DEATH IN THE DUST

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(Edited)

I stumbled upon this dry & dusty death scene some weeks ago when the summer temperatures were at their peak.

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The death of the small lizard Podarcis sicula, provided a great feeding opportunity for the Lasius niger ants.

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They are bringing the meat in small pieces down in the underground colony.

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This is a video - centered post ... so now, after these few introductory shots - is time to watch the video I assembled today from the material I filmed on that occasion, some weeks ago. :) Although the subject isn't very attractive or pretty to look at, I wish you a good view.

▶️ Watch on 3Speak


Ants dismantling the small carcass of the Podarcis sicula lizard. Filmed along the Adriatic coastline in Croatia.


▶️ 3Speak

And that's all ...

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... this short post about life & death on the hot summer day is over.

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As always in these posts on HIVE, all the photographs and video materials are my work ...

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15 comments
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Wow, so interesting! I love the video. Thanks for sharing with us :)

!discovery 25

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It's not unusual to see ants dismantling small carcasses

I can remember coming across carcasses in the woods when I was a child (I lived in a very rural area), but ants are not in the picture. Maybe I just don't remember them. I do recall other decomposers--wormy, larval creatures. This was in the northeastern foothills of the Appalachian mountain range (NY, USA).
Really impressive work--your video and the industrious ants.

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It surely varies from place to place, from habitat to habitat. I see these black ants often on carcasses on the dry meadows along the coast where they build very large colonies, not in other places. In woods here, I sometimes see much smaller ant species transporting only dead insects, moths and butterflies mostly.

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It is very strange that thousands of ants gather and go hunting. Your photos are beautiful.

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