Take a look at nature’s very own demolition squad! 🐜

This fascinating image won Ingo Arndt #WPY60 ’s Behaviour: Invertebrates category. In this image, Ingo documents the efficient dismemberment of a blue ground beetle by red wood ants.

“Full of ant” is how Ingo described himself after lying next to the ants’ nest for just a few minutes. Ingo watched as the red wood ants carved an already dead beetle into pieces small enough to fit through the entrance to their nest.

Much of the red wood ants’ nourishment comes from honeydew secreted by aphids, but they also need protein. They can kill insects and other invertebrates much larger than themselves through sheer strength in numbers.