Norma Jean Gargasz

Flying Ants

Male leaf-cutting ants, (Acromyrmex versicolor), fly over the Sonoran Desert along Catalina Highway, awaiting virgin queens who fly into the swarm to mate. They fly during the Arizona summer monsoon season, early in the morning following a heavy rain.

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Image Size: 2848x4288 / 8.0MB; www.gargaszphotos.com; male males leaf-cutting ants Acromyrmex versicolor ant leaf-cutting desert deserts Sonoran Desert Sonoran virgin virgins queens queens flying insect insects fly swarming swarm mating mate species flies fly Arizona summer season seasons monsoon rain rainy raining bug bugs early dawn sunrise sun morning heavy soaking torrential downpour microburst Tucson Catalina Highway Catalina Santa Catalina mountain mountains highway highways Mount Lemmon Coronado National Forest forest forests Coronado national public land lands nature USA swarm flight wings tropical nuptial nuptials leafcutter biology hymenoptera ecology neotropical entomology formicidae mutualism myrmicinae attini acromyrmex attine leafcutting acromyrmex versicolor ecological environment environmental biodiversity biological science sciences natural
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Male leaf-cutting ants, (Acromyrmex versicolor), fly over the Sonoran Desert along Catalina Highway, awaiting virgin queens who fly into the swarm to mate. They fly during the Arizona summer monsoon season, early in the morning following a heavy rain.