PGF Leaf #2 - Ant Traditional Cache
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Each of the geocaches in the PGF Leaf series will highlight an animal that can be found in the Starkey Wilderness Preserve. While searching for the PGF Leaf caches, and while hiking in any wilderness area, please remember ... this is the animal's home - you are merely a guest. Be respectful of natural communities, and leave nothing behind but footprints.
Cachers are invited to upload pictures they take of each animal subject - as long as the picture was actually taken within the boundaries of the Starkey Wilderness Park.
Ant
If you are looking for them, ants are probably the most common animal you will see at Starkey Wilderness Preserve. Just scan the ground while you are hiking, and it will be difficult to go more than a few feet without seeing them. Some can walk all over you and be completely harmless ... while others can inflict painful bites. They range in size from Pharoah ants, that can be less than 2mm in length, to the red velvet ant that can be almost an inch long.
Over 12,000 species of ants have been classified, and I doubt if anyone knows how many of them are present in Starkey Park. But you would have no problem seeing dozens of different types in just a short time if you keep your eyes to the ground. Ants are social creatures related to wasps and bees. They form colonies comprised of individuals that are specialized for specific jobs within the community ... workers, soldiers, drones, and queen.
Ants, like other insects, have an exoskeleton that protects them. Their body is separated into three sections with a slender waist between sections. Most ants are not able to mate, having other jobs to do. The queen and drone males may have wings. But it is easy to mistake termites and other species as "flying ants".
This cache was placed by a member of the PGF Leaf team and is maintained by the WestPascoEventTeam
The PGF Leaf Project is a geocaching series placed with the cooperation and permission of Pasco County Parks & Recreation Department, Pasco Department of Tourism, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Additional Hints
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Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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