Early October southern Germany catches

Help with identifying the species your ants

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idahoantgirl
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Re: Early October southern Germany catches

Post: # 13723Post idahoantgirl
Thu Oct 13, 2016 5:10 pm

Serafine wrote:Actually there's seven species of Tetramorium in Europe (generally called the Tetramorium caespitum-impurum complex) but most of them can only be distinguished via male genital extensions or DNA analysis, so nothing a normal antkeeper can do...

But I also have the feeling that they look a lot more like Solenopsis fugax than like Tetramorium sp.
Something I'm a bit concerned now is whether the bottom mesh of the Tetramorium hybrid nest is actually small enough to keep the S. fugax nanatics contained, cause I've recently seen them outside and they are ULTRA tiny (less than a millimeter).
I keep tetramorium ants in a hybrid nest. I was finding a few escapes here and there, and i realized that they were actually able to wriggle in between the grooves in the 3d printed hybrid and the glass and get out. So i glued (elmers glue) the glass down to the plastic and I also made sure that I glued all the tubing to the nest as well. I've had no more escapes since. But don't worry. there is absolutely no way that ANY ant or even ant egg could slip through that mesh. It's so incredibly small that nothing except humidity can get through. :D assuming it's solenopsis, then I would just glue the glass down, glue all the tubing, and you'll be just fine :)
Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile

MCWren

Re: Early October southern Germany catches

Post: # 13728Post MCWren
Thu Oct 13, 2016 6:13 pm

well, because of their EXTREME similarities scientists have not been able to tell if they are the same species or different. that's how close they are. When you look up pictures they look exactly the same as tetramorium species e.
There are several different species of the genus Tetramorium in Germany. There are over 520 Tetramorium spp. in the world, not just the two you've heard of, which are clearly Tetramorium sp. Eand Tetramorium caespitum.

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