Since day one, we have loved animals. Having kept reptiles, amphibians, birds, dogs, and many, many kinds of insects, we understand what it means to care for an animal and truly cherish their natural beauty.
WHO WE ARE
Akhil is a rising sophomore student at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. As a neuroscience major with a minor in artificial intelligence, Akhil is interested in the functionality and splendor of the human brain. In his free time, Akhil enjoys fishing, entrepreneurship, and running.
Akhil Kulkarni
Co-Founder
Avi is a rising senior at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, PA. As a leader of many clubs and organizations, Avi's passions lie in the complexities of linguistics and languages of cultures around the world. Avi loves to row, bake, and listen to latin music.
Avi Kulkarni
Director of Social Media Outreach
Akshay, Akhil's twin, is also a rising sophomore at Georgia Tech, majoring in computer science with an emphasis on intelligence and information and minoring in mathematics. Akshay is interested in decision science and its applications to behavioral economic and financial theory. In his free time, Akshay likes to work out, browse reddit, and trade stocks.
Akshay Kulkarni
Co-Founder
Sasha is a 6-year old chihuahua-schipperke mix. She has many interests including playing fetch, playing soccer, chasing rabbits, and snuggling. Although there is a minor language barrier, Sasha has been an integral component of Antsylvania's success and contributes a great deal of insight.
Sasha Kulkarni
Sales Associate
OUR FAVORITE SPECIES
Akshay K.
CO-FOUNDER
What is your favorite species, and why?
"Tough question. I'm going to have to go with Colobopsis mississippiensis. I love how mysteriously ambiguous the minors look—without experience identifying ants, they could be easily mistaken for Formica, Camponotus, Dolichoderus, or even Crematogaster. Because they can be so hard to find, they're also super fun to photograph—you could spend a whole morning looking for them without seeing a single worker, but when one finally appears, it makes it all worth it."
Any runner-ups?
"Probably Monomorium minimum—they're so little. I've always wondered what it would be like to keep a gigantic, maybe three or four thousand worker M. minimum colony."
Akhil K.
CO-FOUNDER
What is your favorite species, and why?
"My favorite species is Pheidole tysoni. I love how the beautiful golden orange ants glow in the sunlight. I am also drawn to Pheidole because they are very are easy to care for and have relatively fast growing colonies."
Any runner-ups?
My second favorite species is Camponotus subbarbatus. These are by far some of the strangest but also most beautiful species we have collected.
Avi K.
SOCIAL MEDIA OUTREACH
What is your favorite species, and why?
Black Carpenter Ants, Camponotus pennsylvanicus, will always be a favorite species of mine, because it is one of the first species I ever learned about. Being one of the largest species, they are some of the easiest ants to observe and therefore learn about. C. pennsylvanicus is a species that is elemental to my education of the ant world.
Any runner-ups?
Although I have never come across them in person, Atta texana, the Texas Leafcutter Ant, is also one of my favorite species. Having evolved as cultivators of special kinds of fungus over millions of years, leafcutter ants are some of the only known organisms (aside from humans) that farm and harvest their own food.
Sasha K.
SALES ASSOCIATE
What is your favorite species, and why?
"Woof, woof woof Woof woof."
Any runner-ups?
"Woof."
In their junior year of high school, Akhil and Akshay delivered a TED talk about ants in Springfield, Massachusetts. You can watch it here.
