6 replies to this topic

[Voidley]

I caught this queen at around 2pm today (Aug 24) in New York. She is 17-18mm long and I'm reasonably confident that she is Camponotus pennsylvanicus however it seem's they don't really fly this late in the year. She has shed her wings so I assume she has already mated but I didn't see any other alates so I'm not sure if they had a nuptial flight. Can flights this late in the year happen with this species? If not then why did I find her, or is she a different species altogether? Thanks.

Edited by Voidley, August 24 2023 - 7:03 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Most likely a nest reject that didn’t fly at the proper time. It is doubtful, but not impossible that she is mated.

[gs5248]

Was she found at high elevation? I remember going up in the mountains in Tahoe and seeing a huge Camponotus nuptial flight in late July to early August. I was finding queens absolutely everywhere.

Edited by gs5248, August 26 2023 - 7:55 AM.

[Voidley]

Was she found at high elevation? I remember back going up in the mountains in Tahoe and seeing a huge Camponotus nuptial flight in early late July to early August. I mean I was finding queens absolutely everywhere.

Yeah she was found pretty close to sea level—I guess that doesn't bode too well for her having mated.

[dspdrew]

We have Camponotus vicinus (all black variety) that fly in August up in higher elevations.

[ANTdrew]

We have Camponotus vicinus (all black variety) that fly in August up in higher elevations.

East coast is a different ballgame. Viable queens flew many moons ago.

[AntsTopia]

Well while anting the other day I did see a Camponotus queen run by me. I didn't collect her since I have no real interest in carpenter queens. Regardless the two occurrences are very strange.