4 replies to this topic

[JFowler]

I just caught this queen not 30 minutes ago (about 6:30 PM) while walking home from a college class. She reminds me of Solenopsis invicta, but I'm not completely sure what species she is.

 

She was wandering around on a sidewalk right next to a long bed of river rocks along a building. I don't have a picture of the place, but it was a fair distance (for an ant) from any plants (at least 20-30 yards from the nearest lawn or tree).

I don't have precise measurements, but, again, I've added pictures of her with my keyboard for size referencing. She's larger than the Trachymyrmex septentrionalis queens I've caught over the past week, but not nearly as big as Camponotus floridanus.

The main reason I think she isn't Solenopsis is her coloration. She's dull orange and black, but with intricate designs on her gaster and thorax. Her thorax is orange on the top with a mix of black and orange lines running from her head to her thorax— it's sort of mottled. Her gaster is primarily black, but it has three orange rings around it. It also has an orange area at the spot where it meets her waist, with a black dot in the middle of it. I think it looks like the Eye of Sauron. On the bottom side of her gaster, directly under the "eye", there's an orange "M".

She's actively moving around in the test tube I caught her in; I'm about to prepare one with water in it for her. I can clearly see the bumps that are her petiole and postpetiole. Her thorax and gaster are covered in small hairs (I can't tell if there's hair on her head or legs). 

Edited by JFowler, October 4 2016 - 3:22 PM.

[drtrmiller]

Why do you say she reminds you of Solenopsis invicta? That's what she looks like, to me.

Maybe your eyes are adjusting to the light. Subtle coloration differences are not a cause for ruling out S. invicta, especially when everything else fits. At worst, it could be a Solenopsis invicta X richteri hybrid, which can certainly present as slightly more orange or rust tinged, though the photos do make this seem less likely, to me.

Edited by drtrmiller, October 4 2016 - 4:02 PM.

[kellakk]

Why do you say she reminds you of Solenopsis invicta? That's what she looks like, to me.

Maybe your eyes are adjusting to the light. Subtle coloration differences are not a cause for ruling out S. invicta, especially when everything else fits. At worst, it could be a Solenopsis invicta X richteri hybrid, which can certainly present as slightly more orange or rust tinged, though the photos do make this seem less likely, to me.

 

I agree with you on the ID, it looks like S. invicta. I thought invicta X richteri hybrids were nearly black, though?

[drtrmiller]

The photos I looked at had significant variations in coloration.  If these are all graded the same, then it's safe to say a rust-colored gyne could be possible.  I still don't see the color in the user's photos, however.

http://mississippien...tm#.V_RK6fArJRs

Edited by drtrmiller, October 4 2016 - 4:34 PM.

[JFowler]

You're probably right, drtrmiller. I thought the fire ants in my area had entirely black gasters; I've never taken a very close look at them or examined close-up pictures of them, even though I have a small colony of them in addition to this new queen. I'm surprised that she hadn't already burrowed and begun raising workers before I caught her. I don't know exactly when invicta had its nuptial flights here in Georgia, but I'm sure it's been at least a couple of months. I was hoping I found a species I'm not as familiar with— fire ants are everywhere here in Statesboro.

 

Edit: I wanted to believe that this new queen was some variety of Crematogaster because I thought she raised her gaster when I tried to get into the test tube. Maybe she stumbled into a crack in the sidewalk.

Edited by JFowler, October 4 2016 - 7:13 PM.