Possible ponera Sp. Southern Ontario size 10-11mm

[MorbidBugg]

So earlier today I took my beagle for a walk and stumbled upon what I first thought was an ant mimic but after closer inspection and abit of research Im pretty sure I have a ponera queen, later this evening going for a walk through a local park I looked down and saw an almost exact copy of the ant I found earlier so after much fighting with lighting and steady hands I got the best pics that I could the first 2 are the first queen the third picture is the second queen, Im aware for a accurate ID ill need better close ups of certain parts but as you can see I have to target specifically ith my lens to get it into focus so, whatcha need, and do you agree it is Ponera sp?





Finally if these are what I believe they are is there a known care sheet or someone currently caring them that could assist as the information seems very dated and incomplete.

[MorbidBugg]

Not sure why it put potent and not ponera... odd

[AntsOfOntario]

So earlier today I took my beagle for a walk and stumbled upon what I first thought was an ant mimic but after closer inspection and abit of research Im pretty sure I have a ponera queen, later this evening going for a walk through a local park I looked down and saw an almost exact copy of the ant I found earlier so after much fighting with lighting and steady hands I got the best pics that I could the first 2 are the first queen the third picture is the second queen, Im aware for a accurate ID ill need better close ups of certain parts but as you can see I have to target specifically ith my lens to get it into focus so, whatcha need, and do you agree it is Ponera sp?





Finally if these are what I believe they are is there a known care sheet or someone currently caring them that could assist as the information seems very dated and incomplete.

Agh, sorry to be a bearer of bad news but this looks like a Lasius sp social parasite. Unfortunately, Ponera queens are far smaller than that.
These queens will require a host colony via brood boosting as the safest route. After that she should lay her own eggs and you'll be all good.

[AntsOfOntario]

Also, don't be discouraged by this. Ponera flights are suppose to fully initiate in September.

[MorbidBugg]

Also, don't be discouraged by this. Ponera flights are suppose to fully initiate in September.

Haha I'm not discouraged a little annoyed with my self and my identifying. I was quite suprised when I did a search for ponera after I got home with my queen and to me alot of things matched up but I have a problem with fouling on minor unimportant details such as head shape (both this queen and ponera have very rectangular shaped heads.) And because of the smaller mandibles I just passed over the parasitic queen ( though her gaster did make me question)

[Batspiderfish]

Lasius murphyi

http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/

[MorbidBugg]

Well that's gonna be an interesting conversation with the wife... so... I gotta cool my ants to make sure they don't kill each other ... love you...

[Batspiderfish]

I just try to use the youngest workers I can get my hands on. Some say refrigeration has worked with their queens, but the three parasitic Lasius spp. colonies I am keeping now were all introduced at room temperature. I find that success depends on the affinity between the host workers and queen, which refrigeration doesn't seem to do a lot to change (except maybe in a long-term introduction). It seems quite varied in what is required for an adoption to take place, so it's important to give the queen a safe space. If one or two workers attach to her aggressively (or if the queen grabs a worker), try to isolate them from the rest of the host sample and let the queen take care of the situation. Then just keep exposing the two species until there is no aggression or until it's clear that this batch of host workers won't work.

If you happen to be able to find host workers of the same species, that often makes things much easier. Also, Acanthomyops queens survive much better with periodic feeding of sugary liquid -- sometimes it is a good idea to offer this on a tray even after host workers have accepted the social parasite.

[MorbidBugg]

Interesting. I'm going to check the park where I found the second one. It looked to be several Lasius nests along a particular garden that has been well established. This would be an easier task but as I have yet to see or hear of any ant keepers in my town, I'll have to do it the old fashioned way. Or figure out another less invasive way of collecting young enough workers.