Photograph by Alexandre Turmaine, a MSc student at McGill University

Through this  photograph, we get to peer into the excavation process of worker California Harvester Ants  (Pogonomyrmex californicus) expanding their burrow. Thanks to their strong exoskeleton and their tiny  proportions, ants are remarkably proficient at carrying loads many times their own body weight. These  two ants along with the rest of the workers had been hard at work all afternoon removing one miniature  boulder at a time from their underground home. 

About the photographer: My name is Alexandre Turmaine, following the completion of my undergraduate studies in  environmental biology, I am starting a masters in the Renewable Resources department at McGill  University studying the foraging success of a cliff nesting seabird (Thick-Billed Murre) using GPS accelerometers.