Hi, is anyone able to tell from these grainy photos if this is likely to be a queen ant?
https://imgur.com/a/USSnPAO
I'm completely new to ant collecting and I have a very old phone with poor quality camera and not a very good magnifying glass.
It is spring in Sydney and we had a rain storm last night. I found 2 of these ants, which looked bigger than the other black ants nearby. The other ants were scurrying around moving dirt and what looked like eggs. But these were just wandering off. I can't see if they have wing scars or not but after capture, I observed one tending to it's bottom a lot.
Sorry about the poor quality photos but any information would be helpful.
Thanks.
Sydney ant identification help?
Moderator: ooper01
-
- Posts: 274
- Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Bristol
Re: Sydney ant identification help?
ok that looks like green head ant so i'm thinking its a member of the Rhytidoponera sp. which makes id-ing queens quite hard as they look the same as the workers just with slightly bigger bum, there's some side by side pic's in this wiki page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green-head_ant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green-head_ant
1x Lasius Niger - early forging stage - 60-100 workers
1x Messor Barbarus - founding stage - <20 workers
1x Camponotus Turkestanus - claustral stage - 1 nanitic + brood
1x Odontoponera Transversa - semi-claustral stage - no eggs
1x Messor Barbarus - founding stage - <20 workers
1x Camponotus Turkestanus - claustral stage - 1 nanitic + brood
1x Odontoponera Transversa - semi-claustral stage - no eggs
Re: Sydney ant identification help?
Thanks! I'll look them up.
I'm not sure if it's that green but I'll try to get a better magnifying glass to check.
I'm not sure if it's that green but I'll try to get a better magnifying glass to check.
Re: Sydney ant identification help?
I just found another one today from the same area, which is bigger than the 2 yesterday, so now I'm not entirely sure the first 2 are queens. Will wait and see! The new one does have a slightly metallic sheen.
I also found one with wings in my backyard, but I let it fly off.
I also found one with wings in my backyard, but I let it fly off.
Re: Sydney ant identification help?
I found another 2 today of these ants. It was a bright sunny day so I saw they definitely have a green metallic sheen, especially the head.
Slightly better pics of one:
https://imgur.com/a/1Zti1UX
Can anyone tell me if this is likely to be a queen?
And if so, I read they are semi-claustral. Hints on what to feed them?
Slightly better pics of one:
https://imgur.com/a/1Zti1UX
Can anyone tell me if this is likely to be a queen?
And if so, I read they are semi-claustral. Hints on what to feed them?
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests