At first glance, it appears that these ants have taken up rhythmic gymnastics.

The spheres the thirsty insects are carrying along a piece of thread, however, are drops of water, and the stunning close-up images were taken with a smartphone.

Ananaliza Daran De Guzman captured them in her garden in the Philippines. After her regular camera broke, she used her Samsung Galaxy Note 8 with a clip-on macro lens.

An ant carries a drop of water along a piece of string in stunning photos taken by Analiza Daran De Guzman in the Philippines.

The ants were photographed in Ms. De Guzman’s garden at home. She had to use her mobile phone camera after her regular DSLR broke.

One of the pictures taken by the mother of three, in which a globe placed in the background is refracted through the droplets, took four hours to take and won a competition run by photo app Agora.

Ants have two stomachs – one for their own food and one for food to be shared with other ants. They don’t have ears but ‘listen’ by feeling vibrations through their feet.

Another photo shows a black-and-white checkered pattern refracted through the droplets across the piece of string.

The mother of three spent four hours taking just one of the pictures – in which a globe placed in the background is refracted through the droplets – and won a competition run by photo app Agora.

‘Insects move fast, ants particularly,’ she said. ‘It is tricky to take pictures with a mere mobile.

‘However, ants stop moving fast when they start to drink water… so I gave them water.’