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Irish ants.

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:04 am
by Hunter36o
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.

Re: Irish ants.

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 4:30 am
by antnest8
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/

Re: Irish ants.

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:31 am
by Hunter36o
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?

Re: Irish ants.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 10:49 am
by antnest8
I think that the newly cut forest would attract ants like lasius and tetremoruim but get rid of camponotus and other forest dwelling species.

Re: Irish ants.

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 8:22 am
by Hunter36o
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.