The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Hey guys! So I live in Arizona and I found this little ant here. No, it isn’t mating season for any ants currently, but I’m wondering what species it is so I can prepare for their nuptial flight. She was about 5mm long. I’ve attached the best quality pictures I could take of her. She was very active and fun to watch. Sorry if it’s still a little blurry. (I also had to crop them quite a bit to be able to attach them, so that adds to the fuzziness)
I’ve since released her back where I found her. Your input would be very valuable to me. I would really like to start a colony with this type of ant if I can. Thanks!
(I actually don’t know if the pictures attached or not, but I’ll try and figure it out if not.)

Here are the pictures I tried to attach
(You'll have to copy and paste it into your search bar because it wouldn't post as a link)

Images: https://imgur.com/a/6QyGLeo

she almost looks like a social parasite queen. i'm not an expert but just my opinion

Thanks for your opinion, but she actually wasn’t a queen (at least from what I observed). She had no wings and no scars where wings would have been. Just not the look of a queen ant. I realize that you can’t see these details in my pictures, so I don’t blame you for anything Good thought though antnest8! Perhaps I’ll do some more research and see if you were right or not.

You did get to see her in real life. she just looked so skinny...

maybe she could be temnothorax

Yes. I caught her by my house. Hmmm...I’m trying to remember if she actually looked that skinny in real life. When I had her, she didn’t look particularly skinny to me, but maybe she actually was. Idk. I’m pretty new to the hobby.

Also, I think you could be right about her being a temnothorax. It seems to match the description pretty well. If I find another one, I’ll look for the telltale signs of a Temnothorax curvispinosus (as they are the only type of temnothorax in my area) I’m still open to suggestions if any other ideas come to anybody’s mind. Thanks so much for your input!

I don't know if you still have it, but this does look like a queen to me. Sorry if I'm resurrecting this post.

Jackalope wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 30, 2018 3:58 pm

Yes. I caught her by my house. Hmmm...I’m trying to remember if she actually looked that skinny in real life. When I had her, she didn’t look particularly skinny to me, but maybe she actually was. Idk. I’m pretty new to the hobby.

Also, I think you could be right about her being a temnothorax. It seems to match the description pretty well. If I find another one, I’ll look for the telltale signs of a Temnothorax curvispinosus (as they are the only type of temnothorax in my area) I’m still open to suggestions if any other ideas come to anybody’s mind. Thanks so much for your input!

This is super tough to ID. The pics are pretty crappy so no way of telling if it's truly a queen. But it's probably just a Pogonomyrmex major or super major.

Yah. Thank's anyways guys!