Author Gary Taylor ◦
Took a quick run down to a mates place today a bit south of Gero (near Walkaway for those that know the Midwest) to give my dingo girl a run with her dingo boyfriend. Awesome area nature and wildlife wise, place is loaded, literally crawling with it… I was kinda half watching some meat ants (Iridomyrmex purpureus) having a crack at a smaller dark green ant that was doing his own thing (not sure what they are but for a small ‘ant’ they’ve got a sting you don’t forget). Some would stride up to it and have a bit of a sniff then just run away like “yeah nah I’m not tackling that…” but every now and then one would think he was a bit of a hero and pounce on the little guy… and get his arse absolutely kicked… Little green ant would have him steppin’ and fetchin’ like his head was on fire and his ass was catchin’ (in the words of Charlie Daniels) 😅
Anyway, as I was watching, I noticed this little Lasioglossum struggling through the debris off to the side… Aww poor thing, I’d reckon she’s had to fight off the ants too, she’s had her right wing ripped off and most of her rear left leg was missing. She’s fairly shiny and new looking considering what she’s been through which makes me wonder if she’s recently emerged, born in an area where there weren’t ants six months ago but now has to run the gauntlet… so I gave her bit of a hand (the back of the left so I could get a pic with the right 😄) to get away and put her on a nearby daisy patch 🙂 She must have been bloody hungry too ‘cos she just leapt straight in…
Dunno what her chances are, slim I suspect, but better than they were less than a minute ago…
