20 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

I've been wanting to find a queen of this species for so long! Usually I see them WAY out in the desert,  usually in the Salton Sea/Palm Springs area. Down in San Diego I mostly saw Messor andrei, and I never had luck getting a queen of them either. Except, I kind of like Veromessor pergandei a bit more as there is a greater size variance.

 

With that said, I REALLY hope my queen is mated as she was just floating around in a pool. I mostly get non-fertile queens in the pool area, but I did get a Solenopsis invicta queen that was mated and got workers and she was in the pool. I didn't keep her though as I'm not very interested in S.invicta.

 

Also, I found this queen in an apartment complex. Last year, I saw some queens of this species when I would walk in the morning, but the sun had already killed them. They are coming from across the river and behind the hill, and I have NO idea what the environment is like or anything in that area. It is completely fenced off and people have been fined for going past the fence. I do know all along the river are billions of Argentine ants and new S. invicta colonies. On the far side of the hill on the opposite end  is just millions of Argentine ants. No idea what is in-between though. I do know there is a lot of ants that fly from that area, especially Solenopsis invicta and I am guessing there are amazing ant colonies there. I just will never be able to go over there, sadly.

 

I'll update in about a week or two, or if I see she has laid eggs sooner. Again, I really really hope she is fertile. I imagine she is as most queens that come from behind the hill have been fertile for me even when I find them in the pool. But, not all of them. Its quite a huge distance to fly to the pool from that area without having been mated with.

 

Wish me luck everyone! This is definitely on top of my favorite native species around here to keep. Huge colonies, nice size variety amongst the workers, very active (at night anyway) and are very interesting to watch.

 

Also, I gave her some honey. I do that with all my new queens. I have better success when queens have a supply of honey to eat. And, I might put a Drywood termite alate in for her tomorrow as well, as termites are great for new queens.

 

Edited by Vendayn, September 8 2015 - 11:49 PM.

[dspdrew]

Are you sure you found V. pergandei there? I have never seen them anywhere in Orange County.

[Vendayn]

She sure looks like them.

 

Two petioles, very large (about a quarter of an inch long. Quite a bit bigger than Pogonomyrmex californicus queens, so quite a nice size, completely black and very shiny.

 

Having two petioles rules out Formica and Camponotus. And that doesn't leave very many species left that I can think of. With that said, I haven't seen Veromessor pergandei around either except out way in the desert, except I have no idea what is behind that hill. I have seen a lot of ant species fly from there that I have seen nowhere else around here. But, she could be something else. Except, she sure looks very much similar to them. I don't know why there are so many ant species that come from the other side of the hill that I see nowhere else here, or what the heck the area even looks like.

 

I'll take a picture tomorrow when I put a termite in there. But, it won't be the best quality since its just my phone.

 

I just know the area behind the hill is a nature reserve or something, I can sort of see in on the far end of the sidewalk, and its all arid-land in there. But, I have no idea what is in there. I have seen a wooded grove in there, but that is it. It must be safe from Argentine ants though as a lot of different ant species fly from that area. Or maybe the Solenopsis invicta keep the Argentine ants out.

Edited by Vendayn, September 8 2015 - 9:01 PM.

[kellakk]

I highly doubt you have Veromessor pergandei.

[Vendayn]

I'll post pictures tomorrow. Not sure what else it could be that is similar. But, pictures should help even if from my phone.

[Gregory2455]

Same. I would suggest considering Pogonomyrmex rugosus.

 

Veromessor pergandei:

 

Pogonomyrmex rugosus: 

 

There are color variants of P.rugosus where the queens can appear all black, or really dark- I happen to have a couple.

Edited by Gregory2455, September 8 2015 - 9:19 PM.

[dspdrew]

I have never seen P. rugosus in Orange County either. I think I heard someone has seen them near Yorba Linda, but that is on the border of Orange County and Riverside County; South Orange County is a different story.

 

Another thing about V. pergandei, is they fly around late February/early March.

[Vendayn]

She looks exactly like the veromessor species posted.

[dspdrew]

That would really surprise me if they are living out there. Post pictures.

[Subverted]

The size sounds about right for one of those big Crematogaster queens.

 

Edited by Subverted, September 8 2015 - 11:34 PM.

[Alza]

looks like Veromessor pergandei from what he's saying .-. ... literally. 

[Gregory2455]

Yeah, this could also be that massive black Crematogaster species that I have.

[Alza]

It could also be a massive black Veromessor pergandei, who knows though.

[Vendayn]

There are large Crematogaster? Never seen those before. I've ALWAYS just seen small ones, so I assume they were a small genus of ant. Never even heard of big ones, and a quick google search comes up empty (maybe I'll need to look more). My queen does vibrate her abdomen like Crematogaster do, but I've seen other ants do that too.

 

Anyway, here is a picture. I took a bunch, but this is the only good one. Should I take more? I tried different areas, but guess having a white backdrop was best.

 

[dspdrew]

I would bet anything that's what it is.

 

Edit: Oh I just now saw the picture, and I'm quite positive that is the large Crematogaster sp. we have all been finding in the hills. A shot of the gaster from the top would make it even more obvious.

[Vendayn]

I never once thought Crematogaster could be so large! Not even a Pogonomyrmex californicus queen takes up nearly that much space in the same tube and they are pretty large ants.

 

Do they have large workers too? Or does the size of the queen change anything at all among the colony? I can't easily tell with the pictures, the workers look about the same as I've seen other Crematogaster workers.

Edited by Vendayn, September 8 2015 - 11:48 PM.

[Vendayn]

Does anyone know what species they are? Or much about them? I never knew they could be so massive in size. That is why I thought they "had" to be Messor or another large sized ant, as the queen was so big.

Edited by Vendayn, September 8 2015 - 11:50 PM.

[Gregory2455]

Nope. I literally know nothing about Crematogaster. Even I, who has a large colony of this big species has no clue what they are. Californian Crematogaster are nearly impossible to ID. You could check out my Crematogaster sp.1 Journal though, that documents my experiences with the species.

[dspdrew]

No idea on the species. They are really big. Many times I thought there was a Camponotus on my black light when I first saw them. I have seen workers that I am pretty sure are this species. they're about 4 mm in length.

[Vendayn]

I'll read through the journal later today after I wake up. I did look at the pictures, and I've seen a colony of those (same looking workers anyway) way up the freeway that I walked up one day. They were nesting in a plant and also in the dirt.

And yeah, at first I thought it was some type of Camponotus queen, except she has two petioles and that ended that. Then I thought maybe a Messor queen or something which tend to be pretty large too.

 

They must have VERY good defense against Argentine ants or/and Solenopsis invicta though. The Argentine ants and S.invicta are everywhere past the hill my queen came from, and yet they seem to still keep on living. Or maybe they are living on the hillside, but there are still many millions of Argentine ants to deal with.

Edited by Vendayn, September 9 2015 - 12:04 AM.