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AssetID: 31125217

Headline: Photographer Creates Mini Ant Worlds

Caption: PICTURE SHOWS: Ants fly on a leaf ..... No wonder ants always look busy - these amazing pictures show them engaged in all manner of activities. The unbelievable scenes are real photographs taken by Russian insect fan Andrey Pavlov. Andrey spends hours painstakingly waiting for the ants to interact with whimsical miniature scenes he has created from small props. The results include ants aboard boats and carts, fishing, and seemingly foraging for gemstones. Andrey, who lives near Moscow, took an interest in his six-legged friends following an illness. He explains: "A sudden disease acquainted me with the ants – my backbone just stopped working and I couldn't walk. On the other hand, I learned to lie still and observe and take pictures of the ants. We became friends very quickly, in 2-3 years, and I could probably have become a good naturalist photographer, but I got carried away by the ant tales. For hundreds of years now, scientists have been describing the games ants play – hide-and-seek, wrestling, chasing, tag, etc., but there have been no pictures to back it up. It is quite hard to reflect these antics in a scientific photo session, let alone ant education or them making childhood friends. Here is where my stories come to rescue--that, and I simply love fairytales. I believe my best stories are based on the scenarios sent to me by the children. "

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