Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ant (Atta sp) female worker carrying leaf to nest, with a smaller 'minor' ant riding. The minor's job is to protect her sister from parasitic flies. Costa Rica, December. Highly Commended,...

Kim Taylor / Bachacs / Leafcutter ants {Atta cephalotes} carrying sections of Cocoa leaf bearing 'riders' thought to ward off parasitic flies which would otherwise lay their eggs on the pieces of leaf. Trinidad, W...

Morley Read / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying leaves and pieces of yellow flowers along a branch, Amazon rainforest, Orellana Province, Ecuador. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying leaves and pieces of yellow flowers along a branch, Amazon rainforest, Orellana Province, Ecuador. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying leaves and pieces of yellow flowers along a branch, Amazon rainforest, Orellana Province, Ecuador. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Column of Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying leaves over the rainforest floor to their nest, Amazon rainforest, Orellana Province, Ecuador. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Slow motion clip of Army ants (Eciton rapax) on the rainforest floor, Orellana Province, Ecuador. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Slow motion clip of a Leaf cutter ant (Atta) carrying a leaf along a branch, Orellana Province, Ecuador. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Slow motion clip of a Leaf cutter ant (Atta) carrying a leaf along a branch, Orellana Province, Ecuador. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Slow motion clip of Leafcutter ants (Atta) carrying pieces of leaves back to their nest, Amazon rainforest, Napo Province, Ecuador. (non-ex)

Morley Read / Column of Leaf cutter ants (Atta) carrying cut pieces of leaves along the forest floor towards therr nest, Orellana Province, Ecuador, 2018. (non-ex)

Konrad Wothe / Slow motion clip of Wood ants (Formica rufa) on anthill, squirting formic acid to repel threat, Bavaria, Germany, April.

Dave Bevan / Slow motion clip of Black garden ants (Lasius niger) moving exposed eggs underground, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK, September.

Paul Bertner / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) group harvesting leaf, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador

Paul Bertner / Crab Spider (Thomisidae) with Ant (Tetraponera sp) prey, Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania

Paul Bertner / Assassin Bug (Acanthaspis sp) being attacked by ants, Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia

Brian Bevan / Close-up of a group of Wood ants (Formica rufa) carrying a dead insect back to their nest, Bedfordshire, England, UK, August.

Brian Bevan / Close-up of a group of Wood ants (Formica rufa) carrying a dead Common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) back to their nest, Bedfordshire, England, UK, August.

Ammonite / Tracking shot over a Wood ant (Formica rufa) nest, Dorset, England, UK, April.

Ammonite / Close up of a Wood ant (Formica rufa) nest, Dorset, England, UK, April.

Konrad Wothe / Leafcutter ants (Atta cephalotes) carrying leaves along a trail, Panguana Reserve, Huanuco Province, Peru.

Konrad Wothe / Leafcutter ants (Atta cephalotes) carrying leaves along a trail up a tree trunk, Panguana Reserve, Huanuco Province, Peru.

Konrad Wothe / Leafcutter ants (Atta cephalotes) carrying leaves and filaments along a trail, Panguana Reserve, Huanuco Province, Peru.

Konrad Wothe / Army ants (Eciton burcellii) carrying eggs on a trail in a rainforest, Panguana Reserve, Huanuco Province, Peru.

Ingo Arndt / Red wood ant (Formica rufa) carrying construction material to anthill (fir needles), Germany.

Ingo Arndt / European Red Wood Ant (Formica polyctena) nests in pine forest, Hessen, Germany, July.

Ingo Arndt / Green tree ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) group on entrance from nest, built from woven leaves, Northern Territory, Kakadu National Park, Australia.

Ingo Arndt / Black garden ants {Lasius niger} feeding on cricket Germany, Europe

James Dunbar / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp.) communicating. Guadeloupe National Park, Guadeloupe, Leeward Islands.

Alex Hyde / Leaf-cutter ant (Atta cephalotes) carrying pieces of leaf that they have harvested back to their underground fungus garden in their nest, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Alex Hyde / Leaf-cutter ants (Atta cephalotes) carrying pieces of leaf that they have harvested back to their underground fungus garden in their nest, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photographed in mobile field studi...

Alex Hyde / Leaf-cutter ants (Atta cephalotes) carrying pieces of leaf that they have harvested back to their underground fungus garden in their nest, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photographed in mobile field studi...

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying piece of leaf, Costa Rica.

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ant (Atta sp) carrying colourful pieces of plant material, Santa Rita, Costa Rica.

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying pieces of fern, reflected in water, Costa Rica.

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying plant matter, Costa Rica.

Bence Mate / Leafcutter ants (Atta sp) colony harvesting pieces of a banana leaf, Costa Rica.

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying colourful plant matter, reflected in water, Laguna del Lagarto, Santa Rita, Costa Rica

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) silhouetted carrying plant matter, Laguna del Lagarto, Santa Rita, Costa Rica

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying colourful plant matter, reflected in water, Laguna del Lagarto, Santa Rita, Costa Rica

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying plant matter, Costa Rica.

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ant (Atta sp) carrying pink flower segment, Santa Rita, Costa Rica.

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying colourful plant matter, reflected in water, Costa Rica.

Nature Production / Kuronagaari ant (Messor aciculatus) carrying dandelion seed.

Bence Mate / Leafcutter ants (Atta sp) colony harvesting a banana leaf, Costa Rica. 3rd place in the Insects and Spiders category of the Terre Sauvage Nature Images Awards competitions 2015.

Konrad Wothe / Leafcutter Ant (Atta cephalotes) pair carrying leaves, Panguana Nature Reserve, Peru

Theo Webb / Driver ant (Dorylus) large soldier guarding smaller ants, in Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Pal Hermansen / Wood ants (Formica rufa) with larvae on rusty car, Bastnas car graveyard, Varmland, Sweden, June.

Ammonite / Group of Wood ants (Formica rufa) attacking House centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata), Dorset, England, UK, April. Sequence 1/3.

Ammonite / Wood ant (Formica rufa) carrying a large twig across woodland floor, Dorset, England, UK, April.

Ammonite / Wood ant (Formica rufa) carrying a large twig across woodland floor, Dorset, England, UK, April.

Ammonite / Small group of Wood ants (Formica rufa) carrying and pulling a large twig across woodland floor, Dorset, England, UK, April.

Ammonite / Small group of Wood ants (Formica rufa) carrying and pulling a large twig across woodland floor, Dorset, England, UK, April.

Ammonite / Black garden ant (Lasius niger) carrying off a dead aphid and milking others for honeydew, Bristol, England, UK, July.

Ammonite / Black garden ant (Lasius niger) milking aphids for honeydew, Bristol, England, UK, July.

Pal Hermansen / Wood ants (Formica rufa) around the edge of a broken window in an old car, Bastnas, Sweden, July. Winner of the Fritz Polking Prize at the GDT competition 2013 and winner of the Portfolio category in...

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta cephalotes) carrying sections of leaves, to be used for cultivating nutritious fungi, Santa Rita, Costa Rica

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta cephalotes) carrying sections of leaves, to be used for cultivating nutritious fungi, Santa Rita, Costa Rica

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta cephalotes) carrying sections of leaves, to be used for cultivating nutritious fungi, Santa Rita, Costa Rica

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta cephalotes) carrying sections of leaves, to be used for cultivating nutritious fungi, Santa Rita, Costa Rica

Juergen Freund / Green Tree Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) attacking Common House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Ingo Arndt / Leafcutter Ant (Atta sp) carrying section of leaf to be used for cultivating nutritious fungi, Costa Rica

Rolf Nussbaumer / Texas leafcutter ant (Atta texana) workers carrying leaves during rain, New Braunfels, Central Texas, USA. Highly honoured, Small world Spectacular Category, Natures Best competition 2012.

Kim Taylor / Wood Ant (Formica rufa) worker protecting the nest by jetting formic acid from its tail. Endemic to Europe and Asia. Surrey, UK.

Martin Dohrn / Wood ant (Formica rufa) basking to absorb heat from the sun which is brought back to the nest when they return, Europe

Solvin Zankl / Army ant (Dorylus sp.) close-up of male. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Solvin Zankl / Close up of ant (Acanthognathus brevicornis) from South America. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Solvin Zankl / Trap jaw ant (Odontomachus sp.) close-up showing powerful mandibles with sensory hairs. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Solvin Zankl / Close-up of ant (Thaumatomyrmex atrox) from the neotropics, specialists predators on millipedes Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Solvin Zankl / Leaf cutter ant (Atta cephalotes ) close-up. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Solvin Zankl / Close up of ant (Harpegnathos venator) head from Asia. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Solvin Zankl / Jet Ant / Shining Jet Black Ant (Lasius fuliginosus), worker. Specimen photographed using digital focus stacking

Ross Hoddinott / 2020VISION / Wood ants (Formica rufa), Arne RSPB reserve, Dorset, England, UK, September. 2020VISION Book Plate. Did you know? Wood ants are ecologically important, protecting trees from parasites and recycling nu...

Ross Hoddinott / 2020VISION / Wood ant (Formica rufa) Arne RSPB reserve, Dorset, England, UK, July. 2020VISION Book Plate.

Ross Hoddinott / 2020VISION / Wood ant (Formica rufa) Arne RSPB reserve, Dorset, England, UK, July

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

Bence Mate / Leaf cutter ants (Atta sp) female worker ants carry pieces of fern leaves to nest, reflected in water, Costa Rica, December. Winner, Eric Hosking award, 2011 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competit...

Kim Taylor / Wood Ant (Formica rufa) workers on top of their nest synchronise ejection of formic acid droplets to maximise deterrent effect on potential predator, UK. Commended in the Audubon Society of Greater De...

Kim Taylor / Wood Ant (Formica rufa) workers defending the nest by ejecting droplets of formic acid, UK.

Edwin Giesbers / Fire ant (Solenopsis sp) worker, with green plant material behind

Bence Mate / Leafcutter ants (Atta sp) colony harvesting a banana leaf, Costa Rica. OVERALL WINNER: Wildlife Photoghrapher of the Year 2010 from Eric Hosking Award portfolio image 2/6

Stephen Dalton / Garden black ants {Lasius niger} feeding on drop of syrup on granite work surface, UK

Mark Bowler / Wood ant {Formica rufa} aggressive sequence

Mark Bowler / Line of Leaf-cutter ants (Atta sp) carrying leaves, digital composite

Mark Bowler / Isula / Bullet ant (Paraponera clavata) close-up showing mandibles, Peru

Kim Taylor / Green tree ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) workers protecting nest inside folded leaf, North Australia

Mark Moffett / Bulldog Ant (Myrmecia gulosa) worker catching Honey Bee (Apis mellifera), eastern Australia

Jouan & Rius / Leaf cutting ants (Atta cephalotes) cutting pieces of leaf, rainforest habitat, Costa Rica

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

Piotr Naskrecki / Bal-byter Ant (Camponotus fulvopilosus) cleaning its antennae, South Africa

Christian Ziegler / Army Ant (Eciton hamatum) colony forming a bridge by climbing over each other, some are carrying food back to nest, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Kim Taylor / Bachacs / Leaf-cutting ants {Atta cephalotes} carrying leaf sections back to nest. Trinidad, West Indies also ocurrs in South America

Kim Taylor / Red ant {Myrmica rubra} worker collecting honeydew from Nettle aphids {Microlophium carnosum} Surrey, England.

Hans Christoph Kappel / Ant (Formica polyktena) attacking a fly

Kim Taylor / Wood Ant worker curling tail ready to eject formic acid at intruder. UK, captive

Kim Taylor / Ants (unidentified) feeding on spilt honey. UK.