Hello ,

I have acquired an ant species in the last week that have been the main cause of nightmares since the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Dorylus helvolus, the Red Driver Ant, is notorious for their appetite for anything that moves! They will consume any prey item they can overpower, or which they have found dead. They can strip mammal carcases within a few days, they do a good job of cleaning out the flesh and leave only the skin and bones behind.

They aren’t nearly as voracious or powerful as the movie showcases, but after feeding these ants I have come to believe that if you’re an insect or even a small bird or mammal, you will feel like the villain in the movie.

These ants are strongly nomadic moving from place to place to find food. Once the food supply starts running low in an area, they quickly move to a new area where there is more food available to sustain the colony. Driver ants are often found in compost heaps, and I believe it is due to the abundance of food in the form of decomposers that are present. Thanks to this fact I have been blessed with a colony, of Dorylus.

Identifying Dorylus to species level is more of a challenge than I initially thought, and I am still in the process of identifying the exact species. As for now I am sure that it is one of the 6 species within the helvolus group that occur in South Africa.

Now I need to go find some bugs to feed the Dorylus before they consider my fingers as food!

Weekly Top Shot: Dorylus major