ID Help

Help with identifying the species your ants

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Abyss013
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:24 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

ID Help

Post: # 51804Post Abyss013
Tue Oct 02, 2018 8:52 pm

Caught these queens (I sure hope they're ants this time!) Southern Ontario October 2nd in the backyard in the lawn beside deck. Help and tips please :) ...

Image

Image

Image

TheRealAntMan
Posts: 620
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:59 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: ID Help

Post: # 51818Post TheRealAntMan
Wed Oct 03, 2018 6:58 am

Looks like parasitic Lasius.
An ants' strength can be rivaled by few animals compared to relative body size.

Abyss013
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:24 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: ID Help

Post: # 51821Post Abyss013
Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:44 am

TheRealAntMan wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 6:58 am
Looks like parasitic Lasius.
Yes, thanks. After going and handling a few more of them from the same spot my fingers had a strong smell of citronella. Being parasitic, they probably won't do anything in the test tube will they? I took a few others I found (from the same spot) and put them in my vivarium with lasius workers that I found from completely different nest area from a couple of weeks ago. They immediately dragged the queens into their nests. Again, I'm not sure what if anything can happen? Will they produce eggs?

As for the test tube, if I place a few workers of another species in with those queens, will they help tend the eggs if they lay any?

Hellllllllp lol :ugeek:

AntsDakota
Posts: 1283
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:22 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: ID Help

Post: # 51841Post AntsDakota
Wed Oct 03, 2018 4:02 pm

If the queens resisted, the workers were probably dragging them back to eat them.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

TheRealAntMan
Posts: 620
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 5:59 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Re: ID Help

Post: # 51851Post TheRealAntMan
Wed Oct 03, 2018 5:31 pm

AntsDakota wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 4:02 pm
If the queens resisted, the workers were probably dragging them back to eat them.
That's not always true, some queens are pretty stubborn too.
An ants' strength can be rivaled by few animals compared to relative body size.

JoeHostile1
Posts: 409
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 6:51 am
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: ID Help

Post: # 51915Post JoeHostile1
Fri Oct 05, 2018 8:45 am

Abyss013 wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:44 am
TheRealAntMan wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 6:58 am
Looks like parasitic Lasius.
Yes, thanks. After going and handling a few more of them from the same spot my fingers had a strong smell of citronella. Being parasitic, they probably won't do anything in the test tube will they? I took a few others I found (from the same spot) and put them in my vivarium with lasius workers that I found from completely different nest area from a couple of weeks ago. They immediately dragged the queens into their nests. Again, I'm not sure what if anything can happen? Will they produce eggs?

As for the test tube, if I place a few workers of another species in with those queens, will they help tend the eggs if they lay any?

Hellllllllp lol :ugeek:
Unfortunately I can’t see your images. They are just coming up as the word “image” inside a box for me.

That would have been a very impressive video. Since no one knows the exact strategy used by these parasitic queens to enter and gain acceptance to the nest. If the Lasius workers were dragging the parasitic queens into the nest than this is exactly what the queen wanted. Whether the workers thought they were bringing in food, their own queen, one of their workers, or what they thought was a larvae/brood is another question up for debate. But it is thought the parasitic queen uses Pheromones to trick host workers into accepting the parasitic queen.

Anyway everything you need to know about founding parasitic queens can be found here.

http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/
Keeping:
Tetramorium immigrans * Lasius Neoniger * Lasius Claviger * Messor Aciculatus * Myrmica Rubra * Camponotus Novaeboracensis * Camponotus Turkastanus * Pheidole Pallidula

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSfFtn6RegZ3F1NdS1g08NA

Abyss013
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2018 9:24 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: ID Help

Post: # 51949Post Abyss013
Fri Oct 05, 2018 6:19 pm

JoeHostile1 wrote:
Fri Oct 05, 2018 8:45 am
If the Lasius workers were dragging the parasitic queens into the nest than this is exactly what the queen wanted. Whether the workers thought they were bringing in food, their own queen, one of their workers, or what they thought was a larvae/brood is another question up for debate. But it is thought the parasitic queen uses Pheromones to trick host workers into accepting the parasitic queen.

Anyway everything you need to know about founding parasitic queens can be found here.

http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/
Thanks Joe. Yes they took all 3, kicking and very much alive. They haven't done this with any other food I've offered so not sure what their plan was, but it sure was interesting lol. Hey you never know, we'll see what happens. The workers sure are interesting to watch throughout their setup. Thanks again.

AntsDakota
Posts: 1283
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:22 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: ID Help

Post: # 52003Post AntsDakota
Sat Oct 06, 2018 2:10 pm

JoeHostile1 wrote:
Fri Oct 05, 2018 8:45 am
Abyss013 wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:44 am
TheRealAntMan wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 6:58 am
Looks like parasitic Lasius.
Yes, thanks. After going and handling a few more of them from the same spot my fingers had a strong smell of citronella. Being parasitic, they probably won't do anything in the test tube will they? I took a few others I found (from the same spot) and put them in my vivarium with lasius workers that I found from completely different nest area from a couple of weeks ago. They immediately dragged the queens into their nests. Again, I'm not sure what if anything can happen? Will they produce eggs?

As for the test tube, if I place a few workers of another species in with those queens, will they help tend the eggs if they lay any?

Hellllllllp lol :ugeek:
Unfortunately I can’t see your images. They are just coming up as the word “image” inside a box for me.

That would have been a very impressive video. Since no one knows the exact strategy used by these parasitic queens to enter and gain acceptance to the nest. If the Lasius workers were dragging the parasitic queens into the nest than this is exactly what the queen wanted. Whether the workers thought they were bringing in food, their own queen, one of their workers, or what they thought was a larvae/brood is another question up for debate. But it is thought the parasitic queen uses Pheromones to trick host workers into accepting the parasitic queen.

Anyway everything you need to know about founding parasitic queens can be found here.

http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/
All my parasitic Lasius queens were killed by host workers.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

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