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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 13h

In this new preprint, we provide the first characterization of the chemosensory system of an ant larva. The image shows the head of a clonal raider ant larva in which olfactory sensory neurons are stained with an antibody. Spearheaded by MD/PhD student Daniel Pastor. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The paired, leg-like appendages hanging out from this ant’s mouth don’t belong to some weird parasite. Instead, these are the maxillary (six segments) and labial (four) palps. Ant palps contain touch and taste sensors, and they are used to assess and manipulate food. Formica incerta. Woodstock, NY.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

The African driver ants are among the most charismatic and (in)famous social insects. Unfortunately, their taxonomy is a bit of a mess. In this new OA paper, we begin to rectify this, focusing on the West African species. Spearheaded by Caspar Schöning and Raphael Weniger. doi.org/10.3897/zook...

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Looks like killa bees saved the Knicks last night!

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Some army ants are extremely polymorphic. This photo shows a large soldier and a small regular worker of Eciton hamatum. If you saw them separately, you wouldn’t even think they belong to the same species. You might also notice the light color of the ants - both are callows / newly eclosed.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

I visited Angeles National Forest with Joe Parker yesterday, and Joe found this giant water bug (Abedus indentatus). The females lay eggs on the males’ backs, and the males carry the eggs around until they hatch. Some serious paternal care.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

These two male Maasai giraffes seemed to be involved in a playful dance. This behavior, called “necking”, in which the animals swing their necks at each other, is in fact a form of combat practice for young males. It helps the giraffes build neck strength and establishes dominance hierarchies.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

A family group of elephants grazing in Kenya’s Maasai Mara during the early morning hours. Image taken from a hot air balloon.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

A group of elephants during sunrise in Kenya’s Maasai Mara.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

A herd of elands (Taurotragus oryx) at Mount Kenya, across from Old Moses Camp at 3300 meters elevation. Elands are among the very few mammals who venture up to this altitude, where extensive moorlands cover the slopes of the mountain.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Ants use specialized structures on their front legs, the tibial spurs, which act like fine combs and brushes, to clean their antennae. But how do they clean their front legs? Well, they pass them through their mouthparts every now and then for a thorough wipe down. Dinomyrmex gigas, Danum, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

A colony of Myrmecina (spinosa?) ants under a rock in Danum Valley, Sabah. Upon disturbance, the workers are picking up larvae and pupae, as well as the occasional male, to carry them to safety. Note how hairy the larvae are - they can literally stand on their hairs without touching the ground.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Ant art at VISTA, the Science Experience Center at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria in Klosterneuburg. Inspired by the work of Sylvia Cremer’s group on ant social immunity.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

The beautiful dewlap displays of anoles serve to defend territories and to attract mates. Here is a lady Dominican anole (Anolis oculatus) admiring her suitor’s efforts at Indian River 🇩🇲. Who wouldn’t melt away at the sight of that flashy wattle?!

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Around the year 2000, Anolis cristatellus, a buff species from Puerto Rico, was introduced. The newcomer has since displaced the native species locally, suggesting that it might ultimately lead to the decline of A. oculatus across large swaths of the island (doi:10.1163/157075407780681365). 3/3

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Anolis oculatus, which can be identified by a white spot on top and in the middle of the head (shown here), occurs nowhere else in the world. For the longest time, A. oculatus was the only anole on Dominica. Unfortunately, island endemics are often threatened by invasive species. 2/3

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

A tale of two lizards 🦎🦎 Anole lizards are incredibly diverse, particularly in the Caribbean, where many islands harbor their own endemic species. For example, Dominica is home to Anolis oculatus, the Dominican anole. 1/3

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Nasute soldiers (soldiers with a long schnoz from which they can spray defensive compounds) guarding a foraging trail of the termite Longipeditermes longipes at Sepilok, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Dolichoderus affinis ants tending membracids for honeydew. Tambunan, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

A family of curious hyraxes at Mpala Research Centre in Kenya. While these guys superficially resemble marmots, they are actually more closely related to elephants, believe it or not.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

The birds peck at their hosts, removing dead skin and parasites like ticks. However, they also feed on blood from open wounds and slow down wound healing. So for the mammals, these birds are a bit of a double-edged sword. 3/3

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Greater blue-eared starlings are omnivores that eat insects and fruit. However, they also opportunistically perch on mammals, similar to the famous oxpeckers that you frequently see riding on hippos, buffalos, and other large African animals. 2/3

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

This greater blue-eared starling was annoying the heck out of a Günther’s dik-dik at Mpala Research Centre in Kenya. For a solid fifteen minutes, the impudent bird just wouldn’t leave the poor thing graze in peace. 1/3

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Phigalia moths are harbingers of spring, ringing in a reawakening of insect life in New York each year. Needless to say that this scene in Woodstock last weekend lifted my spirits considerably. Btw, these are male moths - the Phigalia females have greatly reduced wings and cannot fly.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Springtails use aggregation pheromones to find each other. Because they are too small to break the water surface tension, their mutual attraction can result in large black floats. Woodstock, NY.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

What looks like an oil spill on a roadside puddle is in fact a gathering of thousands of springtails (Collembola). Video below…

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

In the tropics, “pioneer” trees (fast-growing species you see e.g. along the road side) are often “myrmecophytes”, housing ants that defend the tree against herbivores. Here is a sliced Macaranga stem, revealing a founding association of Crematogaster queens with their offspring. Sepilok, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

With about 100 species, the spiny ants of the genus Polyrhachis form the most diverse group of ants on Borneo. Here are two beautiful examples, the golden P. bihamata (look at those fishing hooks!) and the especially armed P. armata. Danum Valley, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Removing the cover reveals the ants’ brood, in this case several pupae. There were no queens in this nest, and I assume it was a satellite nest of a larger colony. Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

It’s the abode of spiny ants (Polyrhachis mucronata or related species). These ants build their nests by combining silk from their larvae with plant debris.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

What’s this piece of art on the underside of a leaf you may ask?

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

While photographing the zombie ants at Danum Valley, I noticed this funky larva chomping on and ultimately devouring the entire fungus stalk growing out of the ant’s head. I knew that Ophiocordyceps fungi have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Turns out other animals consume them too.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Ophiocordyceps infections result in local “graveyards” of zombified ants, often on the underside of leaves in the low vegetation. The ant I posted yesterday actually shared its leaf with another zombie. Here’s the full scene.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Ophiocordyceps zombie fungi infect ants and manipulate their behavior. The ants climb up vegetation, anchor themselves by biting into a leaf, and die. Out of their head then grows a fungus stalk that releases spores into the environment. And so the cycle continues. Danum Valley, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Another picture of Diacamma, this time a worker at the nest entrance. Somehow this species seemed to construct unreasonably large entrance funnels (see how small the ant is in comparison). Danum Valley, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

A Diacamma ant foraging on a leaf in Danum Valley, Sabah. These ponerines are sometimes called fingerprint ants. You’ll see why if you zoom in and look at the cuticular sculpturing on the thorax and gaster.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

The workers of the giant forest ant (Dinomyrmex gigas) are polymorphic, i.e., they come in two sizes and shapes: The minors (first two pictures) and the majors (last two pictures). Both are huge though - minors just over two centimeters and majors up to three centimeters in body length.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Portrait of a giant forest ant (Dinomyrmex gigas). What an absolute puppy! 🐜 🐶 🐜 Danum Valley, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Stictoponera menadensis are not particularly small ants. However, they are completely dwarfed by their neighbors, the giant forest ants (Dinomyrmex gigas), whose large workers measure almost 3 cm in body size. Here, the two are foraging next to each other on a buttress root in Danum Valley, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

A Stictoponera menadensis (subfamily Ectatomminae) worker foraging in the leaf litter at Danum Valley, Sabah, plus another specimen on white background. Colonies of this species often lack queens. Instead, unlike in most ants, workers can mate and take over egg laying as so-called “gamergates”.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

New York City snow day weather update @rockefeller.edu. It’s purty! ❄️ ⛄️

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Portraits of the Dolichoderus colony members inhabiting the epiphytic myrmecophyte (ant plant) in Danum Valley, Borneo: A queen, a worker, and a male.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

A section through the tuber reveals the galleries inhabited by the ants. This is where they keep their brood, along with several winged males. In one of the chambers, I also found two dealate, mature queens (I’ll post portraits of the individual colony members separately).

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

The species kinda keys out to Dolichoderus thoracicus, the cocoa black ant. However, that species seems to be a “bucket taxon” containing several distinct species. Your normal D. thoracicus are black and nest in the soil. Clearly, this is something different.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

This miniature world, a part of an epiphytic plant, was inhabited by a species of aggressive Dolichoderus ant. The ants were guarding and entering/exiting various entrances into the inside of the tuber.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

After a night of heavy rains at Danum Valley, I found this alien meteorite that had fallen onto a trail.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

One notable thing about Borneo is that there are sooo many leeches. They wait around on leaves and, when the unsuspecting myrmecologist lies down on the floor to watch ants, they jump off and crawl towards him. By the dozens. Ant hunting in Borneo is a bloody business. The leeches are pretty though.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Here’s something else for a change: a baby snail exploring a fairy fungus forest. Danum Valley, Sabah.

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Daniel Kronauer @danielkronauer.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

This is…not an ant. It’s the ant-mimicking nymph of a true bug (Heteroptera). Check out the long proboscis, which the bug has inserted into a leaf to suck phloem sap. Proof once again that everything wants to be an ant. Sabah, Borneo.

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