6 replies to this topic

[Kaelwizard]

I just got a new place up north in MI. In this thread I will catalogue what I find.

First day anting:

I found a lot of Aphaenogaster colonies, most likely A. rudis, with alate larvae. I also found a Formica colony that looks a lot like my F. glacialis colony. I didn’t get a good look, but I believe I found a Crematogaster colony. I also found what I believe to be Brachymyrmex. Most likely B. depilis as that is the only Brachymyrmex species present here.

Edited by Kaelwizard, June 26 2020 - 4:13 PM.

[AntsDakota]

Do you mean on Michigan’s northern peninsula, or just generally north?

[ANTdrew]

I was wondering the same. The Upper Penninsula is the most beautiful place on earth, in my opinion. Be sure to eat some pasties.

[Kaelwizard]

Do you mean on Michigan’s northern peninsula, or just generally north?

Not the UP. Sorry for being unclear. Near Boyne City area (don’t remember if that’s how you spell it).

[Kaelwizard]

Aphaenogaster are for sure the dominant species. I find them in almost all the rotten logs I flip over, and they only sometimes are nesting under the log. I often find them nesting in the same logs as Formica colonies, but they seem to be unaware of each other’s presence. I have also found many Lasius colonies, and one with alate pupae.

[Kaelwizard]

Yesterday I found a colony of small very bright yellow Lasius, that may span the whole small forest area behind my garage. I also found a Ponera pennsylvanica queen foraging under a rock, and later I found two workers foraging under a rock where the Lasius were nesting. I also found a year old Aphaenogaster colony with lots of larvae, but only nanitic workers, but there was a Lasius colony right next to them, and the queen was running around, so I gently put her in her nest away form the Lasius and gently lowered the rock back over the colonies.

[Kaelwizard]

I also found a year old Aphaenogaster colony with lots of larvae, but only nanitic workers, but there was a Lasius colony right next to them, and the queen was running around, so I gently put her in her nest away form the Lasius and gently lowered the rock back over the colonies.

I collected that Aphaenogaster colony today. I brood boosted them with a few large larvae from a local colony.