22 replies to this topic

[RelientUKDr]

Found her in the pool (alate), she shed wings next day.

1. Location (on a map) of collection: Jacksonville FL
2. Date of collection: June 19, 2020
3. Habitat of collection: urban
4. Length (from head to gaster): ~4-5mm
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture: golden
6. Distinguishing characteristics: petiole and post-petiole
7. Distinguishing behavior: burrowed into wet cotton and has not come out (hence difficulty with measuring her and taking pictures). She has laid a few eggs in her cotton cave
8. Nest description:
9. Nuptial flight time and date:

Attached Images

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[AntsDakota]

Solenopsis sp.

Edited by AntsDakota, July 4 2020 - 4:24 PM.

[Kaelwizard]

Solenopsis molesta most likely. Unless there are very similar species in Florida.

[AntsDakota]

Unless there are very similar species in Florida.

There are. That’s why I didn’t specify molesta.

[Manitobant]

Mate I'm really not trying to be rude but why do you post so many ID requests? I mean I'm glad to help ID them but you shouldn't count on other antkeepers to ID everything you catch. Read some antwiki articles or look up species in your region on antmaps.

[NickAnter]

Solenopsis pergandei.

[Aaron567]

Solenopsis carolinensis/texana in my opinion. S. pergandei is much bulkier, and while this is in the molesta group, the actual species molesta is not something that has ever been found this far south. S. carolinensis flies just about every single morning where I am, and is easily the most prominent subterranean ant in the southeast.

 

Here is a thing I made for reference

 

[Splat01]

Mate I'm really not trying to be rude but why do you post so many ID requests? I mean I'm glad to help ID them but you shouldn't count on other antkeepers to ID everything you catch. Read some antwiki articles or look up species in your region on antmaps.

Lol, mate. Sounds like you're jealous of all the ants she's finding? But really, how do you know she's not a professionally trained biologist who's just now getting into myrmecology because of COVID-19 quarantine and because she's in a US state that has over 240 species of ants she's now finding herself up to her ears in ant queens but also uses four dichotomous keys showing various levels of taxonomy but because she wasn't specifically trained in myrmecology she seeks guidance from all the fantastic folks on this forum to cross-reference her findings against the expertise of you all?

[Manitobant]

Mate I'm really not trying to be rude but why do you post so many ID requests? I mean I'm glad to help ID them but you shouldn't count on other antkeepers to ID everything you catch. Read some antwiki articles or look up species in your region on antmaps.

Lol, mate. Sounds like you're jealous of all the ants she's finding? But really, how do you know she's not a professionally trained biologist who's just now getting into myrmecology because of COVID-19 quarantine and because she's in a US state that has over 240 species of ants she's now finding herself up to her ears in ant queens but also uses four dichotomous keys showing various levels of taxonomy but because she wasn't specifically trained in myrmecology she seeks guidance from all the fantastic folks on this forum to cross-reference her findings against the expertise of you all?

lol I'm not jealous, I'm just saying that she can't rely on us to ID every queen she catches

[Splat01]

Solenopsis carolinensis/texana in my opinion. S. pergandei is much bulkier, and while this is in the molesta group, the actual species molesta is not something that has ever been found this far south. S. carolinensis flies just about every single morning where I am, and is easily the most prominent subterranean ant in the southeast.

 

Here is a thing I made for reference

That is friggin awesome.

[ANTdrew]

Mate I'm really not trying to be rude but why do you post so many ID requests? I mean I'm glad to help ID them but you shouldn't count on other antkeepers to ID everything you catch. Read some antwiki articles or look up species in your region on antmaps.

ID requests are one of the funnest things to look at on the forum. The user is following the format and trying to learn. I say ID it up!

[AntsDakota]

Mate I'm really not trying to be rude but why do you post so many ID requests? I mean I'm glad to help ID them but you shouldn't count on other antkeepers to ID everything you catch. Read some antwiki articles or look up species in your region on antmaps.

He finds a lot of queens, and perhaps AntWiki uses language that is beyond him at this point. Even I have to look up a few of the terms they use for identification.

[RelientUKDr]

Mate I'm really not trying to be rude but why do you post so many ID requests? I mean I'm glad to help ID them but you shouldn't count on other antkeepers to ID everything you catch. Read some antwiki articles or look up species in your region on antmaps.

Not rude...just trivial.  I literally caught my first ant queen at the end of April during quarantine and got real excited.  Now I'm addicted!  I have no prior ant experience and I have tried to ID stuff on my own, but there are so many subtleties that only a trained eye can decipher.  You'll notice many of my posts are from ants I found back in June, meaning I HAVE been consulting Antwiki and other sources to no avail and only posted when I reached a dead end (I would also like to ID my queens as soon as I can in case they are semi-claustral).  When I found this site and forum, I was so happy to not only meet others who are passionate about myrmecology, but also have the experience and willingness to help out.  And FYI...I did look up species in my region...which is 250+!!!*  To simply "look up species in your region on antmaps" is beyond the scope of my individual capacity.   As evidenced by this post, even the experts disagree on some IDs when only queens are available.

 

*including non-natives

[RelientUKDr]

Solenopsis carolinensis/texana in my opinion. S. pergandei is much bulkier, and while this is in the molesta group, the actual species molesta is not something that has ever been found this far south. S. carolinensis flies just about every single morning where I am, and is easily the most prominent subterranean ant in the southeast.

 

Here is a thing I made for reference

This is incredible!!!  Thank you!

[Manitobant]

Mate I'm really not trying to be rude but why do you post so many ID requests? I mean I'm glad to help ID them but you shouldn't count on other antkeepers to ID everything you catch. Read some antwiki articles or look up species in your region on antmaps.

Not rude...just trivial.  I literally caught my first ant queen at the end of April during quarantine and got real excited.  Now I'm addicted!  I have no prior ant experience and I have tried to ID stuff on my own, but there are so many subtleties that only a trained eye can decipher.  You'll notice many of my posts are from ants I found back in June, meaning I HAVE been consulting Antwiki and other sources to no avail and only posted when I reached a dead end (I would also like to ID my queens as soon as I can in case they are semi-claustral).  When I found this site and forum, I was so happy to not only meet others who are passionate about myrmecology, but also have the experience and willingness to help out.  And FYI...I did look up species in my region...which is 250+!!!*  To simply "look up species in your region on antmaps" is beyond the scope of my individual capacity.   As evidenced by this post, even the experts disagree on some IDs when only queens are available.
 
*including non-natives

sorry then. It takes a lot of experience to ID things ill say that. Just practice more and look for features common in certain genera.

[ANTdrew]

AntMaps and AntWiki are not helpful at all for me.

[Antkid12]

AntMaps and AntWiki are not helpful at all for me.

Why?

[AntsDakota]

 

AntMaps and AntWiki are not helpful at all for me.

Why?

Neither have much information relevant to keeping them. It's all about their biology, identification, and distribution.

[Antkid12]

 

 

AntMaps and AntWiki are not helpful at all for me.

Why?

Neither have much information relevant to keeping them. It's all about their biology, identification, and distribution.

 

That is true.

[ANTdrew]

The super magnified photos don’t look anything like the ants you see in the field. Shots like that would only help me if I had a microscope, which I don’t. The sparsity of other information drives me up the wall. I literally never use those sites.