Meet the Entomologist and Wildlife Photographer Zooming in on the Weird and Wonderful World of Ants

Mark Moffett, a research associate at the National Museum of Natural History, specializes in capturing the often-overlooked behaviors of insects

To most people, ants are little more than unwelcome picnic guests. But to entomologist Mark Moffett, ants are some of the most remarkable creatures on the planet that have mastered everything from farming and engineering to warfare and city planning.

Over the decades, Moffett, a research associate in the National Museum of Natural History’s Department of Entomology, has spent much of his time exploring tropical rainforests in search of insects. “The wonderful thing about field work is that all kinds of amazing discoveries are still there to be made outside the lab,” he said. “Finding new species and behaviors has been my life goal since I was a teenager.”

Moffett, a mentee of renowned biologist E.O. Wilson, is an eminent researcher in his own right: In 2025, he was named a "Legend in Entomology" in the journal American Entomologist, the flagship publication of the Entomological Society of America. His legendary career includes work on ant foraging strategies and the origins of societies across the animal kingdom, including in humans, to such oddball discoveries as an ant that snaps its club-like jaws to knock prey unconscious and another that pilfers stray bird feathers to use as tools for collecting morning dew. Moffett’s skill for observing incredible behavior has also made him a celebrated wildlife photographer. His insect photography has filled several books and has even graced the covers of iconic magazines like National Geographic.

Moffett’s latest newsworthy discovery is actually based on observations he made decades ago in the deserts of southeastern Arizona. During a 2006 visit to a research station, Moffett noticed large harvester ants freezing outside of the nests of an undescribed species of small cone ant. Through his camera lens, Moffett watched as the cone ants crawled on the harvester ant, licking and apparently nibbling particles off of their body surfaces, even between the larger ant’s serrated jaws. This week, Moffett described the strange behavior, which is novel to insects, in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

Smithsonian Voices recently spoke with Moffett about the new work and his lifelong interest in ants.

How did you first become interested in ants?

I always tell people that I first became interested in ants when I was in diapers crawling on the ground and seeing all the fascinating things ants do. I think we’re all interested in ants when we’re small children because we see them carrying out many of the social activities humans do. They work collectively to build homes and highways, collect and retrieve food and protect their society. Despite their small brains, they really show a lot of parallels to what we accomplish, together, in our own lives.

Most of us outgrow this perspective. We are told to study something that others consider more important. But I didn't change my mind, and my parents still don't believe I have a real job, given I see ants not as pests but creatures to be celebrated.

How did you first become interested in photographing ants and is it difficult to capture their tiny world?

I first picked up a camera in graduate school because I wanted to document ant behavior in India, and I had to make sure I came back with observations that my professor would believe. And I found that I have a natural knack for picking up a camera and focusing my lens on tiny things — like ants.

I treat ants the way a normal wildlife photographer would treat a jaguar or a leopard. I sense how they are going to respond to me. When one is starting to get annoyed at my presence, I back off. Once that ant gets engaged in a behavior like feeding or fighting, it's easier to move in without disturbing her, and watch her in action. A camera is my tool to enter the ant’s world — the possibility of taking photographs is secondary.

Do you remember what your first thought was when you initially observed this strange cleaning behavior between different species of ants?

Given the usual tendencies of ants, I first assumed that I was observing aggression. But I eventually realized the harvester ants being attended to were doing two things that made this unlikely. First, they seeked out the attention of the smaller ant by visiting their nests and adopting an odd position until one of the little ants climbed aboard. And second, they stayed put and allowed the small ants to lick and nibble all over them.

I’ve since found out that these two criteria — seeking out and then submitting to the cleaner — are what marine biologists look for when describing a species as a “cleaner” fish or shrimp. I see the new ant species is the insect equivalent of cleaner fish in the ocean. As with the cleaner fish, when a “client” tires of all this attention, it throws its cleaners off before scrambling away.

How do the cleaner ants “clean” their larger neighbors?

The cleaner ants have tongue-like mouthparts that they use to squeegee things into their mouths. What they're pulling off is hard to say — traces of some kind of tasty matter. You can compare it to how dogs lick us to get salt from our sweat and skin — though in this case the cleaned individual presumably benefits somehow, perhaps because that edible matter can carry disease organisms harmful to the bigger ants.

What about this group of insects makes them so complex from a behavior perspective?

As we recognized as infants, ants have to deal with the same problems as humans. Like modern humans, some species live in societies of millions that must distribute resources and labor to the right places. They need to be able to coordinate group defence actions, to rear their young collectively, and so on. Despite not having big brains, ants often end up arriving at similar solutions to these problems that humans show. In large colonies, depending on the species, ants even have what amount to traffic rules!

I’m always surprised when people think that comparing ants to humans is strange. To make a comparison that's truly interesting, you have to look at things that are normally thought of as different and then notice something unexpectedly similar between them. So even though ants and humans appear radically different on the surface, the parallels between us and them are what actually makes these insects fascinating to me.

Jack Tamisiea | | Read More

Jack Tamisiea is a Science Communications Specialist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. In addition to covering all things natural history for the museum's blog, Smithsonian Voices, he tracks media coverage and coordinates filming activities for the museum's Office of Communications and Public Affairs. Jack recently completed his masters in science writing at Johns Hopkins University and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, National Geographic and other science-focused publications. In his free time, he loves exploring the outdoors with a sketchbook and camera. You can read more of Jack's work at https://jacktamisiea.com.