212 replies to this topic

[ANTdrew]

Thanks, guys. Anybody else willing to weigh on on the ID of this red girl?
Should I be concerned about the lack of brood in my argentea’s dirt box?

[TennesseeAnts]

Looks like F. pallidefullva. There doesn't seem to be any hairs on the mesosoma, but workers will help with that.

[NickAnter]

 

I mean she could be any other species in the pallidefulva group that is present in northern virginia.

Not all Formica in the pallidefulva group look like that. That is quite ignorant. Also, it is most likely pallidefulva as they do have a solid orange morph like that that is only present in the south. The northern variety is black and brown/red.

 

I said those present in northern virginia. There arent very many archboldi records up in Northern Virginia. And dolosa, incerta and pallidefulva are all extremely similar.

[ANTdrew]

Update 7-24-2020

I just checked the Formica cf pallidefulva queen I found two weeks ago, and she already has two pupae and a lot of larvae. That's crazy fast!


Still no new brood for my argenteas. Disappointing. Should I be concerned, or are they basically done growing for the season? They keep eating protein for some reason. Grain mites have gotten into their dirtbox, too. It's always something...

Edited by ANTdrew, July 24 2020 - 11:06 AM.

[Antkid12]

Woah, pupae already.... that was speedy.

[ANTdrew]

Update 7-29-2020

 

Absolutely nothing is happening with my Formica argenteas, which is really disappointing. No new brood has shown up in over a month, so I'll ask again: should I be concerned?

Really disappointing, not gonna lie.

 

My new Formica pallidefulva is growing crazy fast, though! I count 11 pupae and 1 larvae in this photo. I haven't even had her three weeks yet.

[Antkid12]

Can't wait for first workers! 

[AnthonyP163]

My Formica subsericea also decided to hibernate in summer. They had no brood for all of June, and finally started laying eggs again a few weeks ago. I don't know why they do this, I just know it only lasts a few weeks. Same happened with CheetoLord's Camponotus pennsylvanicus and Formica dolosa. His dolosa died, but she always had problems. I am guessing they'll continue to lay eggs in the next few weeks.

[AntsDakota]

Formica are touchy, despite what is commonly believed. Killing them is unlikely, but they just act weird for many unknown reasons.

[Kaelwizard]

IMO they don’t make the best captive ants. From what I have seen on the forum especially fusca-group. They just are very touchy and sensitive.

[ANTdrew]

Update 8-7-2020

My Formica pallidefulva queen, Bestla, just got her first two nanitics! This took exactly four weeks from when I found her to first workers. Super fast for a big Formicine! I gave them a bit of nectar and some sliced up cricket leg. The queen went right for it after she stopped spazzing out.

 

 

Still nothing to update for my Formica argentea. Hope springs eternal....

 

 

[TechAnt]

Hey ANTdrew, any update on these girls?

Edited by TechAnt, August 11 2020 - 9:37 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Hey ANTdrew, any update on these girls?

I’ll put one together. The new queen is kicking butt so far.

[TechAnt]

Hey ANTdrew, any update on these girls?

I’ll put one together. The new queen is kicking butt so far.

Awesome!

[DJoseph98]

 

Update 8-7-2020

My Formica pallidefulva queen, Bestla, just got her first two nanitics! This took exactly four weeks from when I found her to first workers. Super fast for a big Formicine! I gave them a bit of nectar and some sliced up cricket leg. The queen went right for it after she stopped spazzing out.

 

 

 

Still nothing to update for my Formica argentea. Hope springs eternal....

 

Right now my Formica subsericea are in the same boat as your F. argentea: no brood, no protein intake. I think I have a similar queen to Bestla, and congrats on the nanitics!

Edited by DJoseph98, August 11 2020 - 7:41 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Update 8-12-2020

 

 There is still no real change for my Formica argentea colony. A few of the older workers have passed on to the great ant hill in the sky, but she still has lots of workers in the dirt nest. The mystery for me is that they never refuse protein (they've been going nuts for pre-frozen termites this week). I'm confused why they would still be taking in protein if there is no brood? It could be that there is brood somewhere in the dirt that I'm not seeing. Could another possibility be that some of the workers are tanking up like repletes? Some of them have very distended gasters down in the tunnels.

Here is a look at their set up. The queen is actually in here in the upper right corner tunnels, but she doesn't show in photos, of course:

 

Bestla is really kicking butt. Most of her nanitics have now eclosed with two pupae remaining. She also laid a big pile of eggs. I went ahead and stuck her tube to a new mini-hearth with mounting putty. She hasn't moved in yet. What a lovely specimen.

 

 

[NickAnter]

Nice! Those pallidefulva group Formica are beautiful.

[Antkid12]

Nice!

[jplelito]

ANTDrew,

 

In VA your options would be:

 

Formica incerta (she is not that one, because the thorax lacks the three distinct dark marks - see pic in my Formica pallidefulva journal, 99.9% certainty here)

Formica pallidefulva - most likely - shiny, dorsal surface of thorax look hairless

Formica dolosa - almost certainly not - those are duller, rather furry and rare outside of pine barrens at least in NC - see:  https://antwiki.org/...38_dorsal_1.jpg

Formica biophilica - low chance, your specimen doesn't seem hirsute enough - I've never seen a queen of this species but I do know bogs around here where I can find the workers so if you can say the same, could be?

 

An interesting question I don't know the answer to is:  how far can these queens fly outside of the habitat where one finds the colonies?  Get blown off course by storms, etc?

 

To make a solid ID, we could wait for non-nanitic workers, or - you could get a really closeup shot of a few  features and post here:  dorsal and lateral views of any hairs on the pronotum/propodeum etc., closeup of the face from the front and side.  I could at least make an educated guess based on those.  Really in this genus it comes down to scape length, macrochaetae (long hairs), and the like, but you need to get a good picture for that. 

 

Since you can see the animal up close (e.g. better than an iPhone pic you could get here) so you have the best chance of making the ID.  This paper does a great job of making that easy - google scholar the reference below and you will get a link in there to the revision of the genus.  It should be a PDF that anyone can download for free (was for me).  Full reference:

 

Trager, J. C., MacGown, J. A., Trager, M. D. 2007. Revision of the Nearctic endemic Formica pallidefulva group, pp. 610-636. In Snelling, R. R., B. L. Fisher, and P. S. Ward (eds).Advances in ant systematics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae):homage to E. O. Wilson – 50 years of contributions. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 80.

Edited by jplelito, August 13 2020 - 4:25 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Update 8-21-2020

 

 On 8/14, I successfully moved my (assumed) Formica pallidefulva colony into a THA mini-hearth. I did my usual procedure of sticking their tube to the entrance hole using mounting putty and letting them explore for a few days before exposing them to sunlight to force the final move. It all went smoothly until I removed the tube from the putty and two nanitics bolted out on to my patio table. Thankfully, my aspirator was nearby, and I vacuumed them up easily. Formica are so psycho.

The nanitics were too shy to forage, so I've been dropping insect bits down the tube into their nest. On 8/19,  I was happy to see some of these bug bits put up in a garbage pile in the foraging area and a worker tanking up on Sunburst from the feeder.

 

Here are some photos of Bestla and her red girlzzz:

 

Still no new brood for my Formica argentea. If that doesn't change by September, I may just put them in diapause early. They continue scarfing down protein, though. Formica are so weird.

Edited by ANTdrew, August 21 2020 - 6:51 AM.