This female ant was undoubtedly looking for a site where she could build a new colony.  In order to arrive where she was when I took these photos, she had to cross the barrier of Sevin dust that runs around the perimeter of my patio.  By the time I found her, she was already grooming madly, and that just makes the poison work more quickly as it increases their exposure to and consumption of the powder.  You can safely assume I was not terribly heartbroken to know she was dying before my very eyes.  I don’t mind ants as long as they stay away from me and mine.  Cross that line, however, and I will exercise no restraint to ensure their demise.

[I don’t know what species of ant this is, and the photos, while much better than anticipated, did not turn out well enough for a positive identification — at least for me; if you know something about ants and can tell me what this is, I’d appreciate it]