1665 replies to this topic

[anttics]

Here is what a fresh chamber looks like before it is sealed up. Drew is much more patient than I am. He would wait for the queens to come out and scoop them up. I have no time for that crap, so of course Drew got two times as many pots as me. Digging them up has a lower success rate. It was harder to find them because they would freeze and not move after shoveling up the dirt.

Good to know how seal chambers might look like. Found many of those mounts I did not know they were chambers. weird it did not mark Nurbs writing as a quote. lol.

Edited by dspdrew, March 15 2018 - 4:26 PM.
Fixed quote

[Aaron567]

Species: Camponotus discolor, Dorymyrmex smithi

Location: Pensacola, Florida

Date: March 18, 2017

Time: 10:30 AM

Temperature: 75F

Humidity: 81%

Rain: 1 day before

 

I definitely hit the discolor jackpot today.. I only caught one of them last year. This time I've got six of them (all found in my pool), and one Dorymyrmex. 

 

Edited by Aaron567, March 23 2018 - 2:05 PM.

[Connectimyrmex]

Call me crazy, but I think that I saw a Polyergus queen out and about today.

[MegaMyrmex]

Call me crazy, but I think that I saw a Polyergus queen out and about today.

Nice! I found tapinoma sessile making nests under bricks and some old pieces of concrete. This was the day directly before the huge snowstorm though. Monomorium and tetramorium were also up and about. I wonder what'll happen to them, since it was in the high fifties but it suddenly dropped to low forties and thirties...

[Ants4fun]

Species: Solenopsis invicta, Nylanderia sp.
Location: Port Lavaca, Tx
Date:  5-29-2018
Time: 6:00 PM

Temperature: 76 F
Humidity: 70%
Wind: SSW 10 mph
Rain: Heavy rain the night before.

[TennesseeAnts]

Call me crazy, but I think that I saw a Polyergus queen out and about today.

You're crazy. (I want one of those soooo bad! Did you catch her?)

[YsTheAnt]

Camponotus Quercicola
Mt. Diablo CA
Temp: high of 82 Fahrenheit
Date: 3/29/18
Time: queens found after 9PM
Rain: Over a week ago

Edited by YsTheAnt, March 31 2018 - 12:38 AM.

[nurbs]

Camponotus Quercicola
Mt. Diablo CA
Temp: high of 82 Fahrenheit
Date: 3/29/18
Time: queens found after 9PM
Rain: Over a week ago

 

Can you take some pics of them? There are users on the Ants California facebook page from NorCal claiming they also found lots of C. quercicola, but in the pics they look like a black C. vicinus. Looks misidentified. 

Edited by nurbs, March 31 2018 - 12:51 AM.

[Enderz]

Camponotus sansabeanus

Chaney Trail, Altadena, CA

Temp: High of 83 F

Date: 3/30/18

Time: Queens found from around 7:30 and 8:20

Rain: over a week ago

[YsTheAnt]

Camponotus Quercicola
Mt. Diablo CA
Temp: high of 82 Fahrenheit
Date: 3/29/18
Time: queens found after 9PM
Rain: Over a week ago

Can you take some pics of them? There are users on the Ants California facebook page from NorCal claiming they also found lots of C. quercicola, but in the pics they look like a black C. vicinus. Looks misidentified.

Sure, they are 18mm long. I went with the guy, we saw alates coming out of the nest, so pretty sure they are quercicola. Pics:
EDIT: These pics were of a vicinus queen I caught, I mixed up the URLs, the real pic is down below

Edited by YsTheAnt, March 31 2018 - 2:00 PM.

[nurbs]

Can you get a top down shot? What did the nest look like?

[anttics]

camps are flying all over. the LA county got cold today.

[YsTheAnt]

Can you get a top down shot? What did the nest look like?

It looked like a couple holes inside and oak tree, inside a little rim where wood was exposed. Tons of majors, absolutely huge ants. Here's the top down:


Sorry for poor image quality, I'm too tired to do better right now.

Edited by YsTheAnt, March 31 2018 - 8:43 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Species: Myrmica sp.
Location: Seattle, WA 
Date:  3-30-18
Time: 4:00 pm

Temperature: 45-50 F
Humidity: 40%
Wind:  N/A
Rain: light rain the night before

[AnthonyP163]

 

Species: Myrmica sp.
Location: Seattle, WA 
Date:  3-30-18
Time: 4:00 pm

Temperature: 45-50 F
Humidity: 40%
Wind:  N/A
Rain: light rain the night before

 

I don't know if this would be a flight, there's a good chance it was a foraging Myrmica queen, not one that flew recently.

[TennesseeAnts]

There were two. They weren't foraging. One was under a piece of wood and the other under a large piece of plastic that I use as a Myrmica trap.

[LC3]

There were two. They weren't foraging. One was under a piece of wood and the other under a large piece of plastic that I use as a Myrmica trap.

Most if not all Myrmica sp. fly during summer and especially the fall. I don't think any species flies this early considering that a number of species also tend to rear their reproductives from overwintered larvae so highly unlikely they flew. Anecdotal but personally I've found Myrmica queens hide in any crevice they can find. Places I've found Myrmica queens include under wood of various sizes, under a single leaf, in grass, in a pavement crack and between various objects.

[TennesseeAnts]

I found around fifteen Myrmica queens last year around this time also.

[LC3]

That's not indicative of a flight. Especially with an overwintering semi-claustral species like Myrmica. The same phenomenon can be found with parasitic Lasius where it's possible to find a few dozen huddled together or roaming around during the spring looking for nests to infiltrate even though most of their flights take place during the fall.

[TennesseeAnts]

Ok. I have have only been anting for two years, so you are probably right.