Thursday, August 29, 2019

Ants exchange food

One more piece for the Museum of Fleas, maybe the last one I'll start. I have to cull the collection a bit for the show.

Ants are social insects with a division of labour, various castes of workers etc performing various roles. Only some go foraging so feeding each other is a fundamental  element of what makes ants ants. As well as nutrients, the food regurgitated from the feeder's crop contains the hormones that regulate growth and behaviour. It determines what larvae develop into, and just how adults will continue growing after emerging from pupation




The painting so far -all blocked out, but the paints a bit thin- under an ultraviolet light


At the same stage under daylight


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