Wish I Had: A Macro Lens!

 Ants are really fucking amazing creatures.  Did you know that:

  • The weight of all ants in the world is the same as, if not greater than that of all humans?
  • They have the longest life span of all insects?  30 years!!!
  • All worker, soldier, and queen ants are female.  
  • Ants and humans are the only creatures that farm other creatures.
  • Most ants can survive 24 hours under water.
  • You can find these and other fun ant facts here!
I really really wish that I had had a macro lens when I took these photos at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.  I'm really happy with the results I got though using my 55-200 zoom lens without a tripod.  The ants were super docile and didn't seem to mind me getting up in their space too much at all.  These particular ants are Red Harvester Ants.  I've never seen a Harvester Ant colony up close before, but it was really fascinating watching them work together. 
Harvester Ants make up close to 70% of the Texas Horned Lizards diet. The combination of pesticides and the red imported fire ant have drastically reduced the number of Harvester Ant colonies...which in turn has made the population of Horned Lizards plummet.  I've lived in Texas my whole life, and I've only ever seen one of them.  It was really neat getting to watch these guys though and I plan on having a macro lens the next time we go (hopefully they'll still be there)!





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6 comments:

  1. ChristmasOwl07July 2, 2014 at 1:13 PM

    awesome pics. Ant are not our friends around here. i dont like em. those little bastards hurt.

    http://nightowlventing02.blogspot.com/2014/07/hump-day-confessions.html

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  2. AnonymousJuly 2, 2014 at 2:28 PM

    I want a macro lens as well. It's been on my wish list for quite some time. These photos turned out good, though!

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  3. floating thru fieldsJuly 2, 2014 at 5:21 PM

    wow that's awesome detail you have managed to capture, yes a macro lens would be cool but you did an awesome job with what you had :)

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  4. Leona of Oh! Leona.July 3, 2014 at 1:17 PM

    I never realised that ants were so badass! Thanks for letting me know :) x

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  5. Brooke @ Youre in BrookelynnJuly 7, 2014 at 12:55 PM

    These photos look great! I wish I had a macro lens too, but I use some macro attachments that I got from amazon and they are pretty awesome! :)

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    Replies
    1. Mindi85July 7, 2014 at 3:38 PM

      Thanks a lot Brooke! Which attachments did you get? I've been looking at some on Amazon as well, and just don't know which ones to go with.

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