Haiku

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online

Published Poems

J.W. Hackett. 1968. Haiku Poetry, Volume 4. Japan Publications, Tokyo.

The ants on this cloth
   are even carrying off
      their own casualties.

Now vigorously
   shaking the kitten’s paw—
      an adventurous ant.

Hardy ant, even
   heavily burdened you climb
      this sheer garden wall.

The ant stepped on
   by a paw of the slinking cat,
      just scampers away.

An applecore, just
   short of the sea’s surging wash:
      caravaning ants.


Kobayashi Issa (1762-1826), translated by Lucian Stryk (The Dumpling Field, Haiku of Issa, 1991, Swallow Press, Athens, Ohio).

Earthworm pops up-
how quick
the ants.


Greg Schwartz (Hexapod Haiku, 2021)

beneath
the hammock
— ants

Greg Schwartz (Hexapod Haiku, 2022)

that feeling
of being watched…
ant farm

Ants of the World

The Ants of the World Project has provided Haikus for a range of ant genera. Please enjoy a different view of these fascinating ants!


Acanthostichus (Jack Longino)       Acanthostichus arizonensis casent0103128 head 1.jpg

Our first doryline
Unlike others, hunts termites
Hidden underground


Adetomyrma (Jack Longino)       Adetomyrma venatrix casent0101400 head 1.jpg

Defying ant rules
The petiole is missing!
Madagascan gem


Aenictogiton (Jack Longino)       Aenictogiton B.jpg

Congo-limited
And conga line segmented
Case of missing queens


Amblyopone (Jack Longino)       Amblyopone australis casent0102519 head 1.jpg

A row of short pegs
Adorn clypeal border
Clasp centipedes tight


Anillidris (Jack Longino)       Anillidris worker, full face.jpg

In Argentine soil
Is this an Acropyga?
Dolichoderine!


Ankylomyrma (Jack Longino)       Ankylomyrma coronacantha casent0005904 head 1.jpg

From leafy bower
This relict fantasy
Graces Africa


Anonychomyrma (Jack Longino)       Anonychomyrma gilberti casent0069883 head 1.jpg

In Queensland tree top
these come swarming over you
gasters wave like flags


Arnoldius (Jack Longino)       Arnoldius flavus casent0103284 head 1.jpg

Minute 'strine pismire
in honor of Constantine
Moscow scientist


Axinidris (Jack Longino)       Axinidris bidens casent0403871 head 1.jpg

Propodeal ax
Weber's etymology
Imatong homeland


Azteca (Jack Longino)       Azteca adrepens casent0173822 head 1.jpg

Eponymous ant
Fierce canopy warriors
Swarming to defend


Bothriomyrmex (Jack Longino)       Bothriomyrmex paradoxus casent0103277 head 1.jpg

Tapinoma's bane
"Off with her head," the queen says
Home never the same


Cerapachys (Jack Longino)       Cerapachys-jacobsoni-MCZ001H.jpg

Indomalayan
Thought worldwide, not anymore
Lil' ant little known


Cheliomyrmex (Jack Longino)       Cheliomyrmex morosus casent0003202 head 1.jpg

With powerful sting
Subterranean raiders
Pursue earthworm prey


Chronoxenus (Jack Longino)       Chronoxenus myops casent0103286 h 1 high.jpg

Arnoldius kin
but Asian, not Aussie
Looks the same to me


Cylindromyrmex (Jack Longino)       Cylindromyrmex striatus casent0106074 head 1.jpg

Striped hunters in wood
Antennae hidden in grooves
Termite nemesis


Doleromyrma (Jack Longino)       Doleromyrma darwiniana casent0009949 head 1.jpg

Nondescript doli
Australia yet again
Dolerous indeed


Dolichoderus (Jack Longino)       Dolichoderus attelaboides casent0106108 head 1.jpg

The name means long neck
Like a Lone Star Beer bottle
Alas, not Texan


Dorylus (Jack Longino)       Dorylus helvolus casent0106079 head 1.jpg

Sausage queens and kings
Driven by workers
From nest to temp nest


Dorymyrmex (Elaine Tan)       Dorymyrmex bituber casent0173842 head 1.jpg

Neo-amphitropic
Dry as the pyramid shape
Jutting from its back


Eciton (Jack Longino)       Eciton-hamatumSF1.6.jpg

Armies on schedule
Stripping bare all in their wake
March forward en masse


Ecphorella (Rodolfo da Silva Probst)       Ecphorella wellmani casent0102456 head 1.jpg

Endemic puzzle
An Angolan dolicho
Split by the gizzard


Forelius (Jack Longino)       Forelius mccooki casent0005322 head 1.jpg

Dorymyrmex sis
With more lone frantic darting
'neath high desert sun


Froggattella (Jack Longino)       Froggattella kirbii casent0009944 head 1.jpg

A thorny bichrome
Desertophile Aussie
Froggatt's legacy


Fulakora (Jack Longino)       Amblyopone celata casent0172191 head 1.jpg

Place-based moniker
From Mann's plantation sojourn
Exploitative past


Gracilidris (Elaine Tan)       Gracilidris pombero casent0179539 head 1.jpg

One ambered, one live
Still ambling dry Amazon
Armed with a hooked waist


Iridomyrmex (Elaine Tan)       Iridomyrmex purpureus casent0006108 head 1.jpg

Shining troopers duel
Clashes heard o'er the outback
Other insects flee


Labidus (Elaine Tan)       Labidus coecus casent0173511 head 1.jpg

Generalist hunts
Across the Neotropics
Stagger their male flights


Leptanilloides (Elaine Tan)       Leptanilloides biconstricta casent0104676 head 1.jpg

Amy? Asphincta?
Long ants absorb genus names
Under cloud forests


Leptomyrmex (Jack Longino)       Leptomyrmex erythrocephalus casent0011746 head 1.jpg

Swanky spider-like
A sailor from the New World
Hidden in plain sight


Linepithema (Elaine Tan)       Linepithema humile casent0005323 head 1.jpg

Invader "Argies"
Queens thousands strong on west coasts
Humble? Misnomer


Liometopum (Jack Longino)       Liometopum microcephalum casent0249747 h 1 high.jpg

Velveteen legions
Defend Holarctic treetops
With secretive nests


Lioponera (Jack Longino)       Cerapachys longitarsus casent0217388 h 1 high.jpg

What wicked lions
Odd doryline, mixed cohorts
Stalk Pheidole lambs


Loweriella (Jack Longino)       Loweriella boltoni casent0102371 head 1.jpg

Frontal carina
Says not Bothri, but Lowie
Bolton's Borneo


Myopopone (Jack Longino)       Myopopone castanea-HUMCZ002H.jpg

Drive-in restaurant
Workers take kids out to dine
On fat beetle grub


Neocerapachys (Jack Longino)       Cerapachys neotropicus casent0281979 h 1 high.jpg

Ants hidden amongst
Rico’s and Brasileños
With just two species


Neivamyrmex (Jack Longino)       Neivamyrmex nigrescens casent0102766 head 1.jpg

Cause ants to panic
Eciton’s smaller cousin
More diverse by far


Nomamyrmex (Jack Longino)       Nomamyrmex esenbeckii casent0010790 head 1.jpg

Only two species
But with well armored workers
Leaf cutters beware


Ochetellus (Jack Longino)       Ochetellus glaber casent0172342 head 1.jpg

Tombstone petiole
Adorns Asian-Pacific
Sylvan foragers


Ooceraea (Jack Longino)       Cerapachys fragosus casent0106215 head 1.jpg

A clonal model
Blind sister-queens search litter
For scent of ant brood


Papyrius (Jack Longino)       Papyrius nitidus casent0070200 head 1.jpg

Oceania's
Papermakers before man
Not to write, but rest


Philidris (Jack Longino)       Philidris brunnea casent0006112 head 1.jpg

Shattuck's named "Phil's ant"
In epiphyte domatia
Builds condo unit


Tapinoma (Jack Longino)       Tapinoma atriceps casent0173743 head 1.jpg

With blue cheese fragrance
And petiole small to none
They spread their empire


Tatuidris (Jack Longino)       Tatuidris tatusia casent0178882 head 1.jpg

Before DNA
Its placement mysterious
Bolton first to know


Technomyrmex (Jack Longino)       Technomyrmex albipes casent0104343 head 1.jpg

Pale-toed traveler
Reduced petiole again
In tropic tap dance


Turneria (Jack Longino)       Turneria bidentata casent0069986 head 1.jpg

Elliptical eyes
And shark-finned propodeums
Emerge from twig nests


Other Authors

Onychomyrmex       Onychomyrmex hedleyi casent0102176 head 1.jpg

Army ant way of life
Dichthadiiform queens present
Australia is home