Wild ant colony species ID

[BrunoB]

Hey everyone
And again not knowing where exactly I should be posting this I call upon you knowledge in this tab and since you have always helped me in the past I remain hopeful that you will pardon this possibly misplaced questions xD

I have been exploring the less urbanized places near my area here in Portugal to see what kind of species I could find, and I managed to find a wild colony that looked really interesting to me, and that I suspect are just now preparing for their nuptial flight. They are completly dark and really shiny, have from what I could tell at least 2 distinct workers size (maybe 3) and are heavly focusing on removing dirt ant plant matter from their nest.

Since I found them I have been going there daily to see if I see any alates so I can possibly catch one mated queen after their flight.

I would like to know what specie it is, so I can research about them and if this signs are really indicators of a future nuptial flight or just a normal behaviour.

Here I have some pictures, I tried my best to film them but they were adamant in trying to climb on to me everytime I got close and I didn't want to get bitten xD






I also put together the better clips I have on them, there is another neighbour colony from different specie that I found near the first one. It may help any that try to ID them.
The quality isn't great but I have been enjoying to put this litle videos together as a way to keep a record of my findings and experiences, if you want to take a look I'll leave a link bellow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br-L7RxSKn0

Thank you to everyone who tries to help!!

[Hawkeye]

Hey everyone
And again not knowing where exactly I should be posting this I call upon you knowledge in this tab and since you have always helped me in the past I remain hopeful that you will pardon this possibly misplaced questions xD

I have been exploring the less urbanized places near my area here in Portugal to see what kind of species I could find, and I managed to find a wild colony that looked really interesting to me, and that I suspect are just now preparing for their nuptial flight. They are completly dark and really shiny, have from what I could tell at least 2 distinct workers size (maybe 3) and are heavly focusing on removing dirt ant plant matter from their nest.

Since I found them I have been going there daily to see if I see any alates so I can possibly catch one mated queen after their flight.

I would like to know what specie it is, so I can research about them and if this signs are really indicators of a future nuptial flight or just a normal behaviour.

Here I have some pictures, I tried my best to film them but they were adamant in trying to climb on to me everytime I got close and I didn't want to get bitten xD


I also put together the better clips I have on them, there is another neighbour colony from different specie that I found near the first one. It may help any that try to ID them.
The quality isn't great but I have been enjoying to put this litle videos together as a way to keep a record of my findings and experiences, if you want to take a look I'll leave a link bellow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br-L7RxSKn0

Thank you to everyone who tries to help!!

Could you give us any more information on the ants? Like their size for instance? Judging by your pictures, I would hazard a guess that they are Aphaenogaster and most likely Aphaenogaster senilis but you will probably be the best judge of that yourself.
Look at http://antwiki.org/wiki/Portugal to see the species in your area!

[BrunoB]

I don't think you got it :/ they are a little bit different. Thank you for your guess anyway!
Unfortunately I didn't have time to go there the last few days, I'll see if I can go tomorrow and get some better quality pictures and info.
I hope they didn't have their nuptial flight yet

[LasiusSapien]

I don't think you got it :/ they are a little bit different. Thank you for your guess anyway!
Unfortunately I didn't have time to go there the last few days, I'll see if I can go tomorrow and get some better quality pictures and info.
I hope they didn't have their nuptial flight yet

not 100% but i think they might be a Messor bouvieri or at least one of the messor family