I don't think they are mites but they sure look like parasites of some sort--possibly a fungus? They look like they are on stalks. But I can't really tell, even though my fist thought was "what an amazing photo!".

And it is an amazing photo. :)

I was hoping someone would recognize these by now!

I did too!

Fori is on the right track; simply research ants+parasitic+fungus.

Thank you! I did a search on ants with parasites. There are many, I had a hard time comparing. Even learned that there are mites hitchhiking on the ants when they fly. I will look more into the fungus.