Oklahoma City, OK - September 22nd, 2018

[CyberSushi]

Hi guys I'm pretty new to actually keeping an ant colony and I've only ever had that kid's ant farm toy way back when. I found this one in my backyard at around 4pm after a few rainy days and at first, I wasn't even sure if she was a queen (I'm still not sure). I would definitely appreciate it if you guys could identify it and give me tips as to how to raise a colony! I've been thinking it's a Crematogaster sp. Oh and if you need another picture, I'll be glad to oblige.

[CyberSushi]

I forgot to mention that the length is approximately 8mm.

[TheRealAntMan]

Crematogaster is easily/accurately IDed with the workers of the genus.

[CyberSushi]

Crematogaster is easily/accurately IDed with the workers of the genus.

Thanks but that doesn't help me at all because there aren't any workers, or eggs even.

[AntsDakota]

Crematogaster is easily/accurately IDed with the workers of the genus.

Thanks but that doesn't help me at all because there aren't any workers, or eggs even.

So you'll just have to wait a while, 3 months to be exact.

[TheRealAntMan]

She probably won't be laying any eggs until next spring.

[CyberSushi]

Crematogaster is easily/accurately IDed with the workers of the genus.

Thanks but that doesn't help me at all because there aren't any workers, or eggs even.

So you'll just have to wait a while, 3 months to be exact.

She probably won't be laying any eggs until next spring.

Thanks for that piece of information guys. Is there anything I should do for her in the meantime? I've read that they're fully claustral and will hibernate before laying eggs. I already have her the test tube setup with water on one end. She'll just sit in a shoe-box in my closet.

Also, I just wanted to make sure that we're all in agreement that this is definitely a queen since this is my first time. Much appreciated!

[AntsDakota]

It's probably either lineolata or cerasi.

[CyberSushi]

It's probably either lineolata or cerasi.

Alright so I looked into both species on various websites. Among them, www.antwiki.org helped the most because of the pictures, which actually leads me to believe that this species is neither C lineolata or C cerasi. Now let me explain why....


This picture here is the head of a C cerasi.


This next one is the head of a C lineolata.



At first glance, they're exactly alike and you wouldn't be able to discern the two but, I noticed something. If you've a sharp eye you might have a noticed a difference, beside the color of the two.


Now look at this side by side comparison where I've circled the difference I noticed. The lineolata does not have the segmented/sectioned frontal lobe that the cerasi does.



Now take a look at my queen again. Compare the frontal lobes and see that my ant has a segmented frontal lobe. I received an order for diopter lenses so I have some better photos now, although it's rather difficult to focus.



These results lead me to believe that this queen could, in fact, be a cerasi queen. Until something caught my attention while I was taking pictures of my ant queen. On both sides of her gaster there are brown markings near the bottom, where the tergites meet the sternites.




I took a look at the picture that www.antwiki.org has for their C cerasi and it doesn't look like it has that same pattern but it's difficult to tell since it's not a live sample and has been embalmed.



So instead, I googled "Crematogaster cerasi queen" and found a video, of which I'll link, that shows the cerasi without the same pattern. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ6nsjq1Us8

I cannot see the same tan/brown pattern that my any queen has so I did a little research and found an article talking about North American Crematogasters and the most common ones and their common locations. https://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/urban-pests/ants/acrobat/


After sifting through these species. I found one that looks to have the same gaster pattern from a short youtube video. Hopefully, the owner ID'd the queen correctly, or else I'm wrong. Here is the link and a frame from which I derived my analysis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlNUVZbwsqg



This pattern looks exactly the same! I'm pretty confident these two are the same species. I can likely conclude my expedition to identification on this ant queen I have now.


Also, if you're wondering about whether the lineolata has the same gaster or not, here is a picture of a frame I took from a video, which I will link. The red circle is the gaster and the blue circle is the alate queen to which it belongs to. The queen is on a piece of bark with her left side facing upward. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrb7ztdfpXU



If you read all of this, then you truly are an ant aficionado!


TLDR: I've think I've identified my ant queen as Crematogaster ashmeadi. What are your thoughts, ant family?


Here are a few more pictures I took of my ant queen with the diopter lenses for viewing pleasures.

[AntsDakota]

Also note the difference in the antennae.