7 replies to this topic

[enceladussmartants]

In case someone didn't read this post's title, this ant was found on 18th of May, in Bengaluru. She was found climbing a wall, somehow(will explain the 'somehow' in a moment,) in my apartment complex. She is 9-10 mm. She is dark brown, almost black. Her gaster is longer in comparison to the rest of the body compared to similar queens, like Lophomyrmex. Her mandibles are a brighter brown/red compared to the rest of the body. There is a small space between where the mandibles meet, and the head. She has two petiole nodes. The petioles seem a little longer than other queens, and seem to have a rounded bump on each node. She is quite shiny, and has a few stripe-like markings on her gaster. The abdomen sort of thins as it nears the petiole, but only slightly. Her legs are also very short, and a lighter shade.

 

Now, onto the reason why it is so surprising she was climbing a wall: She is EXTREMELY CLUMSY, and very similar to an unidentified queen I kept before. This previous queen burrowed underground when I gave her some soil, so I assumed this species was subterranean. So it was a little unusual to see one of them climbing a wall. Perhaps they are not as subterranean as I thought. However, she loves the soil I have given her, and is burrowing under it as I type, so perhaps it was due to some other circumstance that she was climbing. However, she was still very clumsy and easily fell into my jar. She seems to be able to walk alright on rougher surfaces like sand and soil quite alright, though. Based on the (not very succesful) research I did the last time I had this species, she seems similar to Bondroitia queens, but they live in Africa. Perhaps she is of Anillomyrma, which is apparently related? But they live in Northern India and Southeast Asia, I think, not South India. Could she be a new species?!??

 

Photos are attached here, and I hope they're better than last time!   

PS: If any of you remember the last time I posted about these  'clumsy' ants, you may remember that I did not give better photos, despite your requests. I am very sorry about that! The reason is that Clumsy Lily dug underground again after I fed her some sugar, and I didn't want to disturb her. Another two months later, very worried that nothing had happened, I dug her up and found her dead.   

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Edited by enceladussmartants, May 18 2025 - 4:25 AM.

[L.H]

General body shape looks like pheidole but I have never seen that species before so I wouldn't know.

It would also be better if you could get some clearer pictures.

Edited by L.H, May 18 2025 - 11:37 AM.

[Artisan_Ants]

Could have been an extremely rare, Liomyrmex gestroi queen. Very similar to Anillomyrmex descara, but can only be distinguished from the workers (by three teeth on the mandibles of Anillomyrmex descara which Liomyrmex gestroi lack.) There are no pictures of Anillomyrmex descara queens so we can’t compare queen to queen, but there are only descriptions of the Anillomyrmex descara male which are not very helpful. Without knowing what Anillomyrmex descara queens/alates look like though, after comparing other similar species to Liomyrmex, Liomyrmex gestroi itself seems like the correct fit. Queens are pretty dark in color, and the size closely fits your description according to the scale AntWiki provides in the caste images. It is indeed a subterranean ant species (this species being associated with termites which is probably why this queen died as it might have a symbiotic relationship with termites, explaining why this species must be so rare as queens need to find a specific termite species to found. And since Anillomyrmex is closely related to Liomyrmex, it probably does the same thing. Keep in mind though that this is just my HYPOTHESIS. There is also evidence that this could be true as Anillomyrmex descara specimens have been found in termite sp. nests meaning that the same can go for Liomyrmex gestroi as they are related).

Hope this helps with the ID!

[enceladussmartants]

Sorry for the late reply! Thank you for the possible IDs, people. Will check. I gave her some soil to burrow under. Do you think it would be OK to disturb her a little more to get some photos, or do you think I should wait till she has (hopefully) founded? Also, Artisan_Ants, do you know which termite species they need to found? Will they found if they are put together with a new termite pair or will they only join established termite colonies? If they can, I can try to find a pair of those termites out here.

Edited by enceladussmartants, May 24 2025 - 2:15 AM.

[enceladussmartants]

Umm... after checking, everything about Liomyrmex gestroi seems to fit except for its range: The Indian part of its range is only in the Andaman Nicobar Islands and West Bengal, apparently, so either this shows an extension of its range, or a new (but similar) species. Also, I am unable to find a species of Anillomyrma known as Anillomyrma descara. I assume you meant Anillomyrma when you said Anillomyrmex. Thank you for the suggestion, though!

Edited by enceladussmartants, May 24 2025 - 2:53 AM.

[Artisan_Ants]

Could have been an extremely rare, Liomyrmex gestroi queen. Very similar to Anillomyrmex descara, but can only be distinguished from the workers (by three teeth on the mandibles of Anillomyrmex descara which Liomyrmex gestroi lack.) There are no pictures of Anillomyrmex descara queens so we can’t compare queen to queen, but there are only descriptions of the Anillomyrmex descara male which are not very helpful. Without knowing what Anillomyrmex descara queens/alates look like though, after comparing other similar species to Liomyrmex, Liomyrmex gestroi itself seems like the correct fit. Queens are pretty dark in color, and the size closely fits your description according to the scale AntWiki provides in the caste images. It is indeed a subterranean ant species (this species being associated with termites which is probably why this queen died as it might have a symbiotic relationship with termites, explaining why this species must be so rare as queens need to find a specific termite species to found. And since Anillomyrmex is closely related to Liomyrmex, it probably does the same thing. Keep in mind though that this is just my HYPOTHESIS. There is also evidence that this could be true as Anillomyrmex descara specimens have been found in termite sp. nests meaning that the same can go for Liomyrmex gestroi as they are related).

Hope this helps with the ID!

Just wanted to say that I actually blundered the ID originally. It is not Liomyrmex or Anillomyrma (thanks for the correction btw. I did mean to say Anillomyrma instead of Anillomyrmex.) It is indeed Lophomyrmex, specifically Lophomyrmex quadrispinosus, which is the genus you mentioned before. After reviewing your pics once again, especially the first one, I realized one small propodeal spine (small spine on the back of the mesosoma/thorax; close to the petioles) on the queen. I reviewed the notes by Rigato (1994) on AntWiki, describing the same thing. Lastly, I checked the pictures on INaturalist, showing queens that look exactly the same as this one. This species does NOT need any termites and is claustral, so raise it like any other queen. 

 

Hope this helps!

[RushmoreAnts]

General body shape looks like pheidole but I have never seen that species before so I wouldn't know.

It would also be better if you could get some clearer pictures.

As a general rule of thumb, if a queen is from halfway around the world, it's best not to just assume Pheidole because it looks like it to you. Ants outside of North America are an entirely different animal, and it would be unwise to use American ants as an example.

Edited by RushmoreAnts, May 24 2025 - 10:06 AM.

[enceladussmartants]

Thank you for the answers! I have actually kept Lophomyrmex before, so I'm a little ashamed I didn't recognize her.   However, I think Liomyrmex was the answer for Clumsy Lily, my previous queen. After reviewing the photos of both, I am quite sure that Bouncy Lily (the Lophomyrmex I have now) and Clumsy Lily are different species, and Clumsy Lily did look more like the Liomyrmex photos I found than those of Lophomyrmex. This is the old topic for Clumsy Lily, back when I was new here, attached.

https://www.formicul...n-clumsy-lily/