Over the past couple of weeks, I've caught two Formica sp. queens from the fusca group. Both are separate species (I tried to put them together, and it didn't work out so well....), yet look very similar. The only two differences I can notice a barely noticeable size, and one queen had just barely more red.
Update: Thursday, July 11th, 2019
Queen 1
Eggs- 2
Larvae- 0
Pupae- 0
Workers-0
Commentary- This queen is the smallest of the two, and was caught earlier, on Saturday, July 6th. I saw her making her way across my driveway. Sorry, but I didn't have anything to take photos with at hand.
Photos
none
Queen 2
Eggs- unknown (I haven't checked on her since capture)
Larvae- 0
Pupae- 0
Workers-0
Commentary- This queen is slightly larger, and has beautiful stripes on her gaster. Her legs are also noticeably red. The queen's gaster is extremely swollen, and she was intensely grooming the tip of her abdomen, so I assumed she is mated (but you never know).
Photos
none
Edited by AntsDakota, July 11 2019 - 3:49 PM.