Tiny Collectors: Harvester Ants

Western harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis), a common species of ants throughout the American West, contribute to the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History paleontology and archaeology collections. These ants collect tiny fossils and artifacts, which scientists can then find in their nests.

• Collaborating With Insects
• Harvester Ant Ecology

Explore this website to learn more about the tiny objects displayed in the Harvester Ants vitrine in the BioLounge, and about harvester ants and their environment.

Mimbres beads	Cretaceous amber	Mammal tooth
Mammal tooth	Hadrosaur tooth	Troodon tooth
Ricardoestesia tooth	Ray tooth	Saurornitholestes tooth
Fossil ant	"Ant-money" seeds	Horned lizard
Harvester ant

Tiny Collectors: Harvester Ants was designed, built, and installed by Museum and Field Studies (MFS) graduate students John Hankla (Paleontology), Suzanne White (Exhibits), Kristina Horton (Education), Heidi Buhr (Archives), Christina Spence (Paleontology and Botany), and Erin Baxter (Anthropology and Education), with the support and assistance of Charles Counter and Bill Moats of the Museum's Exhibits Department. MFS student Melissa Barton (Paleontology and Informatics) designed and wrote the website; Suzanne White illustrated the dinosaurs and other extinct animals.

Return to BioLounge Index