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Temnothorax sp.?

acorn ant

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18 replies to this topic

#1 Offline frostymayfly - Posted February 27 2022 - 2:13 AM

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Any ideas on species? Very tiny workers

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#2 Offline frostymayfly - Posted February 27 2022 - 2:40 AM

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Found in Maryland.

#3 Offline ColAnt735 - Posted February 27 2022 - 6:09 AM

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I think these are Temnothorax ambiguus or Temnothorax curvispinosus.


Edited by ColAnt735, February 27 2022 - 9:11 AM.

"If an ant carries an object a hundred times it's weight,you can carry burdens many times your size.


#4 Offline NickAnter - Posted February 27 2022 - 8:08 AM

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Certainly Temnothorax of some kind.

Perhaps T. illegalensis?

I cannot claim to know much of Eastern Temnothorax, so I can't distinguish between ambiguus and curvispinosus without looking thru the key.

Edit: I'm leaning towards curvispinosus because of those spots the workers appear to have on their gasters, ambiguus are not supposed to have those.


Edited by NickAnter, February 27 2022 - 8:12 AM.

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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). 


#5 Offline OiledOlives - Posted February 27 2022 - 8:33 AM

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The best way to differentiate between T. curvipsinosus and T. ambiguus is by the length of the propodeal spines on the workers. T. curvispinosus have much longer spines compared to the smaller spines of T. ambiguus.



#6 Offline ANTdrew - Posted February 27 2022 - 12:12 PM

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The best way to differentiate between T. curvipsinosus and T. ambiguus is by the length of the propodeal spines on the workers. T. curvispinosus have much longer spines compared to the smaller spines of T. ambiguus.

How do you kids learn all this stuff??
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#7 Offline ColAnt735 - Posted February 27 2022 - 1:06 PM

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We need better pictures in order to find the exact species maybe if you took a picture from the side we could see the length of the propodial spines. For now I think we can safely say its either Temnothorax curvispinosus or Temnothorax ambiguus.


"If an ant carries an object a hundred times it's weight,you can carry burdens many times your size.


#8 Offline Manitobant - Posted February 27 2022 - 3:51 PM

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The best way to differentiate between T. curvipsinosus and T. ambiguus is by the length of the propodeal spines on the workers. T. curvispinosus have much longer spines compared to the smaller spines of T. ambiguus.

How do you kids learn all this stuff??
We have no life.
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#9 Offline ColAnt735 - Posted February 27 2022 - 4:29 PM

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Agreed
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"If an ant carries an object a hundred times it's weight,you can carry burdens many times your size.


#10 Offline OiledOlives - Posted February 28 2022 - 8:58 AM

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The best way to differentiate between T. curvipsinosus and T. ambiguus is by the length of the propodeal spines on the workers. T. curvispinosus have much longer spines compared to the smaller spines of T. ambiguus.

How do you kids learn all this stuff??

 

Bored in school.


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#11 Offline ColAnt735 - Posted February 28 2022 - 9:24 AM

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The best way to differentiate between T. curvipsinosus and T. ambiguus is by the length of the propodeal spines on the workers. T. curvispinosus have much longer spines compared to the smaller spines of T. ambiguus.

How do you kids learn all this stuff??

 

Bored in school.

 

For me its a mixture of being bored at school like OiledOlives and staying up until 4 am researching ants while staring at a small screen.


Edited by ColAnt735, February 28 2022 - 9:25 AM.

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"If an ant carries an object a hundred times it's weight,you can carry burdens many times your size.


#12 Offline frostymayfly - Posted February 28 2022 - 1:24 PM

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Thanks for all the replies. I'm not sure if I can get any better pictures of these guys from the side but I'll try.
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#13 Offline ColAnt735 - Posted March 1 2022 - 9:03 AM

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Thanks for all the replies. I'm not sure if I can get any better pictures of these guys from the side but I'll try.

Its fine if you can't but we just won't be able to verify the exact species.


"If an ant carries an object a hundred times it's weight,you can carry burdens many times your size.


#14 Offline Kaelwizard - Posted March 6 2022 - 12:40 PM

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Pretty sure their care is the exact same, so if you can't get picture of the spines I wouldn't worry about it too much.



#15 Offline azzaaazzzz00 - Posted March 6 2022 - 4:02 PM

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The best way to differentiate between T. curvipsinosus and T. ambiguus is by the length of the propodeal spines on the workers. T. curvispinosus have much longer spines compared to the smaller spines of T. ambiguus.

How do you kids learn all this stuff??
We have no life.

 

Basicly sums up half the population on earth


Edited by azzaaazzzz00, March 6 2022 - 4:02 PM.

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Been keeping ants since January of 2021

Always try new things, even if its hard, hard is not impossible. We are smart and it's good to be smart but not too smart for your own good.

#16 Offline ColAnt735 - Posted March 7 2022 - 5:40 AM

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The best way to differentiate between T. curvipsinosus and T. ambiguus is by the length of the propodeal spines on the workers. T. curvispinosus have much longer spines compared to the smaller spines of T. ambiguus.

How do you kids learn all this stuff??
We have no life.

 

Basicly sums up half the population on earth

 

Agreed.


"If an ant carries an object a hundred times it's weight,you can carry burdens many times your size.


#17 Offline James C. Trager - Posted March 7 2022 - 9:22 AM

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The dark band on the gaster of workers hints at T. curvispinosus. T. ambiguus tends to be all orangey with no black or dark brown on the gaster. There is also a tendency for habitat differentiation, with T. curvispinosus in woods, and T. ambiguus in fields.
Note; Queens of both species have darker gasters, so other characteristics needed to ID.

 


Edited by James C. Trager, March 7 2022 - 9:24 AM.

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#18 Offline Manitobant - Posted March 7 2022 - 6:36 PM

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The dark band on the gaster of workers hints at T. curvispinosus. T. ambiguus tends to be all orangey with no black or dark brown on the gaster. There is also a tendency for habitat differentiation, with T. curvispinosus in woods, and T. ambiguus in fields.
Note; Queens of both species have darker gasters, so other characteristics needed to ID.

Damn. Its been years since I’ve seen you on here.

#19 Offline TennesseeAnts - Posted March 10 2022 - 4:01 PM

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The best way to differentiate between T. curvipsinosus and T. ambiguus is by the length of the propodeal spines on the workers. T. curvispinosus have much longer spines compared to the smaller spines of T. ambiguus.

How do you kids learn all this stuff??

 

Antwiki is a great source. 

 

 

I'm also going to say T. curvispinosus.







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