We wish all of our readers a simply thrilling 1st World Ant Day!
Myrmecologist Dr. Mike Kaspari, in a flash of inspiration, realized that World Ant Day did not yet exist. Thus, on April 21st, he announced a date for a new holiday:
Listen up, ant peeps. Apparently #WorldAntDay does *not yet exist* so mark on your calendar AUGUST FIFTH. Why? This is the average starting date of the legendary #AntCourse w distinguished fac like @ant_explorer @CorrieMoreau @AndrewVSuarez @FunkyAnt @Myrmecos & others. pic.twitter.com/82NyYTXsSV
— Mike Kaspari (@MikeKaspari) April 22, 2018
On July 23rd, Dr. Kaspari proposed a special way to celebrate World Ant Day, for those on Twitter:
Ant Peeps,
How do we celebrate #WorldAntDay this 5 August?
I suggest 2-3 tweets: https://t.co/NlqzTMwj7F— Mike Kaspari (@MikeKaspari) July 23, 2018
1. Tweet how you came to discover ants as an avocation. Include a picture of you from that time.
— Mike Kaspari (@MikeKaspari) July 23, 2018
2. Tweet your favorite ant taxon and why. Include a picture of that taxon. Don’t forget to credit Alex Wild, most of you. 😉
— Mike Kaspari (@MikeKaspari) July 23, 2018
3. For you myrmecologists, tweet your favorite ant discovery. Include a link to the paper and an image arising from the work. #WorldAntDay only comes around once a year. Let’s make it a #Social event!
— Mike Kaspari (@MikeKaspari) July 23, 2018
Naturally, on this special day, Ant Twitter came out in full force. We present for you now a chronological sampling of the celebration! Enjoy our Top 25 World Ant Day Tweets.
The Daily Ant World Ant Day Preferred Tweets
Happy #WorldAntDay, New Zealand's only endemic ant genus, Huberia brounii pic.twitter.com/qcWDP3F46W
— Darren Ward (@nzhymenoptera) August 5, 2018
Happy World Ant Day! Yes, it's a thing! 🐜❤ pic.twitter.com/nb8WtFhoiA
— AntsCanada (@AntsCanada) August 5, 2018
Happy #WorldAntDay !
I study ants because I find them to be beautiful little machines.Colored SEM of different ants showing:
1. head, thorax & abdomen; 2. claw with suction cup ; 3. Inside/outside of the metapleural glad unique to ants pic.twitter.com/Xp4Tsbt89y— Roberto A. Keller (@rkellerp) August 5, 2018
I love studying ants because just when you think you have them figured out, they throw something new and surprising at you: The example from this field season is what appears to be a new obligate ant-plant interaction involving my beloved turtle ants. #WorldAntDay #iussi2018 pic.twitter.com/BWcmvGuBUy
— Scott Powell (@Scott_Powell_) August 5, 2018
Aujourd'hui, c'est le #WorldAntDay ! Allez zou, des jolies photos de fourmis ! pic.twitter.com/eWGiAM06BU
— Antomologie (@Ant0mologie) August 5, 2018
For #worldantday a pretty ant in happy colours!
This is Terataner nymeria from #Madagascar@Sketchfab @EconomoLab #scanallants @dragonant @CongLiu0514 @PueraFormicarum https://t.co/AtK4PhyYAf— Francisco HitaGarcia (@Pangapaco) August 5, 2018
And HAPPY world ant day! Gosh, ants are what got me into Entomology. For fun, here is a pic of some Megaponera analis I took 2 yrs ago. #WorldAntDay pic.twitter.com/3mXqKeWotD
— Joanie (@Ms_Mars) August 5, 2018
"As coisas devem ser bem grandes
Pra formiga pequenina
A rosa, um lindo palácio
E o espinho, uma espada fina"
(Vinícius de Moraes)Hoje é dia mundial da formiga#WorldAntDay 🐜 pic.twitter.com/O4XSgMMMXI
— Rafa (@RafaelaRolak) August 5, 2018
Happy #WorldAntDay! #iussi2018 #ESA2018
When I was 10 I adopted an ant colony (Formica)
in the dirt outside my classroom
feeding workers bits of bread soaked in sugar water
watching their gasters swell.
I was transfixed
(Yes, that's a glockenspiel. Long story) pic.twitter.com/D0uusRLeOK— Mike Kaspari (@MikeKaspari) August 5, 2018
Happy World Ant Day!! And thanks to @AntsCanada for showing me how interesting and cool these little insects are X3
Ant Love from Germany!! 🐜❤️#Antloveforever #ACFamily #WorldAntDay— 💗💝~♪~Luana~♪~💝💗 (@Souly_Mouly) August 5, 2018
To celebrate #WorldAntDay and #IUSSI2018: Does your favorite species do #trophallaxis? Let's #crowdsource to figure out which species don't, which do and when they do, with whom! https://t.co/qNLjbxiTYt pic.twitter.com/Smm20kweGo
— Dr. Adria LeBoeuf (@adriaexists) August 5, 2018
Happy #WorldAntDay ! Do any myrmecologists recognize this little beauty from Peninsular Malaysia? @CorrieMoreau @EvanEconomo @Myrmecos @Pangapaco pic.twitter.com/yFplTPPY8W
— Wisconsin Insects (@WIRCInsects) August 5, 2018
Happy World Ant Day! Here are two ant workers preserved in Cretaceous amber back when ants were just getting their start – a mere 100 million years later and we're up to over 13,000 species and terrestrial ubiquity, not bad! #WorldAntDay pic.twitter.com/ovzSdp5sla
— Phil Barden (@Haidomyrmex) August 5, 2018
BUT, communication is more complex than just 'follow the leader'. Harpegnathos saltator ants have a pretty sophisticated hydrocarbon language that they use to convey subtle messages. https://t.co/IlFaXSbBTK #WorldAntDay pic.twitter.com/jCRrkCmo3m
— Pineapples & Whales (@PaW_sci) August 5, 2018
I wasn’t truly aware of how diverse ants are until I started applying to graduate school. Here is the first decent photo of an ant I remember taking while in Australia a few months before starting my PhD at UIUC. #WorldAntDay pic.twitter.com/fwAaUV1PZT
— Selina A. Ruzi (@RuziMyrmex) August 5, 2018
Happy #WorldAntDay!
Throw back to April 29th, 2018 when I found a massive nuptial flight happening right in front of my apartment. Didn't mean to interrupt but this one almost got trapped in our yellow plate trap.
Polyrhachis vicina (Roger, 1863) ?
Taicang, Jiangsu, China pic.twitter.com/g2kgXduJuY— J. Lovell (@Jimmylovel25) August 5, 2018
Happy #WorldAntDay !! I started to study ants while I was a young undergrad at 2009. But I have been always fond of them! This is a drawing I made when I was a kid. pic.twitter.com/9MgACcu1Hh
— Priscila Hanisch 🐜💚 (@PriscilaHanisch) August 5, 2018
Fascinating and incredible insects!! today is the #WorldAntDay
to celebrate here some leaf-cutting ants from Colombia and …. pic.twitter.com/KMo3h25l5y— Andrés Sánchez (@andres_schz) August 5, 2018
Happy #WorldAntDay! My introduction into the field of ecology began with studying the vast array of litter ant species, as well as the amazing carton-nest building Azteca. I have been hooked ever since 🐜🐜🐜 pic.twitter.com/Rn0nho4xRJ
— Jane Lucas (@Jane_M_Lucas) August 5, 2018
On #WorldAntDay, we launch https://t.co/Opql9s4X1o! Check it out!
— The Ant Network 🐜 (@AntNetworkSM) August 5, 2018
Celebrating #WorldAntDay with Nesoxypilus, a myrmecophilic praying mantis! pic.twitter.com/LwYZs4i2N4
— Sydney Brannoch (@skbrannoch) August 5, 2018
Leafcutter ants and a mango for #WorldAntDay pic.twitter.com/2gCBqEKgKh
— Dr. Corrie Moreau (@CorrieMoreau) August 5, 2018
Happy #WorldAntDay ! Here's one of my favorite #ants in #Borneo – Polyrhachis furcata with crazy cool hook-shaped spines. I spent a lot of time admiring (and photographing) this beauty! 🐜🐜🐜 pic.twitter.com/3ahy9JjYlE
— Dr Magdalena Sorger (@MagSorger) August 5, 2018
It is #WorldAntDay and very important to remember that there are some mosquitoes that actually feed on the vomit of ants! That's right, even mosquitoes rely on ants! https://t.co/3B7U9ExjgQ
— Dr Cameron Webb (@Mozziebites) August 6, 2018
We ♥️ 🐜! #WorldAntDay 🇵🇷 #FieldBioArt https://t.co/fCVwyIN5pw
— ArtBioCollaborative (@ArtBioCollab) August 6, 2018
The Daily Ant 