Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Where and when are you finding queen ants? A section to share nuptial flight schedules by ant species and locality

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Formicine
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2017 1:00 am
Location: Nevada

Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 34614Post Formicine
Sat Mar 24, 2018 9:08 pm

Late last year I started looking for queens. (I forgot about nuptial flight season until a few queens popped up in my back yard in September.)
Has anyone found queens around March-April around Reno? The only queens I found were in late September.
All I found were camponotus semitestacious and pogonomyrmex occidentalis. (Both IDs could be wrong)
I would really like to find some different queens this year, since I only have 3 of the camponotus ants left, and only one pogo queen.
I don't know how, but most of the pogos ended up covered in a white mold.
Now I'm off topic...
So, if you know when some nuptial flights are likely to happen, I'd appreciate some info on where to look.
Thanks!

Comnav24
Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:18 pm
Location: Reno, Nevada

Re: Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 34821Post Comnav24
Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:43 pm

Following here, I'm in the Washoe county area and around this time I usually start seeing some queens on the building on base first thing in the morning. I'll be sure to post photos when they start to show.

Formicine
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2017 1:00 am
Location: Nevada

Re: Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 34825Post Formicine
Tue Apr 03, 2018 1:26 am

Comnav24 wrote:
Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:43 pm
Following here, I'm in the Washoe county area and around this time I usually start seeing some queens on the building on base first thing in the morning. I'll be sure to post photos when they start to show.
Thank you! So happy to know there's another ant person nearby.

Comnav24
Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:18 pm
Location: Reno, Nevada

Re: Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 34833Post Comnav24
Tue Apr 03, 2018 3:36 am

Of course, I already have ten stowaways in tube set up...if they start producing workers, then I'll let you know if I capture local queens, maybe I can pass one or two along to you if you don't manage any on your own. :)

Personally I really want honeypot ants ^_^. I think they're really cool.

Formicine
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2017 1:00 am
Location: Nevada

Re: Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 35257Post Formicine
Sat Apr 21, 2018 1:03 pm

Managed to get super lucky when looking under rock. Found a super dark crematogaster. No idea what her exact species is, but she laid 7+ eggs the first night in her test tube. AND I found 3 more pogonomyrmex queens. Saw evidence of a queen digging and found them. Still haven't found a dorymyrmex bicolor queen yet though.
And with even more good news, two of the camponotus queens I caught last year have cocooned little ones! (The third queen looks like she's full of eggs, but isn't laying any.)

Comnav24
Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:18 pm
Location: Reno, Nevada

Re: Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 35417Post Comnav24
Wed Apr 25, 2018 12:50 pm

Nice, just stepped out the door at work and saw a Male cruising across the concrete. :) not sure the species though.

Formicine
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2017 1:00 am
Location: Nevada

Re: Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 35519Post Formicine
Sat Apr 28, 2018 5:36 pm

Nice!
I tried to get that crematogaster queen identified, but I think the first photos I posted were too low quality.
Here she is if you want a look. (Higher quality pics)
http://imgur.com/a/IPyokDs

Comnav24
Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:18 pm
Location: Reno, Nevada

Re: Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 35571Post Comnav24
Tue May 01, 2018 5:36 pm

Yeah have been having poor luck tbh :/.

Comnav24
Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:18 pm
Location: Reno, Nevada

Re: Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 35572Post Comnav24
Tue May 01, 2018 5:41 pm

She's a good looking queen. Wish I could help ID her but I am actually still learning identification.

Comnav24
Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:18 pm
Location: Reno, Nevada

Re: Nuptial flights in northwestern Nevada?

Post: # 35757Post Comnav24
Tue May 08, 2018 12:30 pm

Just found a big black queen (roughly a 1/2") with an orange splash on the top of her gaster, crawling across the flightline. Super sweet, I was able to coax her on to my hand, and now she is relaxing in a little plastic condiment cup in the cabinet of my desk. I'll post a photo later. ^_^

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