2 replies to this topic

[Formiga]

Hi guys!

A few hours ago, near nightfall I was taking a hike on my usual place, with lots of ant colonies around, and I've found this queen on the dirt road between the little pebbles.

 

1. Location of collection

Portugal, Europe

 

2. Date of collection
June 19th 2023

 

3. Habitat of collection

Country side, in an area cultivated with an intensive Eucalyptus monoculture (as is most of my region) and some pine trees.

The dirt road is very dry with lots of little pebbles. Very near there is a place that can accumulate rain falls and make a pond and has juncus plants, but by now, as it is summer, it should be already dry or with some moisture as in the last week there have been a few ocasional light rains.

The soil, very dry, is generally made out little rocks and pebbles.

This queen was walking on the dirt road (which is surrounded by a sort of juncus plants) at night fall.

 

4. Length

Very small, 7mm.

 

5. Coloration, hue, pattern and texture

The head and the thorax are black. The legs are light brown, looking a bit translucent.

Her gaster is a little lighter in color, and its shape is not very "fat" and round, it's more elongated. It has 3 stripes of lighter brown (one of them really near her rear.

She seems to have no hairs.

Please see the attached photos.

 

6. Distinguishing characteristics

She only has one single petiole. Sometimes it looks like 2, but I think it is the shape of the junction between the thorax and the gaster. Please refer to the photos.

 

 

So what can she be?
As usual, many thanks guys!

 

Attached Images

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[Manitobant]

Pheidole pallidula

[Formiga]

Pheidole pallidula

Sorry for replying 3 weeks later, but I really want to thank you for this identification.

 

She has laid a few tiny eggs around one week ago, which is a very good sign.

I keep her on a separate room so I can resist the temptation of always be checking on her so she can do her work in peace.

 

 

I have a hate-admiration relationship with this species.

On one side I wanted to have a colony and I really love the big headed majors and their hunting and foraging tenacity.

But I also hate them because my house is semi-infested with them, wild ones. In my front yard, into the outer walls of my home, and they even come out from holes inside the house. They LOVE my cat's food and her food bawl has had some very serious attacks, it even seems the food is moving!

 

Last year they killed my two Formica fusca colonies, one day after the other, attacking the colonies kept in different parts of the room from separate holes from different walls. And this year they've already taken one Messor queen that just very recently had her first nanitic, I had the feeding tube inserted in the test tube and the gap is so tiny I never thought they could get through and in enough numbers for the attack!

They also attacked yet another two colonies, one through the tiny gap of the feeding tube but they went for the egg itself and left the colony alone, luckily because it's my favorite one.

And yet in another colony, they were surrounding the cotton I use to plug the feeding hole of their formicarium and one of them was even able to get in through the tiniest drilled hole. I found that Pheidole in the Messor queen's jaws almost being snapped in half, managing to escape her jaws and running out of the formicarium through that tiny hole again. These Pheidoles seem to be a different species from the ones I usually see around, they are black with no red hue like the other ones, and I have no freaking idea where they might be coming from...

 

When the first nanitics from this Pheidole queen are ecloded, I have to take extra special care so they won't escape. Still have some time to think about this, but I DO have to think seriously about this...

 

 

Thank you so much again for your identification, @manitobant! Cheers.