182 replies to this topic

[Izzy]

That's incredible! I was thinking of heading out that way after those storms as well but things came up. I was wondering if that heat wave would trigger anything, and it looks like it has. Great finds! I'm glad to hear you say that you think it was more of a local flight. Hopefully I'll get another chance. That species of Formica looks different than the one's found out there last year, right? I'll be interested to hear what they are.

[UtahAnts]

You'll definitely have more chances in the next few weeks, these were all smaller flights.

 

These formica are different! I was really surprised to see yet another Formica species out in the desert, let alone queens. The queens are just slightly smaller and less prevalent than the Formica from last year but their coloration is really nice. We'll see if they are successful.

[UtahAnts]

More desert flights recently in Carbon and Emery counties. Found Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, Pheidole cf. ceres, and yet another mystery Formica species (the third species of Formica I've seen in the desert without ID) all flying. I'm thinking maybe a desert variety of Formica neorufibarbis?

 

 

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis queen.

 

 

 

 

Formica queen during nuptial flight.

 

 

 

Formica queen in a tube - F. neorufibarbis?

 

 

 

Pogonomyrmex rugosus colony foraging with alates coming out for a flight.

[UtahAnts]

More flights this weekend. I saw many parasitic Formica queens in the Uintas during the morning hours, along with a Formica neogagates group queen at 12,000 ft elevation! The highest queen I've ever found. Also saw a parasitic Acanthomyops Lasius queen.

 

Edit: Also saw Solenopsis molesta flying that evening.

Edited by UtahAnts, July 23 2024 - 8:10 AM.

[UtahAnts]

With the monsoon rains I've been seeing Solenopsis molesta in the evenings, along with Tetramorium and Pogonomyrmex rugosus and occidentalis queens around. May have a some storms after this weekend which could trigger some of the last major desert flights. Still no Crematogaster in Utah valley but we should have alates soon enough.

 

[UtahAnts]

Solenopsis molesta, Liometopum sp., various Lasius sp., Pheidole ceres, and Pogonomyrmex occidentalis have all been flying in the last week. I'll be going down to central Utah this week to look for some last flights before the desert season ends with all the thunderstorms of late. 

[UtahAnts]

More flights in Utah county after a large storm system came through for a few days. Was not able to go to the desert but I did find 6 species of Lasius flying at the same time. These queens all flew 1-2 days after the heaviest rain.

 

Lasius cf. americanus

Lasius neoniger

Lasius in the acanthomyops group

Lasius latipes

Lasius cf. claviger

Very small Lasius sp.

Monomorium minimum

Solenopsis molesta group

Formica fusca group

Tetramorium immigrans

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UtahAnts]

More Pogonomyrmex flights in the Provo area, now around 2 days after heavy rain. The rain keeps coming every few days, making it difficult to locate harvester flights.

 

[UtahAnts]

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, Crematogaster sp., various Lasius, Ahaenogaster occidentalis, Solenopsis molesta group, and Pheidole queens have all been flying out here. Interestingly in Rock canyon (Provo, Utah county) I found a mature colony of Camponotus vicinus with two queens. As far as I know this is not common for the variants in the area.

[UtahAnts]

Needless to say the season is pretty much over here. I've seen Brachymyrmex flying this month, along with Solenopsis molesta. Aphaenogaster occidentalis and Crematogaster cf. emeryana also flew sometime in the last month, although I missed their flights. I even saw a late Tetramorium queen last week. Next species to fly will probably be Camponotus vicinus or Formica fusca group next spring!

 

I was told 2 of the claustral Lasius species I found in August are actually likely Lasius sitiens and Lasius ponderosae! Neither species has been seen too often but it's good to finally ID some of the Lasius queens I've been finding all these years.

 

Lasius sitiens 

 

Lasius ponderosae

[Ants_Dakota]

I wish so bad I could buy some for my Lasius journal...

[Izzy]

Seems that Camponotus sansabeanus had their first flight of the year (that I'm aware of) for Northern/Central Utah.

 

These were found in Juab county at 5,400 feet elevation in a pinyon pine biome with a south facing hill side. I'm assuming the flight happened last night (April 11th, 2025) as it reached 80 degrees yesterday and I found them under rocks and dried cow pies (yum).

 

It didn't rain in the last week that I'm aware of, but it did rain the week before when the temperatures were cooler. The ground did seem soft enough though and there were small wet spots under the rocks and cow pies I flipped.

Edited by Izzy, April 16 2025 - 9:55 PM.

[Izzy]

More flights in Utah this weekend. We had some rain at the beginning of last week (May 5th-7th), but it was a bit cold and never got warm until Saturday and Sunday (May 10th-11th) where it got up to the mid-80's.

 

On May 10th I found some more Camponotus sansabeanus and vicinus in Juab county in a pinyon pine forest area.

 

Tonight, May 13th, I found Camponotus laevissimus (I think) and Formica fusca group in Utah county in the canyons.

 

I also came across a lone Lasius queen, I'm guessing neoniger, that probably was from last year as this would be an unusual time of year for them to be flying.

 

Today a cold storm and lots of rain rolled in but I knew they would not have burrowed yet and would still be able to be found. We are going to have colder temps and rain all week long, and I suspect we will see some more flights of these species after the first warm day after this rainy week.

[ANTdrew]

Nice haul, there! Any word from UtahAnts??

[logan.chats]

Nice haul, there! Any word from UtahAnts??

i meant to say that iirc Utah ants moved out of state
i meant to say that iirc Utah ants moved out of state
i meant to say that iirc Utah ants moved out of state

[Izzy]

Nice haul, there! Any word from UtahAnts??

 

Thanks! I was glad to finally find some Formica. They've eluded me for a while now.

No word from Utah Ants, but I don't really have a solid avenue to communicate with him. I should have got his email or something hah!

[Izzy]

More flights in Utah this weekend after the rain last weekend and the 85 degree day on Thursday.

 

In the Facebook group a member in Logan found two Camponotus modoc queens on Saturday (May 24th) under some bark on a tree.

Another member of the group found either a Camponotus vicinus, hyatti, or nearcticus in Orem near the mall on Sunday (May 25th). The Facebook group identified it as vicinus or possibly hyatti, but the person who caught it messaged me as well and told me it was smaller than the sansabeanus queen I sold them which makes me think its probably a nearcticus or hyatti since they're known for being smaller than Camponotus sansabeanus, and all the vicinus I've seen are quite large. We probably won't know unless we get a clearer picture though.
 

I found seven more Formica fusca group queens under rocks up Payson Canyon today (May 26th).

 

I suspect we should be seeing Tetramorium flights here in the next few weeks.

 

EDITS BELOW:

 

May 28th:

 

I found a small queen up Rock Canyon. I'm almost positive its a Camponotus nearcticus queen. It looks like a Camponotus and seems just barely bigger than a Tetramorium queen. Both are measured as around 8mm. I have never found one of these before, so that's pretty exciting!

 

Also up the same canyon on the Kyhv Peak Trail I saw a winged Camponotus modoc queen crossing the trail at about 7:00 PM. There hasn't been any rain since last week, but it was hot today and got up to 85-87 again. That small side canyon trail to Kyhv Peak was still pretty humid and the trail had some wet spots, so maybe that was enough with the heat to trigger some flights.

Edited by Izzy, May 29 2025 - 6:30 AM.

[Izzy]

Tetramorium immigrans had their first major flight today in Utah county and probably the other surrounding counties. Multiple members of the Facebook group have found queens. It reached the low 90s yesterday around 3:00pm, so naturally that was probably the cue for them. Today was a bit cooler, but queens seem to be everywhere. If you're in Utah, get out and find them.

[iggy]

Caught this ant in Springville this morning.

 

I have placed her in a test tube and and am waiting to see if she lays eggs.  Does anyone know what species this ant is?

[Izzy]

Caught this ant in Springville this morning.



I have placed her in a test tube and and am waiting to see if she lays eggs. Does anyone know what species this ant is?

I want to say Formica subsericea. The wings can make it difficult to tell sometimes though, but I'm no Formica expert. Maybe someone with more experience will chip in or you could try making another post on the ID section. I found a similar queen listed as Formica fusca group in my post above, does she look similar to that? It seems like the coloration on yours might be different though. The picture seems to have a reddish hue so if you post another try to get something more neutral or another picture if she removes her wings.