This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Swarms of army ants naturally inspire fear, of course, but to people who know ants this painting is even more terrifying.
Hashime Murayama has not only drawn army ants, but undead army ants, their reanimated corpses lurching towards us in eerie procession. The bodies rigid, antennae jarringly askew, these ants are clearly chasing us from beyond the grave. Spooky! And, unintentional.
Murayama, like most scientific illustrators of his time, drew from preserved museum specimens. With no easy way to verify the animals' natural posture, the resulting paintings depict contorted, dying animals.
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Consider an Australian bull ant:
Of course, paintings based on a pinned specimen will look much as Murayama's does:
Older natural history art is often a bit off. We can't really blame the artists, though. It's not like an early century museum illustrator could just pop down to Australia to observe live bull ants, or check youtube for a pertinent video. Instead, we enjoy the art for what it tell us of the natural history of illustration, rather than of natural history itself.
Plus, zombies.
More on Hashime Murayama
[copyright note: My reproduction of Murayama's work is intended as Fair Use editorial commentary on the paintings]
