2025 September 1 evening
Here are some photographs taken by Ian Cooper on the evening of August 31 near the 9 km marker of the GG trail in View Royal.
Describing the first of these photographs, Ian writes: This photograph is one of multiple photos taken during a prolonged fight between two carpenter ants spotted by the edge of the GG trail. One ant was larger than the other, but not by much. They remained locked in battle for over five minutes. It was a bizarre scene to witness. Only when examining the photos and video of their struggle afterwards did I finally see what was keeping them so engaged with each other: Each ant had one of its appendages in the vice-like grip of its adversary’s powerful mandibles and neither was letting go as they flailed about in the detritus. The smaller ant had a firm grasp on the front right leg of the larger ant, who in turn had managed to grab onto one of its opponent’s antennae. I’ve never seen two ants of the same species fighting each other before and wonder if they may have been from rival colonies.
Western Black Carpenter Ants Camponotus modoc
(Hym.: Formicidae)
Ian Cooper
Red Carpenter Ant Camponotus vicinus (Hym.: Formicidae)
Ian Cooper
Snail-eating Beetle Scaphinotus angusticollis (Col.: Carabidae) Ian Cooper
Ian writes: I’m starting to see these beetles more frequently. According to iNat, they’re most abundant in September – October.
Pterostichus sp. (Col.: Carabidae) Ian Cooper
Ian writes: These dark ground beetles are at present abundant by the trail. They generally flee when illuminated, which makes them hard to photograph. Occasionally I come across one that’s engrossed in eating something and doesn’t flee, which allows me to photograph it.
European Sowbug Oniscus asellus (Isopoda: Oniscidae)
Ian Cooper
Unidentified nematoceran fly (Dip.: Nematocera) Ian Cooper
Invert Sightings 