Ant Pupae

The woods here have been neglected all the years I lived here alone. John is cleaning them up and cutting down the cottonwoods and poplars, which gives the sugar maple room and light. He is, in fact, creating a nice sugarbush. Early July, John cut a very large double cottonwood. Two cottonwoods had fused together or one had been cut and shoots grew up and into the original tree. But in the notch about 10 feet off of the ground, in soil that had accumulated, was a nest of ants. When the tree came down, the colony quickly gathered up the pupae and moved them underground. The pupae are grub-like baby ants in a cocoon. My favorite photo is the one below, when I was able to freeze the motion of the ants with the pupae while the other ants hurriedly led the way to the ground. I have submitted these photos to antweb.org for identification.

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