HARVESTER ANTS, LIVE WEBCAM
- Local Time
- Location: Ant Farm in Hamburg, Germany
- Source: Ants @ Work
- Info: Live webcam showing harvester ants at an ant farm in Hamburg, Germany. Harvester ants take their common name from their behaviour of collecting or harvesting seeds as their primary source of food.
More info: Messor barbarus is a species of harvester ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is found In Southern Europe and Northern Africa.
Harvester ant, is a common name for any of the species or genera of ants that collect seeds. The collected seeds are then stored in the nest in communal chambers called granaries
Ants provide soil aeration through the creation of galleries and chambers, mix deep and upper layers of soil, and incorporate organic refuse into the soil as well as aiding with seed dispersal.
Like all insects, harvester ants have six jointed legs each and hard exoskeletons that protect their bodies. Harvester ants are larger than many ants. Queen harvester ants are at least a half-inch long while workers are about half that size. They range from red to brown and black in colour and many species also have long hairs on the underside of their heads, which is beard-like in appearance.
Video from Messor Barbarus Ant Farm: