23 replies to this topic

[steelplant]

Hi. I wondered whether someone might be able to help me please. 

 

This afternoon I found what looks to me like a queen ant. She was running along a leaf on a very hot day. There was a large number of black ant workers running around in great excitement. She looked as if she was trying to run away. She appeared to run into my test tube gladly.

 

I wondered whether her nest had been raided. In the melee I noticed the occasional worker popping into a nest entrance in a plant pot. I had moved the plant pot a few hours earlier, unaware it might have held a nest. The nest would have to be fairly small as I only potted the plant up the other day and was looking out for ants. 

 

Apologies for the poor photo but it's the best I could do. Is this a queen? Any clue which species? Should I keep her or let her go where I found her? I guess she could be a new parasite queen as they fly at this time of year. I was planning to catch some queens this summer, but haven't kept ants before.

 

Once I had her safely in a test tube I returned to the pot and all the commotion had died down.

 

Many thanks for any replies.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Yes, from what I can tell, this is a queen.  Unfortunately, we might not be able to get a species ID, or even a genus ID, with this photograph. I know it's the best you had, but do you have any more, or can you take more?

 

It's definitely from the subfamily Myrmicinae, though. Judging by the mesosoma (the middle part), she looks semi-claustral, which means you have to feed her during her founding stage.

Edited by TheMicroPlanet, May 28 2020 - 10:51 AM.

[steelplant]

Many thanks TheMicroWorld. Very interesting! There were one or two red ants around as well. I managed to take a better photo.

 

 

She still hasn't gone into the test tube with the water and cotton wool, and is sitting in an empty test tube that's taped to it. If she's Myrmica rubra I think they struggle with just one queen. Could/should I combine her with any Myrmica rubra queens I find during the nuptial flights? I'm worried that maybe she has her own nest and was just out hunting when I nabbed her. There was something very strange going on in that plant pot though. A good pack of swarming blacks (presumably Lasius niger).

[PacificNorthWestern]

From the outline she appears to be myrmica, I personally couldn't tell you anything more then that 

[steelplant]

Thanks PacificNorthWestern. Crikey I had no idea there were so many Myrmica species in UK. I only had Myrmica rubra in my radar. I guess she's more likely to be rubra as I think they're more common round here. 

 

There's actually a mature Myrmica (rubra?) colony in my bean patch. Maybe I could grab her some brood? I wasn't planning on taking queens from established nests, but I'm worried about her chances of making it on her own (and with a totally inexperienced keeper). 

 

On the positive front, we're hatching baby crickets at the moment, so there's plenty of good food for her.

[Thunder_Birds]

It kinda looks like a Pogonomyrmex queen.....

[Ants_Dakota]

If i had a guess, i would say tetramorium. They are up there, right?

[Ferox_Formicae]

To me she looks a lot like a Temnothorax species, though she could also be Myrmica.

[steelplant]

Thunder_Birds, Ants_Dakota, Ferox Formicae, thanks for your suggestions. I guess it's going to be hard to figure out whether she's claustral or not. 

 

Ants_Dakota, after your suggestion of Tetramorium I've been watching videos and reading up and everything seems to fit. I guess most likely T. caespitum. Nuptial flights are this time of year, and the shape and colour look the same. From what I've read this would be a good learner species, so that would be helpful. 

 

Didn't realise ant keeping would be such an adrenaline rush.

[Antkid12]

Looks like Myrmica to me.

[steelplant]

I've been trying to think back to what was happening when I found her. I think it's possible there was a bunch of very small black ants running around, smaller than Lasius niger (which is what I'm accustomed to seeing), as well as the pack of Lasius niger. I guess this would support her being Tetramorium, but also suggesting maybe that she lost her colony. I didn't see any brood above ground yesterday though. I can't see any of the tiny black ants around today. 

 

So the question is, even if she's claustral, if she's already used up her wing muscles to raise an original brood, will she need feeding if this is her second colony? She's properly in her test tube now. I could put it in a little tub and offer food nearby the tube? 

 

Thanks for all your help and suggestions. I really want to do the best I can for her.

[TheMicroPlanet]

I highly doubt that she's a queen who lost her colony. In all honesty, i've never heard of queen getting separated from their colonies without some kind of outside (usually human) intervention. Judging by the size of her mesosoma, I think she's semi-claustral. However, I don't think at all that this is Tetramorium... the body plan doesn't match up. I think this is some kind of Myrmica.

 

Some more, clearer pictures would be reeeeaaaally helpful, though.

 

Just for reference, here's a Tetramorium queen:

 

And her's a Myrmica queen:

Edited by TheMicroPlanet, May 29 2020 - 4:27 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Yeah, really doesn't look like Tetramorium to me. The time of year doesn't match up either because UK is a cooler climate than mine, I'd imagine they fly a little later.

[VoidElecent]

I can't stress the importance of measurement enough when it comes to ID's. This queen could be any myrmicine, but she does not look like Tetramorium. Consider Stenamma spp., Myrmica spp., Aphaenogaster spp., or even Temnothorax, as Ferox_Formicae suggested. Again, some accurate length records or perhaps a photograph of the queen next to a ruler would help a lot.

[steelplant]

Thanks so much everyone for your help. I got a better photo. It shows her colour better than the others. Unfortunately I hadn't read the need for size/ruler at that point. From memory she's 7-8mm long - I just put her away so don't want to bother her again. She's biting at the cottonwool in the tube end and doesn't look too content. 

 

It hasn't rained here in ages and the ground is rock hard everywhere. It's been scorching hot and breezy for weeks. I wasn't expecting to find queens until July so nothing much is ready except test tube set up.

Attached Images

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Edited by steelplant, May 29 2020 - 6:52 AM.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Again, my guess lies with Myrmica for now. That or Stenamma.

Edited by TheMicroPlanet, May 29 2020 - 6:45 AM.

[AntsDakota]

What you need is a macro lens, to help you take better photos. These simply are too blurry to narrow it down to even a genus (no offense intended, of course). https://www.amazon.c...-diversity_1_11

[NickAnter]

I'm pretty sure this is Myrmica. Aphaenogaster are not present in the UK. And Stenamma are really small.

[TheMicroPlanet]

Have we considered Myrmecina?

[VoidElecent]

Myrmecina are notably smaller and more compact than Myrmica. At 7-8 mm, yeah, I'm leaning towards Myrmica sp. Unfortunately, that's likely as specific we're gonna get even if we had significantly better photos. Remember, Myrmica are semi-claustral, so I recommend attaching a small outworld if you can and regularly supplying small, preferably soft-bodied arthropods to sustain her during the founding stages. Good luck!