Seemingly immune to the persistent biting of the worker ants, Don Miguel harvests escamoles (ant larvae) from their nest beneath an agave plant. An escamolero for more than 30 years, his experience in sustainable and careful harvesting provides lessons to others in the region. Escamoles are the large larvae of the reproductive caste of these ants. They are harvested primarily in March before the first rains of the year result in the mating flights of the winged adults that will come from these larvae. Population declines are in part due to overharvesting, resulting in too few reproductive adults to start sufficient numbers of new colonies. This photo was taken on March 27, 2012.