Help with ID?

[Saeyoung]

Alright I think I've finally sort of figured out how to set the exposure to reverse my lense for macro shots, but it's still pretty shake-y as I don't yet own a tripod. Now with any luck will somebody be able to ID these workers for me, please and thanks? I know they're a bit fuzzy. :/



Found'em nesting at the base of a dead tree on a hillside, their nest seemed to entangle with the tree roots. Hoping these are Lasius Neoniger. They are 2-3 mm or less depending on the worker.

[Batspiderfish]

These are Lasius, although we can't tell which species without a clear view of the antennae. This species will work, regardless -- just try to gently extract specimens from inside a nest, not foragers.

Just as a little macro tip, to start out: I usually shoot at high apertures (f16-22) at 1/200s, with an external flash (two or more is ideal, but I haven't brought this together yet). Diffraction will take a tiny bit out of the sharpness, and this can be fixed a bit in post-production (which isn't super noticeable, regardless). The exposure times are determined more by the duration of the flash than by the shutter speed. Having the shutter go as fast as possible mitigates the ambient light that would contribute to motion blur/camera shake. Shooting this way, I don't even need a tripod, but that extra stability probably doesn't hurt.

I still have a ways to go in improving my camerawork, but you can achieve very pleasing results with this general formula.

[Martialis]

These resemble Tapinoma sessile, or at least they look like that to me.

[Saeyoung]

Batspiderfish: Oh wow, that's quite a nice shot! I'm fairly new to cameras and macro but my fiance is a hobbyist photographer so I'll have her read over what you said so she can show me how to make the changes you've mentioned. I'm learning through what she knows and Googles so far. She's far more mechanically minded than I am. Thanks a ton for all the tips Bat!

EDIT: As a quick note, the workers I got were tending brood under a rock when I picked them up. I've been told this is an easier way to avoid the more aggressive older ants and so should be less chance of them picking a fight with my umbartus Queen. I also scooped a little bit of their larva/eggs which they are still tending.

Martialis: I've actually never come across that species name, there are Tapinoma in Ontario? So far what I've heard is in my area are Camponotus, Lasius, Prenolepis, Formica, and the invasive Solonopsis. Google isn't much help there either I'm afraid, they tell me 'there are only six types of ants in Ontario' and then list only their common names.

I'm hoping once I get some better pics it will put the questions to rest.

[Martialis]

Batspiderfish: Oh wow, that's quite a nice shot! I'm fairly new to cameras and macro but my fiance is a hobbyist photographer so I'll have her read over what you said so she can show me how to make the changes you've mentioned. I'm learning through what she knows and Googles so far. She's far more mechanically minded than I am. Thanks a ton for all the tips Bat!

EDIT: As a quick note, the workers I got were tending brood under a rock when I picked them up. I've been told this is an easier way to avoid the more aggressive older ants and so should be less chance of them picking a fight with my umbartus Queen. I also scooped a little bit of their larva/eggs which they are still tending.

Martialis: I've actually never come across that species name, there are Tapinoma in Ontario? So far what I've heard is in my area are Camponotus, Lasius, Prenolepis, Formica, and the invasive Solonopsis. Google isn't much help there either I'm afraid, they tell me 'there are only six types of ants in Ontario' and then list only their common names.

I'm hoping once I get some better pics it will put the questions to rest.

No Solenopsis invicta in Ontario. There are, however, 101 different species in over ten different genera. Tapinoma sessile is the odorous house ant and is common throughout north america.

[Saeyoung]

No Solenopsis invicta in Ontario. There are, however, 101 different species in over ten different genera. Tapinoma sessile is the odorous house ant and is common throughout north america.

Ah, see there's where my information was wrong then I guess, I was told that odorous ants were usually a lasius species. Goes to show how correct Google can be. Thanks for the correction!

[Batspiderfish]

This is definitely Lasius. L. alienus, by the looks of the propodeum, but the absence of erect hairs on the antennal scapes is the surer signifier between that and Lasius neoniger.

[Saeyoung]

Oh sweet, that was lucky then, I was looking for one of those two! My parasite Queen may have workers yet! 8D

[Saeyoung]

I took a look at the workers with my magnifying glass and I believe I did see some straight hairs on the antenna scape so I decided to give them a try with my Queen.

I gently reduced their temperatures to hibernation (-9 Celcius) and left them in my fridge for 2 hours to chill out. Once they were dormant I placed 6 workers in the testube with my umbartus Queen and put them back in the fridge (because they were starting to wake up and attack her). I left them to hibernate and chill over night and this morning when I went to check on them and added the rest of the sleeping workers to the Queens testube. They've been thawing all day since with out interference.

I gave them a few hours to wake up and sort out their selves. I put them in a bigger outworld container and placed the open un-cottoned testube on the ground in the new outworld and decided to see if they would work things out themselves, and so far they have! I've observed the workers feeding my queen through trophallaxis and they're cleaning and guarding her. I left a little corner of dirt for them to dig in and when I checked in 10 minutes ago they had successfully dug some very shallow tunnels and the umbartus Queen was inside surrounded by workers.

So I think it's working!

[Saeyoung]

Well, I have some sad news.
They were all doing fine until this morning. I woke up and found that overnight something killed all the ants, queen included. They were in a covered outworld with water and food and I did by best to keep temperatures around where umbartus enjoy, they had pantyhose stretched across the top as a 'lid' because they could slip out of everything else but they still had ampule aeration, but evidently I did something wrong. I've heard somewhere before that the lasius species has a habit of suddenly dying on keepers for some unknown reason, so maybe that's what did it. I'm kinda sad now.