PREVIEW

As dusk settles over the countryside near Elkton, a narrow trail of ants threads its way across a dusty dirt road. The insects move with purpose, each following invisible chemical cues left by those ahead. Many carry tiny prizes from the day's work—shards of beetle wings, fragments of caterpillars, and other insect remains gathered from the surrounding fields and brush. In the fading light, the procession appears almost like a miniature caravan, steadily returning to a nearby nest where the food will be shared among the colony. The line continues uninterrupted, a quiet reminder of the intense activity that takes place at a scale easily overlooked in the rural Oregon evening