Hairy Panther Ant

About the Hairy Panther Ant

The Hairy Panther Ant is the kind of insect that makes you stop walking. At close to an inch long, it is one of the largest ants in the United States -- a glossy black hunter dusted with fine golden hairs, built like something out of the tropics. In this country it reaches only the southern tip of Texas, which makes it a Rio Grande Valley specialty just like the Green Jays overhead.

Unlike the ants most people know, panther ants are mostly solitary hunters. Workers patrol tree trunks and brush alone, running down other insects with speed and a powerful sting that ranks among the more memorable in the ant world. Colonies are small and tucked into dead wood and old cavities rather than sprawling underground.

I photographed these ants in December 2022 in the Valley, where one was working a trunk with the deliberate, prowling gait that earns the species its panther name. A macro-minded pause between birds turned into one of the more interesting subjects of the trip.

Wildlife photography in South Texas rewards looking down as often as up. The Valley's insect life is as much a border specialty as its birds -- just give this one its space, because the sting is honest.