Haiku

Published Poems

J.W. Hackett. 1968. Haiku Poetry, Volume 4. Japan Publications, Tokyo.

The ants on this cloth
   are even carrying off
      their own casualties.

Now vigorously
   shaking the kitten’s paw—
      an adventurous ant.

Hardy ant, even
   heavily burdened you climb
      this sheer garden wall.

The ant stepped on
   by a paw of the slinking cat,
      just scampers away.

An applecore, just
   short of the sea’s surging wash:
      caravaning ants.

Kobayashi Issa (1762-1826), translated by Lucian Stryk (The Dumpling Field, Haiku of Issa, 1991, Swallow Press, Athens, Ohio).

Earthworm pops up-
how quick
the ants.

Greg Schwartz (Hexapod Haiku, 2021)

beneath
the hammock
— ants

Greg Schwartz (Hexapod Haiku, 2022)

that feeling
of being watched…
ant farm

Ants of the World

The Ants of the World Project has provided Haikus for a range of ant genera. Please enjoy a different view of these fascinating ants!

Acanthostichus (Jack Longino)
Our first doryline Unlike others, hunts termites Hidden underground

Adetomyrma (Jack Longino)
Defying ant rules The petiole is missing! Madagascan gem

Aenictogiton (Jack Longino)
Congo-limited And conga line segmented Case of missing queens

Amblyopone (Jack Longino)
A row of short pegs Adorn clypeal border Clasp centipedes tight

Anillidris (Jack Longino)
In Argentine soil Is this an Acropyga? Dolichoderine!

Ankylomyrma (Jack Longino)
From leafy bower This relict fantasy Graces Africa

Anonychomyrma (Jack Longino)
In Queensland tree top these come swarming over you gasters wave like flags

Arnoldius (Jack Longino)
Minute 'strine pismire in honor of Constantine Moscow scientist

Axinidris (Jack Longino)
Propodeal ax Weber's etymology Imatong homeland

Azteca (Jack Longino)
Eponymous ant Fierce canopy warriors Swarming to defend

Bothriomyrmex (Jack Longino)
Tapinoma's bane "Off with her head," the queen says Home never the same

Cerapachys (Jack Longino)
Indomalayan Thought worldwide, not anymore Lil' ant little known

Cheliomyrmex (Jack Longino)
With powerful sting Subterranean raiders Pursue earthworm prey

Chronoxenus (Jack Longino)
Arnoldius kin but Asian, not Aussie Looks the same to me

Cylindromyrmex (Jack Longino)
Striped hunters in wood Antennae hidden in grooves Termite nemesis

Doleromyrma (Jack Longino)
Nondescript doli Australia yet again Dolerous indeed

Dolichoderus (Jack Longino)
The name means long neck Like a Lone Star Beer bottle Alas, not Texan

Dorylus (Jack Longino)
Sausage queens and kings Driven by workers From nest to temp nest

Dorymyrmex (Elaine Tan)
Neo-amphitropic Dry as the pyramid shape Jutting from its back

Eciton (Jack Longino)
Armies on schedule Stripping bare all in their wake March forward en masse

Ecphorella (Rodolfo da Silva Probst)
Endemic puzzle An Angolan dolicho Split by the gizzard

Forelius (Jack Longino)
Dorymyrmex sis With more lone frantic darting 'neath high desert sun

Froggattella (Jack Longino)
A thorny bichrome Desertophile Aussie Froggatt's legacy

Fulakora (Jack Longino)
Place-based moniker From Mann's plantation sojourn Exploitative past

Gracilidris (Elaine Tan)
One ambered, one live Still ambling dry Amazon Armed with a hooked waist

Iridomyrmex (Elaine Tan)
Shining troopers duel Clashes heard o'er the outback Other insects flee

Labidus (Elaine Tan)
Generalist hunts Across the Neotropics Stagger their male flights

Leptanilloides (Elaine Tan)
Amy? Asphincta? Long ants absorb genus names Under cloud forests

Leptomyrmex (Jack Longino)
Swanky spider-like A sailor from the New World Hidden in plain sight

Linepithema (Elaine Tan)
Invader "Argies" Queens thousands strong on west coasts Humble? Misnomer

Liometopum (Jack Longino)
Velveteen legions Defend Holarctic treetops With secretive nests

Lioponera (Jack Longino)
What wicked lions Odd doryline, mixed cohorts Stalk Pheidole lambs

Loweriella (Jack Longino)
Frontal carina Says not Bothri, but Lowie Bolton's Borneo

Myopopone (Jack Longino)
Drive-in restaurant Workers take kids out to dine On fat beetle grub

Neocerapachys (Jack Longino)
Ants hidden amongst Rico’s and Brasileños With just two species

Neivamyrmex (Jack Longino)
Cause ants to panic Eciton’s smaller cousin More diverse by far

Nomamyrmex (Jack Longino)
Only two species But with well armored workers Leaf cutters beware

Ochetellus (Jack Longino)
Tombstone petiole Adorns Asian-Pacific Sylvan foragers

Ooceraea (Jack Longino)
A clonal model Blind sister-queens search litter For scent of ant brood

Papyrius (Jack Longino)
Oceania's Papermakers before man Not to write, but rest

Philidris (Jack Longino)
Shattuck's named "Phil's ant" In epiphyte domatia Builds condo unit

Tapinoma (Jack Longino)
With blue cheese fragrance And petiole small to none They spread their empire

Tatuidris (Jack Longino)
Before DNA Its placement mysterious Bolton first to know

Technomyrmex (Jack Longino)
Pale-toed traveler Reduced petiole again In tropic tap dance

Turneria (Jack Longino)
Elliptical eyes And shark-finned propodeums Emerge from twig nests

Other Authors

Onychomyrmex
Army ant way of life Dichthadiiform queens present Australia is home