Tiny Drama

I sat on the edge of the street in front of my house, taking photos of a couple of Hover Flies, Ocyptamus fuscipennis. The small flies were focused like little lasers on a Tropical Sage flower. I noticed that an ant had apparently staked a claim to that particular bloom and tried, in vain, to scare the Flies away.  Ms Ant finally gave up and ducked inside the flower, deciding to wait 'till the Hover Flies moved off. I later identified the ant as a Slender Twig Ant, Pseudomyrmex gracillis, originally from Mexico and now found in the southern U.S. A new species for me!