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What is the coolest native ant in your region?

Started By futurebird , Feb 2 2022 2:47 AM

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21 replies to this topic

#1 Offline futurebird - Posted February 2 2022 - 2:47 AM

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For NYC? Trachymyrmex septentrionalis the mini atta of the north. 

 

Especially curious to find out the coolest ant in the UK for a friend who was talking about this the other day. 


Starting this July I'm posting videos of my ants every week on youTube.

I like to make relaxing videos that capture the joy of watching ants.

If that sounds like your kind of thing... follow me >here<. 

#2 Offline ANTdrew - Posted February 2 2022 - 3:16 AM

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Trachymyrmex are definitely up there. I’d also love to find Nylanderia arenivaga.
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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.

#3 Offline Antkeeper01 - Posted February 2 2022 - 5:17 AM

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umm I'm gonna do state so uh maybe Manica hunteri or Myrmecocystus placodops


1X Pogonomyrmex occidentalis 40-50 Workers

1X Solenopsis molesta 10 Workers (mono)

Ants I Want: Crematogaster sp, Camponotus Sp., Ponera Pennsylvanica, Mymercocystus sp.

 

My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube....kUjx-dPFMyVqOLw

 

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#4 Online OiledOlives - Posted February 2 2022 - 5:20 AM

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For NoVA, I'd have to say either Aphaenogaster treatae/ashmeadi, Aphaenogaster mariae/tennesseensis, Dolichoderus mariae, and Formica exsectoides.


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#5 Offline Idontexist - Posted February 2 2022 - 8:08 AM

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I live in campeche mexico. By far its atta and odontomachus

#6 Offline Antkeeper01 - Posted February 2 2022 - 8:52 AM

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I live in campeche mexico. By far its atta and odontomachus

I'm pretty sure you have Eciton there which I think tops odontos


Edited by Antkeeper01, February 2 2022 - 8:52 AM.

1X Pogonomyrmex occidentalis 40-50 Workers

1X Solenopsis molesta 10 Workers (mono)

Ants I Want: Crematogaster sp, Camponotus Sp., Ponera Pennsylvanica, Mymercocystus sp.

 

My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube....kUjx-dPFMyVqOLw

 

 Join Our Fledgling Discord Server https://discord.com/...089056687423489

#7 Offline ColAnt735 - Posted February 2 2022 - 8:57 AM

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My region's coolest native species are Strumigenys pergandei and Stigmatomma pallipes (I found multiple queens and colonies of Stigmatomma pallipes in my area).


Edited by ColAnt735, February 2 2022 - 9:01 AM.

Keeping ants since 2020 

I keep:

Myrmicinae: Solenopsis molesta( 2 queens). Tetramorium immigrans ( 3 colonies with the biggest nearing 800 workers!),

Crematogaster cerasi  :yahoo:  ( 1 colony with a worker). Temnothorax  curvispinosus ( 1 queen with colony of 2 workers).

Formicinae: Prenolepis imparis ( 2 single queen colonies). Lasius brevicornis  :yahoo:( 19 founding queens) haven't seen many journals of them. Lasius Neoniger (a founding queen).Formica incerta( 1 colony with 22 workers)

 

Previously kept: Pogonomyrmex occidentalis   ( 1 colony with 9 workers). 

 

As you can tell I like ants

#8 Offline Antkeeper01 - Posted February 2 2022 - 9:04 AM

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My region's coolest native species are Strumigenys pergandei and Stigmatomma pallipes (I found multiple queens and colonies of Stigmatomma pallipes in my area).

Wow that's cool.


1X Pogonomyrmex occidentalis 40-50 Workers

1X Solenopsis molesta 10 Workers (mono)

Ants I Want: Crematogaster sp, Camponotus Sp., Ponera Pennsylvanica, Mymercocystus sp.

 

My Youtube channel: https://www.youtube....kUjx-dPFMyVqOLw

 

 Join Our Fledgling Discord Server https://discord.com/...089056687423489

#9 Offline ColAnt735 - Posted February 2 2022 - 9:17 AM

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Thanks!


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Keeping ants since 2020 

I keep:

Myrmicinae: Solenopsis molesta( 2 queens). Tetramorium immigrans ( 3 colonies with the biggest nearing 800 workers!),

Crematogaster cerasi  :yahoo:  ( 1 colony with a worker). Temnothorax  curvispinosus ( 1 queen with colony of 2 workers).

Formicinae: Prenolepis imparis ( 2 single queen colonies). Lasius brevicornis  :yahoo:( 19 founding queens) haven't seen many journals of them. Lasius Neoniger (a founding queen).Formica incerta( 1 colony with 22 workers)

 

Previously kept: Pogonomyrmex occidentalis   ( 1 colony with 9 workers). 

 

As you can tell I like ants

#10 Offline Manitobant - Posted February 2 2022 - 9:26 AM

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Here it’s definitely polyergus mexicanus. Slave makers are just awesome, especially when you see them raid.
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My journals:

Polyergus Mexicanus: https://www.formicul...gs/#entry175528
Formica subintegra: https://www.formicul...ological-brood/
Lasius minutus: https://www.formicul...cs/#entry174811
Lasius latipes: https://www.formicul...gs/#entry206449

#11 Offline ColAnt735 - Posted February 2 2022 - 9:30 AM

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I am so jealous!


Edited by ColAnt735, February 2 2022 - 9:30 AM.

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Keeping ants since 2020 

I keep:

Myrmicinae: Solenopsis molesta( 2 queens). Tetramorium immigrans ( 3 colonies with the biggest nearing 800 workers!),

Crematogaster cerasi  :yahoo:  ( 1 colony with a worker). Temnothorax  curvispinosus ( 1 queen with colony of 2 workers).

Formicinae: Prenolepis imparis ( 2 single queen colonies). Lasius brevicornis  :yahoo:( 19 founding queens) haven't seen many journals of them. Lasius Neoniger (a founding queen).Formica incerta( 1 colony with 22 workers)

 

Previously kept: Pogonomyrmex occidentalis   ( 1 colony with 9 workers). 

 

As you can tell I like ants

#12 Offline bmb1bee - Posted February 2 2022 - 10:49 AM

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By no means have I ever seen them before, but according to AntWeb, the most hardcore and elusive ants to find in NoCal would be Neivamyrmex sp. and Stigmatomma pallipes. Total S Class in my opinion, since they're very unique compared to other ants in the region. Polyergus and Strumigenys are also pretty cool. I just based these off on how awesome they look, their lifestyle, and their rarity  :D


Current Colonies:

Cardiocondyla mauritanica (5 queens 25+ workers and 8 queens 15+ workers)

Monomorium ergatogyna (4 queens 200+ workers and 1 queen 100+ workers plus alate pupae)

Tetramorium immigrans (1 queen 200+ workers and 55 single founding queens)

Pogonomyrmex rugosus (1 queen 13 workers)

Camponotus us-ca02 (1 queen 3 workers)

Tapinoma sessile (1 queen 3 workers)

Prenolepis imparis (1 queen plus brood)

Liometopum occidentale (1 queen plus brood)

Hypoponera opacior (1 dealate and 1 alate queen)

#13 Offline antsriondel - Posted February 2 2022 - 11:20 AM

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liometopum luctuosum.


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#14 Offline CheetoLord02 - Posted February 2 2022 - 12:57 PM

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Pheidole rhea and Atta mexicana are definitely hard to beat (although only P. rhea actually lives in my area), and I think a solid 3rd choice for me is Polyergus topoffi, which could seem underwhelming compared to a lot of our other natives but I've got a soft spot for them, since I'm likely the first person to keep them and the area I collected my queen was the northernmost that the species has ever been documented.


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arthropodantics.com

#15 Offline PaigeX - Posted February 2 2022 - 4:58 PM

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Here in qld, Australia it would be: Polyrhachis Ammon and Myrmecia Chrysogaster


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Favourite Genus: Polyrhachis 

Most Favourite I'm keeping: Polyrhachis ammon, Polyrhachis daemeli, Polyrhachis hookeri, Polyrhachis rufifemur, Polyrhachis vermiculosa, Colobopsis macrocephala, Dolichoderus scrobiculatus
Smaller ones: Solenopsis sp, Cardiocondyla sp, Stigmacros sp, Pheidole sp
 
Current Journals: Main   Myrmecia nigrocincta
My YouTube channel: Australian Polyrhachis +

My Instagram: australian_polyrhachis

 

May God Bless you.

#16 Offline SYUTEO - Posted February 2 2022 - 6:30 PM

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I wonder if it's fair for me to post here because there's too many cool native ants in my area.
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Antkeeping since 2018   :)

 

My current list:

Camponotus parius x1, Camponotus irritans x1, Lepisiota rothneyi x1,  Anochetus sp x1, Monomorium monomorium x1,  Solenopsis geminata x1, Paratopula sp x1, Trichomyrmex cf mayri x1, Anochetus sp2 x1, Gnamptogenys sp (Stictoponera) x1, Camponotus albosparsus x2, Carebara affinis x1

 

All ant journal: https://www.formicul...os-ant-journal/

 

Will be cleaning up the ACAF sometime in the future.

#17 Offline ANTS_KL - Posted February 2 2022 - 6:39 PM

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Proatta butteli

Sent from my CPH2201 using Tapatalk
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Ants epic :D
YouTube: https://m.youtube.co...uKsahGliSH7EqOQ

My current ants: Camponotus cf. arrogans (likely unmated), Camponotus cf. irritans (dealate), 2x Camponotus parius (dealate), Meranoplus bicolor (dealate), Odontomachus rixosus, Paratopula sp. (likely unmated), Pheidole cf. noda, Solenopsis geminata

 

Death count: idk there's too many that I've lost :(

#18 Offline antsandmore - Posted February 2 2022 - 8:02 PM

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don't make me choose. too many to count.


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Ants I am keeping:

 none for now, planning on being more active this year

#19 Offline Leptomyrmx - Posted February 2 2022 - 9:43 PM

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(There's practically no really interesting ants in my area, so I'll do around my grandparents' area.)

Well, Myrmecia are super cool, but for a single species maybe Myrmecia tarsata. They're like gREEEN BULL ANTS how can you not like that

There are probably better species somewhere near me but that's my favourite one I've seen.


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Colonies: Camponotus humilior 1w, Opisthopsis rufithorax 6w, Aphaenogaster longiceps ~5w, Pheidole sp. ~150w 8m, Iridomyrmex sp. 2q ~20w, Maybe Solenopsis or Monomorium 5w, Brachyponera lutea 6w

Queens: Myrmecia brevinoda :yahoo:, Polyrhachis australis

Previously Kept: Colobopsis gasseri, Technomyrmex sp., Rhytidoponera victorae, Nylanderia cf. rosae

Key: Q = Queen, W = Worker, M = Major 

Youtube Channel: Ants of Sydney - YouTube

#20 Online NickAnter - Posted February 2 2022 - 10:00 PM

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For my immediate area, Strumigenys membranifera, found in backyard.

 

In terms of the county area though, probably Myrmecocystus wheeleri or Camponotus us-ca02.


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Species being kept:

 

 Solenopsis "plebeius", Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus maritimus, Formica cf. subaenescens, Formica cf. aerata, Lasius cf. americanus, Lasius aphidicola, Lasius brevicornis, Lasius nr claviger, Nylanderia vividula, Temnothorax rudis and a Hypoponera sp.

 

Hoping to find this year:

Myrmecocystus, Liometopum occidentale, Camponotus essigi, Camponotus fragilis, Manica bradleyi, Formica perpilosa, Pheidole hyatti, and a Parasitic Formica sp.

 

People are stupid. It explains a lot...

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