9 replies to this topic

[Ernteameise]

EDIT: Thanks to the ID specialists on this forum, I have learned that the queens I collected are not pavement ants (Tetramorium) but one of the smallest ant species in Germany, the thief ant Solenopsis fugax. In my youth, I have read with excitement about thief ants and their lifestyle is pretty interesting. They form "parallel" colonies next to thriving other ant colonies (like Lasius) and sneak into other ant nests and steal brood. They are so tiny, and their hidden undercover tunnel networks so ingenious, that the robbed colonies cannot really do anything against these thieves. 

Otherwise, thief ants form large colonies, can be polygyn and are very active during the day. They eat anything. Since they are so tiny, they are escape artists. 

 

I went for my swim today at the public pool, and the pavement ants were flying.

I love the pavement ants at the pool- they live under the pavement there (surprise) and as soon as the kids drop ice cream, they will come out in force and form large black masses. They are the secret rulers of the public pool- and share their habitat with Lasius niger and Myrmica rubra (the things you notice when you lie on your towel in the sun and dry off). 

Since the last pavement ant queen which I collected last year died of unknown causes, this time, I collected 3 nicely plump physiogastric ladies. 

I am not sure which species they are exactly, we have several different species of Tetramorium (T. caspitum, T. impurum) and they look very similar.

The workers of these species are all small and black. 

These ants appear to be very active during the day and since they are such lovers of dropped ice cream, they should also be easy to feed.

Not quite sure how "exciting" these girls are to keep, and I also do not know how difficult it will be to keep a fast growing species which will form large colonies. 

Anyways, before I think ahead of myself, one of the girls I caught has to survive, first.

They are claustral, so I will pop their test tubes in the dark and will annoy them as little as possible. 

 

 

 

 

 

These ants are also host to a range of amazing parasitic ant species. It would be awesome to one day keeping a colony with some parasites, but that will be seriously advanced ant keeping. 

Edited by Ernteameise, September 9 2025 - 1:01 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Tetramorium are honestly some of the funnest ants to keep in my opinion. Good luck with these queens!

[Ernteameise]

Tetramorium are honestly some of the funnest ants to keep in my opinion. Good luck with these queens!

Then let us see if at least one of the queens will be able to start a colony.

Anything special they need?

I thought of moving them into the Mini-Hearth that will become available as soon as the Camponotus lateralis have moved into their new Foranto nest (which is still in the making). Might last them for a year after their test-tube phase. I am a bit afraid of them exploding in numbers too fast. 

They appear not to be choosy with food from what I have seen on the forum. 

[bmb1bee]

Nice finds! Unfortunately I'm pretty sure these are a species of Solenopsis rather than Tetramorium. In my experience they are pretty similar in care though, so you won't be missing out too much. They're claustral, eat pretty much anything, and grow relatively fast. 

[ANTdrew]

The best way to raise these is with test tube setups in escape proof outworlds with a thin layer of dry sand. Fluon is very effective at stopping them, thankfully.

[Ernteameise]

Nice finds! Unfortunately I'm pretty sure these are a species of Solenopsis rather than Tetramorium. In my experience they are pretty similar in care though, so you won't be missing out too much. They're claustral, eat pretty much anything, and grow relatively fast. 

Luckily, Solenopsis has not (YET!) made their way to my region in Germany. They have already invaded Southern Europe, and with climate change, it is only a question of time, but so far, we are still free. 

So yeah, from watching the colonies around the public pool, and with my limited ant ID ability, I am pretty sure they are some species of Tetramorium (the different very similar species we have here are in taxonomic flux and they are taxonomically worked on, so species ID is difficult). Also, the time of nuptial flight fits with Tetramorium over here. 

Edited by Ernteameise, September 8 2025 - 9:07 AM.

[RushmoreAnts]

 

Nice finds! Unfortunately I'm pretty sure these are a species of Solenopsis rather than Tetramorium. In my experience they are pretty similar in care though, so you won't be missing out too much. They're claustral, eat pretty much anything, and grow relatively fast. 

Luckily, Solenopsis has not (YET!) made their way to my region in Germany. They have already invaded Southern Europe, and with climate change, it is only a question of time, but so far, we are still free. 

So yeah, from watching the colonies around the public pool, and with my limited ant ID ability, I am pretty sure they are some species of Tetramorium (the different very similar species we have here are in taxonomic flux and they are taxonomically worked on, so species ID is difficult). Also, the time of nuptial flight fits with Tetramorium over here. 

 

Solenopsis fugax is native to Germany, and your queens seem to match its description.

[bmb1bee]

 

Nice finds! Unfortunately I'm pretty sure these are a species of Solenopsis rather than Tetramorium. In my experience they are pretty similar in care though, so you won't be missing out too much. They're claustral, eat pretty much anything, and grow relatively fast. 

Luckily, Solenopsis has not (YET!) made their way to my region in Germany. They have already invaded Southern Europe, and with climate change, it is only a question of time, but so far, we are still free. 

So yeah, from watching the colonies around the public pool, and with my limited ant ID ability, I am pretty sure they are some species of Tetramorium (the different very similar species we have here are in taxonomic flux and they are taxonomically worked on, so species ID is difficult). Also, the time of nuptial flight fits with Tetramorium over here. 

 

Lucky that Germany doesn't have the larger invasive Solenopsis wreaking havoc on your ecosystems. It seems the queens are one of the "thief ant" species though, something like Solenopsis fugax like what RushmoreAnts said. Tetramorium queens look a bit different in comparison and should be a decent bit larger.

[Ernteameise]

THANK YOU to the ID specialists on this amazing forum!

These guys are AWESOME and even know about species of other continents.

Amazing!

 

Oh well, my mediocre ant ID skills strike again.

I just had a look, and the pictures of Solenopsis fugax queens do indeed fit my own queens. 

I did not have them on my radar, since in the literature, they appear to be common in warmer ("heat island") regions of Germany, which we are NOT. 

But yes, I agree, climate change is a thing and there is no reason why they should not expand to cooler regions. 

In any case, "Thief Ants" are also a cool species. They should be interesting to keep. 

I could even feed them brood of my other ant colonies, since this seems to be their natural diet. 

Solenopsis fugax is one of the smallest ant species in Germany, and the tiny yellow workers are even smaller than my Temnothorax. 

No wonder I never saw them among the Lasius, Myrmica and Tetramorium in the lawns of the public pool! They are simply too tiny! 

They will be pretty difficult to contain when they get larger. 

Now I wonder what kind of nest would fit them. 

Ideally, I would like something along the lines of the nest I have for my Acanthomyrmex, so I can watch these tiny ants better. They might literally disappear from the mini hearth. 

 

I will start them in a test tube, then might try the mini hearth, and how I will proceed when they are grown, I will decide when it happens. 

 

EDIT- I wrote to one of the Moderators so they change the topic of this thread and I will also write an update concerning ID in the first post above. 

Edited by Ernteameise, September 9 2025 - 1:02 AM.

[RushmoreAnts]

http://antmaps.org provides useful information about species range and diversity in a given region. That's what I used to determine what species of Solenopsis are in Germany.