21 replies to this topic

[Gemmawemma]

Hi everyone, new member here, I'm looking to get more into this hobby, i found these ants and I'm looking for some help with IDing. Here is the information that i have:

 

1. Collected near santee, San Diego (Southern CA)

2. Collected September 21st

3. The habitat is a sandy dry hillside with lots of shrub

4. Length (from head to gaster) is approximately 5/16ths of an inch.

5. black/reddish in color, slight reddish hue on the abdomen near the thorax. Hairy thorax and semi-shiny

8. The nest was a small mound on a south hillside, not very tall, in reddish sandy soil.

 

 

 

 

Thank you!

Edited by Gemmawemma, September 27 2016 - 10:29 PM.

[Subverted]

First up, welcome to the forum!

Do you have a photo? Its really close to impossible to even guess at an ID without one!

[Gemmawemma]

First up, welcome to the forum!

Do you have a photo? Its really close to impossible to even guess at an ID without one!

 

Thank you! I tagged the images after editing my post. I hope the ones i have provided are of sufficient quality to help ID.

 

I found several queens near the nest which might not be ideal, i have isolated them all except one which i took a photo of in order to help ID. she is with a bunch of worker ants from the same colony. 

 

[dspdrew]

Looks like Pogonomyrmex rugosus. I didn't realize they would be that close to the coast.

[gcsnelling]

Yup they get around.

[Gemmawemma]

Thanks so much! after doing some research i notice there isn't much on them i could find in terms of raising them in captivity. should i start another thread in order to find out more on them? Id like to know if they are suitable for a beginner, its what i have to work with at this moment. what about raising the queens? i have most in separate containers, i read some conflicting information some of which say that they are semi-claustral. I do appreciate any and all information you guys can share with me!

[RenDragon]

Pogonomyrmex are often the type that you see with the Uncle Milton (among others) ant farms. From that, I would expect them to be easier to keep, but I have no colonies yet myself.

[Canadian anter]

Pogonomyrmex rugosus

[XZero38]

I'm not to great at IDing ants yet but i do know that its a Pogonomyrmex species.

Look exactly like my Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis, I would have to second Canadian Anter's ID

[Batspiderfish]

Given the frequency of Pogonomyrmex rugosus in ID posts, are they extremely common in their range? or are people just drawn to them by their coloration?

[kellakk]

Given the frequency of Pogonomyrmex rugosus in ID posts, are they extremely common in their range? or are people just drawn to them by their coloration?

 

I would say both.  They're fairly large, have a distinct coloration, are common, and are very active.

[dspdrew]

BTW this has been solved. There is no question as to what it is at this point.

 

 

Thanks so much! after doing some research i notice there isnt much on them i could find in terms of raising them in captivity. should i start another thread in order to find out more on them? Id like to know if they are suitable for a beginner, its what i have to work with at this moment. what about raising the queens? i have most in separate containers, i read some conflicting information some of which say that they are semi-claustral. I do appreciate any and all information you guys can share with me!

 

Unlike most Pogonomyrmex, these are fully-claustral.

[Gemmawemma]

What kind of timeline can I expect when using the test tube method for the queens I found? In terms of weeks,months... This is my first time finding any queens and I have about 10 from the same nest. I don't plan on checking them for about a week or two. What should I expect to see? Eggs obviously but it may be too soon.

[XZero38]

For my Pogonomyrmex it took 4-6 weeks to go from egg to worker

After the first week all my queens had a pile of eggs

[Gemmawemma]

For my Pogonomyrmex it took 4-6 weeks to go from egg to worker
After the first week all my queens had a pile of eggs

It's been a week since I found mine, two are dead and none have lost their wings. I'm beginning to think that maybe none of these queens are mated. I'm going back to the site of the colony to look around for founding sites. I read that P. Rugosus lose their wings almost immediately upon mating.

[NightsWebs]

Rugosus queens in my experience always shed their wings if they have mated I currently have 2 P. Rugosus Alates that haven't laid any eggs.  very sad.  I have seen P Rugosus in Santee as well so I am rather certain that's a correct ID. 

[Gemmawemma]

Rugosus queens in my experience always shed their wings if they have mated I currently have 2 P. Rugosus Alates that haven't laid any eggs.  very sad.  I have seen P Rugosus in Santee as well so I am rather certain that's a correct ID. 

 

I went looking today for dealate queens of the P.Rugosus. no luck which could possibly be attributed to the time of day cause it was so hot barely any workers were around the colony i collected from I also thought maybe looking for small mounds or turning over stones would do the trick but it was to no avail!  what i thought were founding sites had no ants whatsoever. I'm considering my next best option would be to extract a young colony but this depends on how deep the queen could be. Since you are familiar with SoCal could you kindly point me to any places i should be searching for queens of this or other species?  I have never found one so any info you can share that would help me is greatly appreciated!

[Gemmawemma]

Here are the P.Rugosus Alates. They seem very active and haven't layed any eggs. it has been approximately 1 week since capture. I'm starting to lose hope that any of these will produce a colony!

 

Edited by Gemmawemma, September 29 2016 - 9:44 PM.

[kudofo]

Awesome looks like I'm headed to santee tommorow. Any specific locations?

[Gemmawemma]

Awesome looks like I'm headed to santee tommorow. Any specific locations?

 

I found these at santee boulders off mast blvd. if you do go, the very second colony you approach on the left is the one i get workers from for my queenless colony, it is also where i found the majority of the alate queens from the photo, please don't take the whole colony as it has been there for a long time lol    i also saw several small red ants, maybe 1.5mm-2mm in length. i have no idea what these are but they are everywhere.