83 replies to this topic

[TheMicroPlanet]

Unfortunately, I live in Northeastern USA where you can't get them, but any of the 2 major leafcutter genera (Atta or Acromyrmex) is something I really want to keep someday (despite the fact that i'm in the completely wrong region and these 2 genera are very difficult to keep). I find it interesting how these ants actually farm fungi as we do with corn and such.

[Nare]

New York has Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (they moved it to a new genus just recently, so it's called something else that I can't remember). It's not quite Atta or Acromyrmex scale, but interesting nonetheless. I expect they'd be pretty rare, though they inhabit rather specific environments from what I remember, so finding them might not be too difficult.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Unfortunately, I live in Northeastern USA where you can't get them, but any of the 2 major leafcutter genera (Atta or Acromyrmex) is something I really want to keep someday (despite the fact that i'm in the completely wrong region and these 2 genera are very difficult to keep). I find it interesting how these ants actually farm fungi as we do with corn and such.

Depending on your region, you may have Trachymyrmex septentrionalis. Anyways, I dream of keeping Atta mexicana, Cephalotes spp, Daceton armigerum, Paraponera clavata, a large Ponerine species, especially Pachycondyla, Neoponera, or Odontomachus, and Gigantiops destructor.

[Ferox_Formicae]

New York has Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (they moved it to a new genus just recently, so it's called something else that I can't remember). It's not quite Atta or Acromyrmex scale, but interesting nonetheless. I expect they'd be pretty rare, though they inhabit rather specific environments from what I remember, so finding them might not be too difficult.

No, Trachymyrmex septentrionalis was not moved to a different genus. It's still Trachymyrmex. Other Trachymyrmex species were moved to such genera as Mycetomoellerius and Paratrachymyrmex, among others.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Isn't Strumigenys a fungus-farmer?  It's in the Attini tribe, I believe. ~6 species live here in NY, but i think they're kind of rare.

Edited by TheMicroPlanet, December 15 2019 - 4:20 PM.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Isn't Strumigenys a fungus-farmer?  It's in the Attini tribe, I believe. ~6 species live here in NY, but i think they're kind of rare.

No, not at all. Not all Attines are fungus farmers. Only genera in the subtribe Attina are fungus farmers, which Strumigenys is not a part of. Strumigenys are specialist predators of springtails, and they're actually not rare, just inconspicuous. They rarely get over 3 mm (though one tropical species, S. godmani, is 5 mm), and have a highly cryptic coloration, usually a brownish coloration (though varying). The only part about them that stands out about them is the spongiformous tissue on their petiole and postpetiole, though some species have tissue only on the postpetiole and others lack it altogether, though none of those species exist in New York. If you ever need any information on Strumigenys, just ask me. They're my all-time favorite ants, and I'm actually the artist of an upcoming key that is being published by Strumigenys specialist Myrmecologist, Doug Booher. As such, I know quite a bit about the genera. I also made the first ever record of Strumigenys silvestrii in South Carolina.

[ponerinecat]

Stugmatomma, strumigenys, cyphomyrmex, all basicerotini, a lot of cryptic attines, tatuidris, all proceratini, and lots of others.

[TheMicroPlanet]

 

Isn't Strumigenys a fungus-farmer?  It's in the Attini tribe, I believe. ~6 species live here in NY, but i think they're kind of rare.

No, not at all. Not all Attines are fungus farmers. Only genera in the subtribe Attina are fungus farmers, which Strumigenys is not a part of. Strumigenys are specialist predators of springtails, and they're actually not rare, just inconspicuous. They rarely get over 3 mm (though one tropical species, S. godmani, is 5 mm), and have a highly cryptic coloration, usually a brownish coloration (though varying). The only part about them that stands out about them is the spongiformous tissue on their petiole and postpetiole, though some species have tissue only on the postpetiole and others lack it altogether, though none of those species exist in New York. If you ever need any information on Strumigenys, just ask me. They're my all-time favorite ants, and I'm actually the artist of an upcoming key that is being published by Strumigenys specialist Myrmecologist, Doug Booher. As such, I know quite a bit about the genera. I also made the first ever record of Strumigenys silvestrii in South Carolina.

 

Thx for the info

[TheMicroPlanet]

And I thought protist taxonomy was hard... ant taxonomy looks a lot worse 

[Ferox_Formicae]

And I thought protist taxonomy was hard... ant taxonomy looks a lot worse 

Yeah, just look through AntWeb for a few hours... Over 16,000 named species alone, not even counting subspecies, and like half of the actual discovered species haven't been named.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Are there any online guides you know of for ant ID?

[Ferox_Formicae]

Are there any online guides you know of for ant ID?

It all depends on how specific you want to get. AntWiki has tons of dichotomous keys (including one I helped create being published in January), AntWeb has tons of images of species, and iNaturalist has a reliable set of people willing to help you pin down what species of ant you've photographed, including myself.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Well, i'm looking for something that points out the general characteristics of each subfamily, and I can work my way down to genus and maybe species from there using AntWeb or something. I'll be sure to research ant anatomy as well.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Well, i'm looking for something that points out the general characteristics of each subfamily, and I can work my way down to genus and maybe species from there using AntWeb or something. I'll be sure to research ant anatomy as well.

Good call.

[Manitobant]

Solenopsis invicta or geminata

[AntsDakota]

Any Odontomachus. I would be satisfied with some P. occidentalis from Tar Heel Ants, though.

[DDD101DDD]

Atta Cephalotes, Prenolepis Imparis, and Lasius Claviger.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Ponera Pennsylvanica is a species I also want to keep. I like all ponerine ants because of their unique body shape, and especially P. pennsylvanica for the fact that it's semi-claustral (or so i've heard. can someone verify?)

[ponerinecat]

Ponera Pennsylvanica is a species I also want to keep. I like all ponerine ants because of their unique body shape, and especially P. pennsylvanica for the fact that it's semi-claustral (or so i've heard. can someone verify?)

Um... pretty much all ponerinae are semi claustral. P. pennsylvanica is probably the least interesting ponerinae out there.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Well, it's the only ponerine I know of native to New York. I thought it'd be a nice challenge after I get more experienced with basic fully-claustral species.