Field Study's Man in E11 amidst the horrors of the field

Saturday 28th September found me in the polytunnel weeding and digging over the raised beds in readiness for winter cultivation. Any task in the polytunnel involves enduring the attention of 'red ants' and, in particular, their painful bites. I'm not sure if the polytunnel is occupied by numerous different colonies or one or two super-colonies. It is difficult to find even a square foot of the place that does not team with ants - and the vibration of footsteps just serves to attract more of them to the 'square feet' of hapless polytunnelers. The interior has been cleared of the fading splendour of tomatoes, cucumbers, sweetcorn and beans; a minor deforestation which has displaced many creatures that relied on the various sorts of sustenance provided by the elaborate suspensions and canopies. The relatively massive population of ants is, I imagine, experiencing some unwelcome stress owing to the drastic, even catastrophic loss of habitat - unless, that is, you would hold with the theory our interventions are in fact 'ant-minded' - homo sapien witlessly at the service of a far more powerful class and family of the animal kingdom. Call me a Myrmidon.

Here then are some observations of ants setting upon a caterpillar. I will try and justify my caterpillar blood lust as something more noble by presenting it as a entomological field observation - a study of the predatory behaviour of ants, and defensive capabilities of caterpillars.  

28th September 2013

I was also bitten during the making of this video and I can tell you, with my tongue firmly stuck in my cheek, that the shakiness of the film is due to me writhing around in a similar state of agony and sympathy.