The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

1. Location of collection: Near Sydney Australia
2. Date of collection: 9 October 2017. 30 degrees c. light rain the day before
3. Habitat of collection: Rock wall next to grass lawn. Close proximity to a Rhytidoponera sp. nest.
4. Length (from head to gaster): 8mm
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture: Black with green metallic
6. Distinguishing characteristics: Green metallic sheen
7. Distinguishing behavior: Has trouble walking on plastic test tube
8. Nest description: Small (4-5cm diameter) mounds of grey coloured dirt/rocks
9. Nuptial flight time and date: Did not witness a flight, so not sure if there was one.

Hello! I'm looking for help in determining if this is a Rhytidoponera sp. queen or drone? It has shed its wings from one side, leaving the other side still on. Only saw this one running along a rock wall next to the lawn.
Thanks for looking!

Rhytidoponera queen.

Thanks for the reply!
She has dropped all her wings now that she is in a new setup. This will allow me to feed her easily, plus the sand will be easy to walk on. This is my first semi-claustral queen. She can only access the middle 4 cells for now, I can flip the little plastic walls to put the hole on the floor and allow access to the other cells.
One of the tubes is blocked, the other has a water test tube.
The container is kept dark inside a cardboard box.
Does this look like a suitable setup for her?

anterino wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:32 pm

Thanks for the reply!
She has dropped all her wings now that she is in a new setup. This will allow me to feed her easily, plus the sand will be easy to walk on. This is my first semi-claustral queen. She can only access the middle 4 cells for now, I can flip the little plastic walls to put the hole on the floor and allow access to the other cells.
One of the tubes is blocked, the other has a water test tube.
The container is kept dark inside a cardboard box.
Does this look like a suitable setup for her?

She only needs and probably should only have access to one cell. If it's too big she wont feel settled enough to lay eggs.