One Scientist vs. Millions of Army Ants

In an excerpt from his new book, entomologist Frank Nischk tells us the story of that time he was alone at the research station at Reserva Otonga in the Ecuadorian Andes and battled a horde of army ants. He wasn't all that concerned for himself but wanted to protect a collection of crickets he had spent two weeks finding and identifying. His weapon against millions of ants? A broom.
But interspersed with the fighting, Nischk explains the impact of army ants (Eciton burchellii) on some of the 559 identified other animal species that have evolved to rely on the ants for survival. If army ants went extinct, so could those other species. Several dozen species of birds follow army ants on the march, to scoop up the insects that the ants frighten out of their hiding places. Butterflies also follow, to feed on the bird droppings. Parasitic wasps also follow to find the scurrying insects. Other creatures feed on the carcasses of animals that army ants kill but can't carry with them. There are beetles that evolved to look like army ants and hide in plain sight right in an army ant's nest, for protection and to take advantage of the bits of food they bring in to feed their larvae. Come for the battle of human vs. army ants, and stay for the fascinating ecosystem they create, in the book excerpt at Atlas Obscura.