Ants from Space!!!

[Acromyrmexbob]

If you are anything like me this is going to boggle your brain.

So... it is possible to find leaf cutting ant colonies from space, via Google Earth! The colonies are Atta vollenweideri, a grass cutting ant, and their nests are so numerous and so big that you can locate them from satellite imagery.

Check this out!

[AdamHartScience]

Google earth is proving useful to all sorts of science. This is very cool! I bet with the right shadow you could find termite mounds too

[Acromyrmexbob]

Thats a good shout!
I find these images incredible!
To think they are both that obvious and that numerous. Also, as a captive species this type of Leaf Cutter would be very useful in temperate countries, grass is always available.

[Acromyrmexbob]

So here's what I am thinking.
This one here is an example of an active colony:



You can see earth thats been dug out and radiating from the mound are walkways where the ants forage.

Whereas this one......



is a dead colony. After a season of rains there are plants growing over the top which the ants in a live colony would not tolerate. Thats quite a sophisticated tool for looking at colonies.

[Formica123]

Do you think if you used this in Trinidad it could help you locate large colonies that are live for you to get?

[Acromyrmexbob]

No, too many trees in Trinidad!!

[AdamHartScience]

Nice way to map trails!