Piotr Naskrecki / Leafcutter Ant (Atta cephalotes) worker on leaf protecting larger workers carrying leaf from parasitoid flies, Costa Rica

Michael Durham / Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta), also known as RIFA, worker portrait, highly invasive introduced species, Texas

Jim Brandenburg / Arctic Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus parryii) standing guard, Alaska

Piotr Naskrecki / Termite worker carrying young nymph, Atewa Range, Ghana

Mark Moffett / Army Ant (Eciton burchellii) workers carrying section of dismembered prey back to nest, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Michael Durham / Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) worker collecting nectar from Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) flowers, note the pollen baskets on the legs, northwest Oregon

Patricio Robles Gil / Young boys charcoal mining in the Indo-Burma hot spot

Mark Raycroft / Border Collie (Canis familiaris) herding sheep in pasture

Mark Moffett / Leafcutter Ant (Atta cephalotes) workers carrying leaves to nest, French Guiana

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) group workers carrying leaf segments, note minim riding on leaf as protection against parasitic flies, rainforest, Costa Rica

Mark Moffett / Weaver Ant (Oecophylla longinoda) group building nest by pulling on leaves and forming chains, Africa

Norbert Wu / Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) examinded with flashlights by buyers to determine the quality of the meat, Tsukiji Market, Tokyo, Japan

Piotr Naskrecki / Termite workers and soldiers, Suriname

Piotr Naskrecki / Termite worker and two soldiers, Suriname

Piotr Naskrecki / Termite worker, Suriname

Ingo Arndt / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) on guard, Africa

Ingo Arndt / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) on guard, Africa

Solvin Zankl / Army ant (Eciton burchellii) head of a soldier with sickle-shaped mandibles. The soldier caste defends the others. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Mark Moffett / Green Tree Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) colony envelops the queen to protect her from harm, Daintree, Queensland, Australia

Mark Moffett / Green Tree Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) worker and three queens to form new colony, Australia

Richard Du Toit / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) on lookout, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Botswana

Colin Monteath / Mural of Buddhist guardian on hotel door, Ulan Baatar, Mongolia

Colin Monteath / Mural of Buddhist guardians on hotel door, Ulan Baatar, Mongolia

Piotr Naskrecki / Ant (Cephalotes atratus) worker, Sipaliwini, Surinam

Piotr Naskrecki / Large-headed Ant (Daceton armigerum) worker, Sipaliwini, Surinam

Piotr Naskrecki / Large-headed Ant (Daceton armigerum) worker, Sipaliwini, Surinam

Piotr Naskrecki / Dracula Ant (Amblyopone sp) worker puncturing the skin of a larva to sip its trickling blood, this behavior does not seem to harm the larva, but feeds the adults, Muller Range, Papua New Guinea

Donald M. Jones / Arctic Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus parryii) standing guard, Denali National Park, Alaska

Pete Oxford / Siberian Marmot (Marmota sibirica) on lookout, Eastern Steppe, Mongolia

Pete Oxford / Long-tailed Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus undulatus) on lookout, Mongolia

Chien Lee / Safari Ant (Dorylus laevigatus) guards protecting workers removing flesh off animal carcass, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia

Chien Lee / Safari Ant (Dorylus laevigatus) guards protecting workers removing flesh off animal carcass, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia

Steve Gettle / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) carrying leaf with guard protecting worker, Costa Rica

Steve Gettle / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) carrying leaf, Costa Rica

Steve Gettle / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) carrying leaf, Costa Rica

Steve Gettle / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) carrying leaf, Costa Rica

Steve Gettle / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) pair carrying leaves, Costa Rica

Steve Gettle / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) group carrying leaves, Costa Rica

Steve Gettle / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) carrying leaf, Costa Rica

Steve Gettle / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) carrying leaf, Costa Rica

Piotr Naskrecki / Leafcutter Ant (Atta cephalotes) worker, Barbilla National Park, Costa Rica

Piotr Naskrecki / Leafcutter Ant (Atta cephalotes) worker, Barbilla National Park, Costa Rica

Piotr Naskrecki / Leafcutter Ant (Atta cephalotes) worker, Barbilla National Park, Costa Rica

Piotr Naskrecki / Leafcutter Ant (Atta cephalotes) worker, Barbilla National Park, Costa Rica

Christian Ziegler / Leafcutter Ant (Atta columbica) workers cutting little pieces out of leaves, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) family standing guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) standing guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) juvenile on lookout, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) juvenile on lookout, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) family standing guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) foraging while other stands guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) standing guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) standing guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) parent and young, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) standing guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) standing guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) pair standing guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Pete Oxford / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) family standing guard, Makgadikgadi Pans, Kalahari Desert, Botswana

Piotr Naskrecki / Dracula Ant (Amblyopone sp) worker puncturing the skin of a larva to sip its trickling blood, this behavior does not seem to harm the larva, but feeds the adults, Papua New Guinea

Piotr Naskrecki / Leafcutter Ant (Acromyrmex sp) carrying worker covered with spores of antibiotic bacteria that help the ants control the growth of parasitic fungi within their fungal gardens, Guyana

Christian Ziegler / Writer Michael Pollan holding small orchid

Christian Ziegler / Green Tree Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) guards protecting colony, Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia

Richard Du Toit / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) pair on guard, Kalahari, Northern Cape, South Africa

Richard Du Toit / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) standing guard, Northern Cape, South Africa

Chien Lee / Termite (Longipeditermes longipes) workers transporting leaf fragments back to the colony, Kubah National Park, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia

Chien Lee / Termite (Hospitalitermes sp) workers carrying food, Bako National Park, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia

Chien Lee / Termite (Hospitalitermes sp) workers flanked by soldiers, transporting food balls back to their colony, Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

Konrad Wothe / Speckled Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus suslicus) standing guard, Bulgaria

Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott / Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) being counted and measured by fisheries workers, Adams River, Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott / Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) male being released by fisheries worker into Adams River after gathering scientific data, Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Chien Lee / Marauder Ant (Pheidologeton affinis) team attacking a beetle grub with minor workers assisted by their larger sisters who cut the grub into smaller pieces, Lambir Hills National Park, Malaysia

Chien Lee / Marauder Ant (Pheidologeton affinis) team attacking a beetle grub with minor workers assisted by their larger sisters who cut the grub into smaller pieces, Lambir Hills National Park, Malaysia

Chien Lee / Marauder Ant (Pheidologeton affinis) team attacking a beetle grub with minor workers assisted by their larger sisters who cut the grub into smaller pieces, Lambir Hills National Park, Malaysia

Thomas Marent / Oil Palm (Elaeis sp) fruit in truck transported from plantation, beside Gunung Leuser National Park, northern Sumatra, Indonesia

Thomas Marent / Termite group carrying pieces of wood, Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo, Indonesia

Konrad Wothe / Green Tree Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) group guarding their nest, Queensland, Australia

Konrad Wothe / Green Tree Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) group guarding their nest, Queensland, Australia

Konrad Wothe / Green Tree Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) group guarding their nest, Queensland, Australia

Konrad Wothe / Green Tree Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) group guarding their nest, Queensland, Australia

Konrad Wothe / Green Tree Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) trio guarding their nest, Queensland, Australia

Pete Oxford / Cork Oak (Quercus suber) bark being held by Manuel de Mato Ramilo, San Vicente de Alcantara, Extremadura, Spain

Pete Oxford / Plastic bottles being recycled, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Pete Oxford / Cardboard recycling with worker, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Pete Oxford / Cardboard recycling with worker, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Mark Moffett / Amazon Ant (Polyergus sp) female worker positioning mandibles to pierce the head of an ant from an alien nest, Sagehen Creek, California

Mark Moffett / Marauder Ant (Pheidologeton diversus) minor workers carrying snail, Singapore

Pete Oxford / South American River Turtle (Podocnemis expansa) researchers digging up nests for relocation, are watched by guard, part of reintroduction to the wild program, Orinoco River, Apure, Venezuela

Murray Cooper / Ant (Formicidae) workers tending to eggs, Amazon, Ecuador

Flip Nicklin / Endeavour cruise ship and its staff, Antarctica

Luciano Candisani / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) worker carrying leaf segment, Atlantic Forest, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Michael Durham / Eastern Subterranean Termite (Reticulitermes flavipes) workers in decaying wood, central Texas

Michael Durham / Eastern Subterranean Termite (Reticulitermes flavipes) workers and winged reproductives, central Texas

Chien Lee / Army Ant (Leptogenys sp) group transporting their entire colony, including the pupae of new workers, to a new site, Danum Valley Conservation Area, Borneo, Malaysia

Chien Lee / Army Ant (Leptogenys sp) group transporting their entire colony, including the pupae of new workers, to a new site, Danum Valley Conservation Area, Borneo, Malaysia

Chien Lee / Army Ant (Leptogenys sp) group transporting their entire colony, including the pupae of new workers, to a new site, Danum Valley Conservation Area, Borneo, Malaysia

Mark Moffett / Rove Beetle (Staphylinidae) mimics Ant (Neivamyrmex sp) workers to beg for food or prey from the ants, Tiputini, Ecuador