29/09/2008By Paul Eccleston
The Telegraph (UK)
A Queen Ant glares menacingly into a camera lens.
With a fixed beady stare the griffon vulture contemplates its next move
She may have the comical look of a character from the animated film Shrek but she is deadly serious.
Her raised abdomen is a clear warning signal that she is about to unleash a burning spray of formic acid.
The picture, Angry Queen, taken by Polish photographer Piotr Naskrecki, has been highly commended in the prestigious 44th annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition.
Armoured ants get their name from tough exoskeletons complete with sharp spines on the abdomen which makes them a fearsome warrior of the insect world.
Piotr spotted the Queen - newly mated and ready to establish her own colony - making her way through leaf litter in Cambodia's Virachey National Park.
With a fixed beady stare the griffon vulture contemplates its next move
She may have the comical look of a character from the animated film Shrek but she is deadly serious.
Her raised abdomen is a clear warning signal that she is about to unleash a burning spray of formic acid.
The picture, Angry Queen, taken by Polish photographer Piotr Naskrecki, has been highly commended in the prestigious 44th annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition.
Armoured ants get their name from tough exoskeletons complete with sharp spines on the abdomen which makes them a fearsome warrior of the insect world.
Piotr spotted the Queen - newly mated and ready to establish her own colony - making her way through leaf litter in Cambodia's Virachey National Park.
