10 replies to this topic

[IcarusSkybound]

I found these three queens in relatively the same area so I'll just use one set of bullets for them all. I appreciate all of the help =D.

1. Queens #1 and #2 were found in a small wooded park with a cement walkway that surrounds a small pond. Queen #3 was found on a rocky pavement right next to the stairs of my apartment. I have actually found queens of #2 in the same place.

2. All three queens were collected on the same date ~5/2/2018
3. Small wooded park/neighborhood. There are a decent amount of trees surrounding where I live. 
4. Queens #1 and #2 are around the same size of 10mm while Queen #3 dwarfs them both at around 18-19mm
5. Queen #1: Brown except the back half of her gaster, which is black. The front of her head actually looks a bit dark as well. Queen #2: all black. Queen #3: Mostly black on top and then brown on bottom. The first part of her gaster and her legs are brown
6. Queen #1 has a half black gaster. Queen #2 and 3 grey lines on her gaster and Queen #3 is black and brown, as described above
7. Nothing else for distinction
8. These queens weren't found in or around a nest that I know of

9. I found many deceased males and a few live ones in the small wooded park where #1 and #2 were found. When I found Queen #3 she was actually near another queen of #2 and there were both a small alate and large male alate in the immediate vicinity 
 

Queen #1 looks like nothing that I've found before.

Queen #2 looks like Camponotus Nearcticus to me, but I'm new to the ant hobby and need confirmation.

Queen #3 looks very similar to the Campnotus Pennsylvanicus that I currently own except for the coloration differences

 

Here is a link to some pictures of the three: https://imgur.com/a/XkbY4EA

 

Thanks again for any and all help!

[VoidElecent]

Lovely identification thread!

 

Your queens are Camponotus snellingi, Camponotus cf. caryae, and Camponotus chromaiodes, respectively. Awesome species, too!

[Hunter]

your imger has a virus in it but they are camponotus

Edited by Hunter, May 4 2018 - 9:04 AM.

[IcarusSkybound]

your imger has a virus in it but they are camponotus

Well that's not good. Nothing popped up on my machine when I made the link and what not. What is a safer, more reliable way to post images without risking other people's computers?

[Wilbo62]

 

your imger has a virus in it but they are camponotus

Well that's not good. Nothing popped up on my machine when I made the link and what not. What is a safer, more reliable way to post images without risking other people's computers?

 

Your almost certainly fine, Imgur is a pretty reliable image hosting site. It was most likely something wrong with his machine @Hunter you might want to look into that.

Edited by Wilbo62, May 4 2018 - 9:26 AM.

[IcarusSkybound]

Lovely identification thread!

 

Your queens are Camponotus snellingi, Camponotus cf. caryae, and Camponotus chromaiodes, respectively. Awesome species, too!

Thanks a bunch! I figured they would all be Camponotus but I wanted confirmation. I didn't know that these species could be found in Virginia to be honest. C. Chomiaodes makes a lot of sense though considering they are common in North Carolina and I live close to the border. Is Caryae synonymous with Nearcticus? The C. Nearcticus antiwiki page mentioned something to that effect. 

[Hunter]

you should be fine its in imger its self

[VoidElecent]

 

Lovely identification thread!

 

Your queens are Camponotus snellingi, Camponotus cf. caryae, and Camponotus chromaiodes, respectively. Awesome species, too!

Thanks a bunch! I figured they would all be Camponotus but I wanted confirmation. I didn't know that these species could be found in Virginia to be honest. C. Chomiaodes makes a lot of sense though considering they are common in North Carolina and I live close to the border. Is Caryae synonymous with Nearcticus? The C. Nearcticus antiwiki page mentioned something to that effect. 

 

Essentially; they are both shiny, dark, members of the Myrmentoma species group. C. nearcticus are known to be slightly redder in areas and have relatively specialized nesting habits, whereas C. caryae commonly appear entirely deep black and are more abundant in northern, temperate regions than the warmer southern states. Your queen could very well be C. nearcticus , but I personally believe C. caryae to be more likely.

[Canadian anter]

Is Camponotus snellingi named after gordon snelling? I haven't heard of the species.

[gcsnelling]

Named after my dad, as for the images it is best to upload them to the gallery here and include them in your posts. I for one will never look at images in outside links.

[IcarusSkybound]

Named after my dad, as for the images it is best to upload them to the gallery here and include them in your posts. I for one will never look at images in outside links.

Do you have any species specific advice for trying to keep one of these lovely queens in captivity?