A biologist I'm not. I'm just a lay person taking a field biology class. My project was to observe army ants. Yes, those fierce little marauders of the rainforest. I found a trail of ants easily, since I had noticed them crossing the path in the same spot many times before on the previous days. I got down on my hands and knees and watched them carrying beetles and pieces of insects. I also saw them carrying little white things that I figured out later were ant pupae. I tried not to get too close for fear of being bitten. The last time I'd been in Costa Rica, our group came across a massive trail of army ants about four to six feet wide. Our guide just told us to quickly run on top of them, stomping on them with our rubber boots.

I decided to follow the trail to see where it would lead.The trail often split off into more than one. Finally I followed one of the trails to their bivouac. A bivouac is a temporary nest they make out of their bodies. They link their legs together. It was very impressive. I could see them tending to their pupae inside. I came back with my video camera. I kept creeping closer and closer to take video of the mass of ants. I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention. I suddenly felt some acute pain on my arm and finger. I stopped shooting and looked down. To my horror I saw a soldier ant attached to my finger and four more ants bunched together on the inside of my forearm. I panicked trying to shake them off. I slapped at them, but they stuck. I had no idea how many more were on me somewhere! So I ran back down the hill slapping and shaking at them as I trembled with fear. It turned out that those few might have been all that were on me. The one on my finger bit me so hard it bled. The bites on my arm just left welts. I give army ants a lot of respect now!