5 replies to this topic

[theneuro]

I stumbled upon these two different ants recently. They were so similar I decided to put them in the same post.

 

Ant #1

1. Location of collection: Conway, Arkansas
2. Date of collection: March 27, 6PM
3. Habitat of collection: Small, open woods
4. Length (from head to gaster): 6 mm (body)/ 15 mm (body and appendages)
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture: dull red body/ shiny black gaster
6. Distinguishing characteristics: long, skinny legs and antennae
7. Distinguishing behavior: seemed to be rather "shy", generally stood still when captured, ran away in wild
8. Nest description: Unknown nest, although it seemed to "share" a nest with the second species of ant (when initially disturbed, both species came out of the nest)

 

Ant #2

1. Location of collection: Conway, Arkansas
2. Date of collection: March 27, 6PM
3. Habitat of collection: Small, open woods
4. Length (from head to gaster): 6 mm (body)/ 15 mm (body and appendages)
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture: shiny black body and gaster
6. Distinguishing characteristics: long, skinny legs and antennae
7. Distinguishing behavior: extremely fast and aggressive, generally alternated between running and pausing while wild; an injured Ant #2 easily decapitated two fire ants
8. Nest description: large, covered in loose dirt and foliage, smelt of decaying matter

 

Any help on identifying these ants would be greatly appreciated. My current theory is that one of these ants species may be a parasitic or enslaved species; it's worth noting that considerably more of the second ant was present in the nest than the first ant.

Edited by theneuro, March 27 2017 - 8:03 PM.
Properly posted images

[Californian Anter]

Some kind of Formica probably. Are you sure they are 6 cm long though?

Edited by Californian Anter, March 27 2017 - 6:37 PM.

[VoidElecent]

Some kind of Formica probably. Are you sure they are 6 cm long though?

 

Hopefully he meant 6 & 15 mm...

[VoidElecent]

They both looks like Formica species to me. The first is probably either F. rubicunda, or F. subintegra. To be completley honest, the ants are a little hard for me to make out in the third and fourth pictures (I can't even find them in the last ones), but I would say they're either Camponotus pennsylvanicus or a Formica fusca-group species. Probably Formica, though.

 

Nice finds, now you know where to look in July!

[theneuro]

Great, thank you! It was quite hard to take any sort of picture at all for the second ants, as they were running around so quickly.

I just have a few more questions- if they are Formica, which one would be the parasite? And if I were to find a queen during a nuptial flight, how would that work?

[Californian Anter]

You would need to introduce callow workers or pupae to her. Another method is to introduce her to an established colony and let her take over. I will go ahead and assume the red ones could be the parasitic Formica Subintegra, and the black ones are maybe Formica Subsericea. They are distributed pretty close to where you live, so it is a possibility. Wait for Batspiderfish's opinion though. 

Edited by Californian Anter, March 27 2017 - 8:59 PM.