2454 replies to this topic

[PTAntFan]

I've found three so far very close to the corner of 1000 Palm and Dillon on the south west corner about 100 yards from the road

[SoySauce]

Head west. There's a dirt road called E. Deception Rd. Drive to the end of it where it's blocked off and walk east. There's a few washes. That's where I found a bunch. Also I think Drew found those flowers higher up the foothills and mountains.

[PTAntFan]

The wind has been blowing so hard today that you can barely recognize a mound. Any disturbance in the soil or certainly a hole is all you've got to go with

[SoySauce]

Yeah, I got there just around sun up and the wind was starting to blow and it got a lot worse in just the hour or so I was there. I wouldn't be surprised if their small mounds blew away. Just look for small holes in the ground. That's generally a good sign.

Edited by SoySauce, March 5 2017 - 2:52 PM.

[dspdrew]

Drew, you weren't kidding about everywhere! They must have flown on Friday. I missed it by one day! I'm finding their chambers in clusters

 

Yeah, I usually find founding chambers in clusters.

[dspdrew]

Also I think Drew found those flowers higher up the foothills and mountains.

 

I actually saw flowers everywhere at the location I was parked off Dillon Rd. You can even see the road in one of the pictures.

 

 

The wind has been blowing so hard today that you can barely recognize a mound.

 

I thought that was going to happen once when I stayed out in the desert, but even in some extreme wind the next morning, the little rocks and clods weren't blowing anywhere. It really takes a lot more wind than you think to move small rocks like that.

[PTAntFan]

Yeah. I found six by the intersection. But the mounds were hard to distinguish.

Over at deception Rd now. Gate stops me but not quite end of the road. I'll give a go here.

[PTAntFan]

Five more here, but it wasn't easy. By the 11th one I could recognize the signs but no obvious mounds out here today. I wasn't even looking for 11. I was going to grab some soil about 10yds from my car. LOL! This after walking hundreds of yards away from the car to find the other 4. Just luck I suppose but I filled my coffers so I'm happy.

[SoySauce]

Nice! Yeah without the mounds, the chambers are much harder to find. I found 3 right when I stepped out of my truck at that gate and must've dug up over 20 in the first hour looking for a Pheidole queen. The mounds were all over the place before the winds kicked up. The wind got too strong though and I wasn't dressed warm enough so I gave up quickly.

My next goal is finding a honeypot queen. I may go check at the park in Irvine later this week when it heats up.

[dspdrew]

Finding Myrmecocystus founding chambers in the foothills is like finding a needle in a haystack. There are just far fewer Myrmecocystus nests in the hills than there are in the desert. In my experience, I probably see 30 times more Myrmecocystus nests in the desert than I do in the hills... so you can imagine what finding a founding chamber is like. It takes a lot of luck, and JasonD had it that day. I actually did get lucky last year and found one in a founding chamber in a little patch of dirt right in the middle of the creek at Ice House Canyon in Mount Baldy. Unfortunately it died. But yeah... they're waaaay easier to find in the desert when most of them fly after July.

[SoySauce]

Gotcha Drew. Thank you so much for the tips! Ok, looks like I gotta be a bit more patient the . Thanks again.

[dspdrew]

Yeah, the next big mating flight event will probably occur in the foothills and canyons during the first major heatwave in Spring. The best way to collect those queens is on a black light. You can expect to find Camponotus, Liometopum, Solenopsis, Pheidole, Temnothorax, Nylanderia, and others.

 

Also, remember all the early desert mating flights are still yet to happen in the high desert like the Victor Valley area where it doesn't warm up until a little later than the low desert.

[PTAntFan]

Well, I have 11 gorgeous VP queens and I am sore and tired.  WIND! I think my mistake was that I heeded the signs a bit too much and didn't go to the end of the road to the gate.  Thus I must have been downstream from the main flights and they were sporadically placed.  Actually, I feel like a legit "anter" now having had to work for it.  

 

In other news, my new Golf Alltrack performed like a champ.  I felt much more comfortable on the dirt roads than my Passat and it crushed the long freeways rides too.  As you can imagine there was the typical congestion getting out of the desert back to the inland empire.  3 hrs, later. 

 

I'm guessing Veromessor Pergandei are semi-claustral? 

[dspdrew]

No, they're fully-claustral.

[Foogoo]

Good to see you guys had good luck! I went out on Fiday (slightly west of those areas). Came home with zero ants, but I did get a nice milkcrate. Those things are gold.

[soulsynapse]

Dorymyrmex insanus and veromessor pergandei flew in the foothills around hemet yesterday.. was only out 20 mins but found 2 veromessor and 1 dorymyrmex

Edited by soulsynapse, March 9 2017 - 4:58 PM.

[SoySauce]

Dorymyrmex insanus and veromessor pergandei flew in the foothills around hemet yesterday.. was only out 20 mins but found 2 veromessor and 1 dorymyrmex

Congrats and thank you for the info! Where exactly were you looking? I wouldn't mind finding. Couple dorymyrmex too

[dspdrew]

I didn't find anything last night on my black light, but apparently there were all sorts of ants flying an hour north of where I was. I'll be going there tonight.

[SoySauce]

I didn't find anything last night on my black light, but apparently there were all sorts of ants flying an hour north of where I was. I'll be going there tonight.

Hi Drew, where was that they flying? I have the day off today so I thought I'd do a bit of ant hunting.

[dspdrew]

 

I didn't find anything last night on my black light, but apparently there were all sorts of ants flying an hour north of where I was. I'll be going there tonight.

Hi Drew, where was that they flying? I have the day off today so I thought I'd do a bit of ant hunting.

 

 

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