ant fact archive

Lindsay Burke, A Lump Like a Stone, Like the Rising Smoke, 2021

Lindsay Burke

A Lump Like a Stone, Like the Rising Smoke
2021
acrylic and flashe on canvas
101×76 cm
photo by Adam Moskowitz
courtesy of the artist and Moskowitz Bayse Gallery

Leaf-cutting Ants54 construct ventilation shafts for their nests. The edible mold they cultivate underground thrives in muggy conditions,55 but the ants need a breath of fresh air every once in a while.56

  • Acromyrmex ambiguus
  • The nests are kept at over 90% humidity at 25–30°C. The ants also sleep here.
  • Bollazzi and Roces, 2007