Northern wood ants Formica lugubris are found in coniferous and mixed woodlands, typically preferring sunny glades and woodland edges. Worker ants leave their underground wintering chambers and swarm the surface of their thatch mound nests or open leaf-strewn woodland floor. They gather on sunny days to absorb heat, which they then carry back into the nest to raise the temperature of the colony and awaken the queen, who begins egg-laying.
Alex Hyde is one of Britain’s leading exponents of close-up nature photography. His award-winning images portray a hidden world of extraordinary beauty. “To this day I delight in revealing tiny details of subjects that would be missed by the naked eye. Many of my pictures involve photographing moving subjects smaller than a grain of rice. Nature provides me with an endless array of fascinating subjects.”
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