13 replies to this topic

[BrittonLS]

I think this is a wasp or something else, but on the off chance it's an ant. 

 

10-11mm 

Found after rain on 10-29-15 and a second on the next day floating in my pool. 

Suburban area. 

Brown and black

Furry

It seems like it could be heavier than ants normally are even for this size. 

 

Album: http://imgur.com/a/QLbQ6

 

Edited by BrittonLS, November 2 2015 - 10:34 AM.

[Crystals]

Get a good view of the size and head.  Looks more like a wasp of some sort to me just by how fuzzy the thorax is as well as the gaster shape.

[BrittonLS]

Strange, my link to imgur isn't working in the original post and I can't seem to fix it. http://imgur.com/a/QLbQ6

 

[dspdrew]

That does kind of look like a male ant. It's just so furry...

[Subverted]

At first I totally thought it was a wasp...but after seeing those other photos I think you may be right that its a male ant. I have no input beyond that...

[swagman]

Reminds me of an army ant male.

[BrittonLS]

Reminds me of an army ant male.

 

Sir, I do believe you get the prize! 

 

Very interesting to find one here, I would never have thought to have them in this area.

 

It makes sense, it was hard to make out, but his mandibles seem very needle like, just like you'd expect from an army ant. Good job, thank you! 

 

From Antwiki:

 

Now where are his queens...

Edited by BrittonLS, November 2 2015 - 4:28 PM.

[gcsnelling]

yup male Neivamyrmex.

[James C. Trager]

The queens lack wings, thus do not fly, and in fact they never leave the company of workers. Males fly out and find colonies that have produced a sexual brood of dozens of males and a few females. Mating takes place in the "bivouac". New colonies are formed by large mature colonies splitting into two groups, each with a single queen. If the colony queen is young, she goes with one of the new groups, and the queen for the other half is selected by the workers. Extras are killed off by mobs of workers, or are expelled from the nest. If the colony queen is old, both halves continue life with a new queen, and the old queen is one of the rejects. Picture of queen and workers, Neivamyrmex opacithorax, possibly the same species as your male. This species flies in fall.
http://www.alexander...thorax10-XL.jpg

Edited by dspdrew, November 3 2015 - 6:57 AM.
Fixed link

[BrittonLS]

I expected as much for an ant like this, thank you, Dr. Trager. What kind of habitat do these guys usually live in? I can't say I've ever noticed a column of army ants marching through my back yard.
N. texanus also seemed possible to me, but I'll probably need real workers to tell for certain.

[LC3]

Do army ants fly during a certain time or do they just fly whenever they want?

[James C. Trager]

Our North American army ants live in deserts, unplowed fields, prairies, and open woodlands, even the less trodden parts of university and corporate campuses, if they have otherwise intact ant faunas as a food base ffor the army ants. They are mostly nocturnal, rarely climb up plants, and stick closely to their scent trails, so are rarely encountered, even though not especially rare. (I've always tought if we could train a sniffer dog to find them, we'd be surprised at their abundance, in the right habitats. The North America species, as far as known, all fly in late summer to fall. 

[gcsnelling]

[Canadian anter]

Neviamyrmex? Where did you find this?!