31 replies to this topic

[nurbs]

Found a bunch myself along Dillon Road. I also found some really early-flying Pheidole that I usually find around March. Both last year and 2015 I only managed to find one, but this time I got six, so maybe I'll have better luck starting a colony of them. I might be going back out there again today with nurbs.

 

Met up with Drew in Pomona today and we carpooled there. Parked my truck on the side of Dillon road a tad bit east of Sky Valley. We were able to collect a handful of Veromessors. The chambers were harder to spot, and it was about a 1 out of 10 in finding a queen on a dig. A little frustrating, but not a bad trip. Just lots of work and digging! Glad I was able to come back with something. 

 

As usual Drew found more than me - think he also came back with another Pheidole.

[dspdrew]

Seriously everything I've ever read about nuptial flights is telling me there shouldn't be anything flying out there.. and the last rain was 6 days ago.

 

What am I missing?

 

There isn't anything flying out there now. These queens probably flew Tuesday when it was fairly warm out there, or possibly the day before the rain when it was even warmer. We are digging these queens up out of their founding chambers. I can tell which ones flew before the rain, because their little founding nests are all obliterated. I'm good enough at spotting them, that even after that happens, I can still recognize them.

 

Normally in the summer time it quickly heats up to over 100 degrees after the storms and moisture move out of the area. Because of this, you have about 3 days to dig them up; after that, they're way too deep. In the winter time like right now, it's so cold out there, that you have about a week to dig them up. This is because of a few reasons I believe. For one, the moisture doesn't evaporate as quickly, and two, it's so cold that the queens work much slower than they do when they are heated up in the summer.

 

 

We're going out again tomorrow, where exactly along the road did you find those Pheidole queens? I hope to find some!

 

I think it was right around Thousand Palms Canyon Road, just east of Sky Valley.

[dspdrew]

 

Found a bunch myself along Dillon Road. I also found some really early-flying Pheidole that I usually find around March. Both last year and 2015 I only managed to find one, but this time I got six, so maybe I'll have better luck starting a colony of them. I might be going back out there again today with nurbs.

 

Met up with Drew in Pomona today and we carpooled there. Parked my truck on the side of Dillon road a tad bit east of Sky Valley. We were able to collect a handful of Veromessors. The chambers were harder to spot, and it was about a 1 out of 10 in finding a queen on a dig. A little frustrating, but not a bad trip. Just lots of work and digging! Glad I was able to come back with something. 

 

As usual Drew found more than me - think he also came back with another Pheidole.

 

 

I think we were just east of Indio Hills.

[SoySauce]

So my son and I went back today around the same spot you guys were at on Dillon Rd and we found 4 Vermessor queens in their founding chambers. My son also found a winged queen or alate by itself underneath a large branch. It's black colored like a Vermessor but it was a good 2-3mm smaller than all the Vermessor queens we found. We're hoping it maybe a Phedole queen. My son and I are hoping it'll be breaking off her wings soon and is fertile. We will see!

[SoySauce]

By the, we were seeing alates, both Vermessor and Pheidole, in a lot of the shallow holes we dug so we're thinking they're going to be ready to fly again soon.

[Works4TheGood]

I'm so jealous. I've yet to see an ant outdoors this year here in PA.

[FormiRx]

I took a friend of mine out this saturday to the same location east of Indio Hills on Dillon Rd. Dug 40 or so founding chambers, ended with 10 queens, 8 of which are Veromessor, 2 are ones I have yet to identify. (Smaller, with more hairs than the Veromessor queens, and a striped red and black gaster) I also found many anting digs from... probably people in this thread... We probably were only hours apart.

[dspdrew]

Nice. One out of four is pretty good out there. The smaller ones are probably Pheidole. Did they look like this?

 

 

[FormiRx]

Yep, those are it!

[nurbs]

I took a friend of mine out this saturday to the same location east of Indio Hills on Dillon Rd. Dug 40 or so founding chambers, ended with 10 queens, 8 of which are Veromessor, 2 are ones I have yet to identify. (Smaller, with more hairs than the Veromessor queens, and a striped red and black gaster) I also found many anting digs from... probably people in this thread... We probably were only hours apart.

 

Nice, you had a better ratio than me! 

[Foogoo]

Nice. One out of four is pretty good out there. The smaller ones are probably Pheidole. Did they look like this?

 

Pretty sure these are the same ones I found out at Llano at this time a year ago. Still curious about the ID.

[dspdrew]

 

Nice. One out of four is pretty good out there. The smaller ones are probably Pheidole. Did they look like this?

 

Pretty sure these are the same ones I found out at Llano at this time a year ago. Still curious about the ID.

 

 

I'm pretty sure they're Pheidole barbata.