Ant Extraction, Examination, and Excitement

Today was our first day working with the leaf-cutter ants. They tickled, itched, and pinched. But the detail of their colonies were works of art - architecturally and agriculturally. Digging the fungal gardens out of the ground took a long walk followed by digging in the dirt, anxiously waiting to hit the colony, as well as fearing damaging it, and thus destroying the specimen. When we finally collected the colonies, after hours of anxiously waiting, we headed back to the lab, and decided our experiments. In the experiment design and decision, there were times that it felt like the experiments were going nowhere and nothing was going to get done at all. But in the end, all the groups pulled through, working together, better than before.

- Lucy Berger

 (A group of students watching Dr. Pinto extract an ant colony)

(A group of students gathered around a ginormous Atta colony)

(Some of us need to take a break once in a while)

(One of our teams focusing on the lecture in the classroom)

(Some colony inspection with Alan)