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Queen ID | June 4th, CA

Started By Swirlysnowflake , Jun 4 2021 6:04 PM

Best Answer ANTdrew , June 5 2021 - 8:07 AM

Definitely Tetramorium. Their queens are about three times the size of Temnothorax. Temnothorax are also lighter in color with some banding usually. Go to the full post

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8 replies to this topic

#1 Offline Swirlysnowflake - Posted June 4 2021 - 6:04 PM

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LocationBay Area, CA

1. Location (on a map) of collection: Sunnyvale, CA
2. Date of collection: June 4th
3. Habitat of collection: Park with grass and dirt, it was just wandering on the dirt
4. Length (from head to gaster): I’m out of my house rn but I’ll measure it when I get home
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture: Brownish, kinda striped gaster
6. Distinguishing characteristics: N/A
7. Distinguishing behavior: N/A
8. Nest description: N/A
9. Nuptial flight time and date: N/A

Temnothorax? Tetramorium? I’m not good at ant IDs lol

Edited by Swirlysnowflake, June 4 2021 - 6:10 PM.

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#2 Offline Swirlysnowflake - Posted June 4 2021 - 6:13 PM

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LocationBay Area, CA

Oh also sorry if the pictures are not good enough to ID, here’s another:

Edit: it’s upside down, I don’t know how to fix that

Edited by Swirlysnowflake, June 4 2021 - 6:13 PM.

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#3 Offline AntsLA-1 - Posted June 4 2021 - 6:14 PM

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LocationLos Angeles, California

My best guess would be tetramorium immagrans...

Antkeeper01 likes this

Ants are cute, that's that.

Currently Keeping:

Nothing

#4 Offline Swirlysnowflake - Posted June 4 2021 - 6:16 PM

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My best guess would be tetramorium immagrans...

Yeah, I was thinking that too. What distinguishes them from Temnothorax?

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#5 Offline JamesJohnson - Posted June 4 2021 - 8:19 PM

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LocationBay Area, California

My best guess would be tetramorium immagrans...
Yeah, I was thinking that too. What distinguishes them from Temnothorax?

Tetramorium are significantly bigger than Temnothorax.

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#6 Offline NickAnter - Posted June 4 2021 - 8:22 PM

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LocationOrange County, California

These have been flying for a little bit up in norcal it seems, and are very common. The head is also too wide for Temnothorax. And yes, no Temnothorax gets to 6mm without being highly physogastric in Cali.

Swirlysnowflake, Antkeeper01 and AntsLA-1 like this

Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies.

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant).