another new york id

Help with identifying the species your ants

Moderator: ooper01

nightxwolf88

another new york id

Post: # 8819Post nightxwolf88
Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:31 pm

Went for an amazing hike in the finger lakes national forest and after the trail left the woods an entered a large pasture my girlfriend spotted this ant crossing the trail. 5mm ImageImageImageImage

AntsRule
Posts: 813
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2016 2:02 pm
Location: Chester County Pennslyvania

Re: another new york id

Post: # 8820Post AntsRule
Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:52 pm

Parasitic lasius maybe? :D
With all the things ants can do, you wonder, who rules the planet :?

Keeper of:
Camponotus Pennsylvanicus
Pheidole sp.

nightxwolf88

Re: another new york id

Post: # 8824Post nightxwolf88
Tue Jul 19, 2016 10:09 pm

AntsRule wrote:Parasitic lasius maybe? :D
I was thinking that with the big mandibles

User avatar
Batspiderfish
Posts: 3315
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Maine

Re: another new york id

Post: # 8826Post Batspiderfish
Tue Jul 19, 2016 10:39 pm

Lasius umbratus. :D

Try offering her a sugary meal. If you want to keep her, you'll need at least 20 Lasius workers from inside a colony (preferably near the brood, some of which you might collect as well). Younger workers tend to brood, are less aggressive in general, and may not have fully imprinted on their own colony. The safest way is to collect a sample of Lasius workers and pupae, let them eclose a callow worker, and then add the worker to your social parasite's tube. That worker will feed and care for the queen, while also being capable of opening more pupae (it will be best to do this four or five times). You could also try introducing the queens to whatever workers you find in the colony, but either give them a little space in a foraging arena, or chill the workers and attach the test tubes in the fridge.

My most recent L. umbratus queen was placed adjacent to a tube of Lasius nearcticus. A couple of the workers attacked her and hung onto her leg and antenna, which the queen patiently killed and pulled off. She licked the corpse of the worker for a while and then spent a whole day alone in her tube. When I next saw her, she was amongst her host workers.
If you enjoy my expertise and identifications, please do not put wild populations at risk of disease by releasing pet colonies. We are responsible to give our pets the best care we can manage for the rest of their lives.

nightxwolf88

Re: another new york id

Post: # 8831Post nightxwolf88
Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:46 am

Any tips for finding and telling a lasius colony apart? I seem to have trouble telling apart the black ants in my area. The first time a thought I found lasius it happened to be tapinoma, the second time a Formica colony lol.

nightxwolf88

Re: another new york id

Post: # 8832Post nightxwolf88
Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:48 am

There is obviously lasius colonies in my area because my yard seems to have an abundance of lasius interjectus colonies under stones.

User avatar
Batspiderfish
Posts: 3315
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Maine

Re: another new york id

Post: # 8835Post Batspiderfish
Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:38 am

Yeah, the yellow formicines are most likely Lasius. They should work for the adoption, but you'll want to include brood with them because wild workers are shy foragers and you may depend on the protein from their brood to feed the first L. umbratus workers.

Feel free to post an ID request if you are unsure. :)
If you enjoy my expertise and identifications, please do not put wild populations at risk of disease by releasing pet colonies. We are responsible to give our pets the best care we can manage for the rest of their lives.

nightxwolf88

Re: another new york id

Post: # 8840Post nightxwolf88
Wed Jul 20, 2016 10:11 am

Now lasius interjectus are a social parasite as well right? Will this still work with another parasite species or will that not mater? And all these interjectus colonies colonies I can find so easy must have come from a young lasius colony to begin with so they must be around. It would be super easy to find interjectus workers with brood I find them all the time around my house when I flip large stones, making that citronella smell.

nightxwolf88

Re: another new york id

Post: # 8841Post nightxwolf88
Wed Jul 20, 2016 10:14 am

Btw these yellow ants I find always have pupa with cocoons

User avatar
Batspiderfish
Posts: 3315
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Maine

Re: another new york id

Post: # 8849Post Batspiderfish
Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:04 pm

It used to be assumed that social parasites had specific host species which they absolutely needed, but in captivity queens can adopt themselves to just about any species within the genus. I think the real consequences regarding host species come while the queen tries to rear her first brood. The host workers often want to eat the queen's brood rather than care for them. In most cases, a parasitic worker will eventually be born, but I'd bet that this process could be expedited the closer we happen across the appropriate host species. Once the parasitic workers arrive, the behavior of the colony adjusts somewhat, and they stop eating the brood.
If you enjoy my expertise and identifications, please do not put wild populations at risk of disease by releasing pet colonies. We are responsible to give our pets the best care we can manage for the rest of their lives.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests