, are females) sisters, and began snipping the meal-worm into segments. There were about four holes in the soil about the width of my finger. An ant came out of one of these, carrying a meal-worm head in her jaws. By now the others had cut up the other meal-worm and were carrying the segments down into one of the holes. It was fun (you may not agree!) watching them, so I took a meal-worm from the bird-table and broke it into segments. I scattered them around and soon after, the ant carried the segments down the holes. It was like an on-going production line of ants chopping and carrying and coming back for more.

Ant Hole

Two Ant Holes and a Sunflower Seedling

Meal-Worm in the Saxifrage

How Many Holes!?

 You may not like the idea of wiggly insects, but remember they are crucial in the survival of many different birds! Tell me if you find any weird insects (or other creepy-crawlies) doing weird things!