“Measuring about 3 feet high and 4 feet wide, this Langley-area anthill is an example of some of the best construction work done by the Western thatching ant.Matt Johnson / staff reporterIt took the ancient Egyptians decades to build the great pyramids, the world’s most massive ancient buildings. Had the slaves who built the giant structures been ants, they might have finished their work inside of a month.By far the largest component of Earth’s insect family — both in total weight and number — ants are at work everywhere, including South Whidbey.Last summer, evidence of their tireless tasking caught Athena Knutson’s eye while she was driving on a rural Langley road. At the side of the road, just above the ditchline at the base of a tree, the South Whidbey woman noticed a perfectly conical mound of pine needles about 3 feet high and 4 feet wide. When she got out of the car to get a closer look, she found that the cone was covered with hustling, bustling ants crawling in and out of hundreds of holes in the cone’s surface. What she had found was the mother of all anthills. Since that summer day, she has watched the ant hill grow, little by little. She pays regular visits to the hill to see what the huge ant colony is up to.If I’m headed toward Clinton, I pull the car over, she said.Though the anthill seems large, it is not particularly unusual for this species of ant, the Western thatching ant, to build huge mounds for the hundreds of thousands of ants who live and work inside. Langley Middle School science teacher Jay Freundlich said he has seen a number of the thatcher ant colonies rise out of the field near his Clinton home in just weeks. Don Meehan, Island County’s WSU Extension agent, said the ants are the best cleanup crew in Whidbey Island forests.They’re good guys, Meehan said of the mid-sized, black and brown ants. They’re real common in Western Washington.An insect expert, Meehan said he tends to notice the thatching anthills more than most people. Most of the time, people walking through the woods won’t pay much attention to the mounds the ants build. It’s only when the ants build near human homes and travel routes that they cause a stir.Mehan said it is reasonably safe to watch thatching ants from close range. They are a vegetarian species and are not particularly aggressive. However, those who are unlucky enough or foolish enough to step on or kick one of these giant ant hills could be in for trouble. They become particularly agitated when the colony is breeched, since the colony’s queen lives somewhere deep inside the cone. When agitated, the ants will defend their home by swarming an attacker and biting with powerful mandibles laced with burning formic acid. Meehan advises a look-but-don’t-touch approach to these and all other ant species.Knutson said she will continue watching her anthill as long as the ants see fit to live there. She said she hopes no one disturbs them, including Island County roadside mowing crews.I hope the mower doesn’t hit it, she said.The mower operator should hope so, too. “