Tetramorium Nupital Flight

[BleedingRaindrops]

I was out for a walk the other day and saw a yellow painted concrete block with a lot of queen ants and what looked like male alaides on it. I am familiar with a tetramorium colony (I'm pretty sure. They live inside cracks in the concrete) that lives right next to this concrete block, and I saw several of the alaides still crawling out so I know it was the same species. I took some videos but this one queen was posing so nicely I just had to capture a shot.

Isn't she beautiful? She is about 4mm long. She flew away shortly after this, and I am disappointed I did not have any containers with me to capture some of the queens that were crawling around. I did not realize nupital flights could happen this late in the year, but I guess since I'm in a warm area it's possible. I will need to stay updated on the local colonies' nupital flights and bring collection containers with me next time. Does anyone know of any other species with flights this late in the year. I would love to see more of what I saw the other day.

[Batspiderfish]

Not Tetramorium. I'll have to look at it later.

[idahoantgirl]

definitely not tetramorium.

[Batspiderfish]

Looks like Nylanderia sp.

[BleedingRaindrops]

Oh? I was wrong. Yay, I can learn about a new species now. This is exciting. I assumed because they loved the concrete so much and since they were so small that they would be tetramorium. My favorite thing about the colony I watch is that they have their nest halfway up a concrete wall, and regularly drag their prey up there. They are also able to control the entire grassy area around their colony (about 200 sq ft) by using the surrounding curb as a sort of highway. I looked up Nylanderia and it certainly looks right. This is so cool. I definitely need to try to capture a queen if I see them again.

[SpeciesK]

Isn't she beautiful? She is about 4mm long.

[*wolf whistles*] Maybe she has some sisters!
I wonder how people could tell it was not what you thought it was but something unrelated? Yep, I am brand new and ignorant.

[Batspiderfish]

Isn't she beautiful? She is about 4mm long.

[*wolf whistles*] Maybe she has some sisters!
I wonder how people could tell it was not what you thought it was but something unrelated? Yep, I am brand new and ignorant.

After six years of looking at ants, one can partially tell them apart at a glance.

Tetramorium queens are almost twice as large, and have two petioles (waist segments).