Irish ants.

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Hunter36o
Posts: 376
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:57 am
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Irish ants.

Post: # 54746Post Hunter36o
Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:04 am

Hey guys, since I became involved in keeping ants since June, I've been finding if difficult to find an accurate site with a wide range of confirmed ant species.
Any time I try hunt these down, I only find pest control site with the most common pest ants.
I am trying to locate a site that will help me confirm what ants could be local to me out side of the common one.
The common list for my area is as follows.
Lasius Niger, which I have. The alpha species of my area (most common ant in Ireland my far)
Myrmica which I also have.
Tetramorium Caespitum which I have had great difficulty locating.
We also have some invasive species I also have difficulty finding. These are as follows.
Pharaoh ants.
Roger ants.
Ghost ants.
Out side of these I cannot find any accurate site to show me other confirmed ants.
The yellow meadow ants are supposed to be local and I know I have to go to my local fields for a chance to catch them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as ant knowledge is quite low in my area.
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

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antnest8
Posts: 1438
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:11 pm
Location: Detroit, MI

Re: Irish ants.

Post: # 54860Post antnest8
Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:30 am

Antmaps seems to be like a good site but it does make some mistakes from time to time but other than that it is probably the easiest to use and quickly see what ants are in your area.
some other sites that you can find actual info about ants are antwiki, antweband some others (links are below)

http://mississippientomologicalmuseum.org.msstate.edu/Researchtaxapages/Formicidaepages/Identification.Keys.htm#.WxW3LYoh2AY
http://www.navajonature.org/ants/navajo-ants.html
https://hol.osu.edu/
Some of My Informative Sheets
https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19099
Includes :
  • Ant Care Sheets
    Queen Hunting
    How To Identify Ants
Goal is to become #2 poster on the forum

Hunter36o
Posts: 376
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:57 am
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Irish ants.

Post: # 54863Post Hunter36o
Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:31 am

I did use antmaps and it does suggest some ants I am not aware of however I am not sure how accurate it is because it was missing a few confirmed Myrmica species, it also does not show any invasive species. Maybe that is a good sign tho haha.

Also quick question. I'll be doing ant scouting in my local forest after hibernation, to increase my chances of finding different species. However 2 things I'm not sure off. In small woodlands and forest is there there distinct signs of activity I can keep an eye out for?
Sadly the most of the forest has been ripped down over the last few years. ALL IN TUE NAME OF PAPER! People need to understand we not have Apple and Android products now..... Would this drastically decease activity or would fresh cuts and newly disturbed soil attract ants like it would other insects? For some insects this can mean better and softer soils to nest in but I am unsure how ants would feel.

Now the areas I plan to check have some foresting like areas left right beside a cleared out section but it was cleared out a few years back so I expect the area to have calmed down in human activity. Would I be wasting my time checking these areas?
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

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antnest8
Posts: 1438
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:11 pm
Location: Detroit, MI

Re: Irish ants.

Post: # 55325Post antnest8
Thu Jan 17, 2019 10:49 am

I think that the newly cut forest would attract ants like lasius and tetremoruim but get rid of camponotus and other forest dwelling species.
Some of My Informative Sheets
https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19099
Includes :
  • Ant Care Sheets
    Queen Hunting
    How To Identify Ants
Goal is to become #2 poster on the forum

Hunter36o
Posts: 376
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:57 am
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Irish ants.

Post: # 56031Post Hunter36o
Thu Feb 21, 2019 8:22 am

Apologies for the late reply.
I will check it out soon as I noticed Lasius Niger have come out of hibernation (including my own) I would be very happy to find a tetramorium species as apparently they are very common in Ireland but I had zero luck scouting a single colony in my area last year.

The forest or well what is left of it is not too far off from me, roughly 40 minutes walk up hill from my place. I hope I have time as this year as I will be going to some national parks to observe our sadly critically endangered hairy wood ants. We only have like 5 confirmed strong colonies in the country :(
I want to see if there is anyway to help them repopulate so most of my efforts will be spent there this year. But I'm sure I can spare a day or two to attend my own areas forest.
Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

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