9 replies to this topic

[Herdo]

I found this ant dead in my pool.  I pulled her out and came back out about 20 minutes later to take pictures.  She was gone, and apparently not as dead as I thought!

 

I lifted up a glove and found her stuck to it.  I brought her inside and took the following pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

She is very large.  Probably 10 - 11 mm with her mandibles which are probably close to 2 mm themselves.  I watched her stretch them out flat 180 degrees when I was trying to get her into the container.  This leads me to believe she is of the genus Odontomachus sp.  I'm also fairly certain she is Odontomachus clarus.  I'm new to IDing ants, but I'd bet money that's what she is.  I'm also fairly certain it's a worker.

 

 

Unfortunately I don't think she will make it much longer.  Her right antenna does not move and she keep cleaning it.  She is continuing to slow down and only moves when I bump the test tube.

 

Any ideas?

[PTAntFan]

Wicked cool looking ant.  good luck finding the nest and catching a viable queen some day.  

[Miles]

Yes, this is Odontomachus clarus. I keep this species! Nice find.

[Herdo]

PTAntFan, I'm going to try. I've never seen one of these before.

Miles, thank you!

[BrittonLS]

Omigosh, find these and give them to me. Lol

 

I read they usually nest under rocks and logs. So start flipping

[Miles]

Yup, I found colonies under rocks in Portal, Arizona.

[Gregory2455]

Wow! There is Odontomachus in Pheonix! This is good to know.

[Trailandstreet]

Why don't we have Odontomachus here? :scare3:

 

But we also have trapjaw ants (Pyramica) but they are very, very rare.

[Etherwulf]

Cool find.

 

Its probably doomed though but don't worry, its most likely a worker given its thorax and gastor size. 

 

That said, you could try preserving it and pinning it if you want to start a collection.

[Herdo]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  I'm going to keep looking for these guys.  

 

 

Cool find.

 

Its probably doomed though but don't worry, its most likely a worker given its thorax and gastor size. 

 

That said, you could try preserving it and pinning it if you want to start a collection.

 

That's not a bad idea, but actually I released her that same day.  

Edited by Herdo, July 2 2015 - 5:39 AM.