Ant colonies have a high degree of labor division. The youngest ants rarely leave the nest, as their primary job is brood care. The oldest workers perform the most dangerous jobs, which involve leaving the colony to forage for food and water and protect the nest against enemies. Here, ghost ants (Tapinoma melanocephalum) are seen collecting water for their nestmates. They store the water in their gasters, which expand as they carry more liquid. From the size of the gasters, we can see how long they have been at the watersource.

Photo: Marco Mancini

These ants have been found recently inside an apartment in Reykjavík. They belong to the hyperdiverse genus Pheidole, which comprises more than 1200 described species and is characterized by two castes of workers: major and minor. It is hard to say at this stage at which species these ants belong, and we will further investigate, but we believe this to be a significant discovery for our research.