Camponotus? Caught in Wisconsin, May 26th

Help with identifying the species your ants

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Swirlby
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Joined: Sat May 21, 2022 11:24 pm

Camponotus? Caught in Wisconsin, May 26th

Post: # 92777Post Swirlby
Thu May 26, 2022 6:51 pm

I've caught my very first queen today (May 26th). I did a bit of research myself, and I think she's a Camponotus Herculeanus queen.

Last night, it rained until about 10:00 PM. I live in Wisconsin, in the US, and I found her on the side of a pine tree that had it's lower branches cut a long time ago for aesthetic purposes. The sides of the tree oozed sap. This queen was sitting on the bark, and once she knew she was being pursued, she would try and hide in between the cracks of the bark.

She fell off the side of the tree and I lost track of her in the loose grass on the ground. I gave up after a few minutes, and went looking around some other trees, but I decided to look at the tree I saw her at once more. I got very lucky, and I spotted her gaster sticking out of a small pile of loose grass and pine needles at the base of the tree. I prodded at the grass and she dug deeper, before I decided to scoop up the small pile of grass and put it in my bottle. I had her moved to a test tube setup afterwards.

She kept trying to hide in a crease on the inside of the bottle as I was moving her into a tube. Once in the tube, she calmed down quickly, and stopped trying to escape after only a minute or so. Now, she just sits still, and occasionally grooms her antennae or legs.

Pictures of my ant: https://imgur.com/a/q6qXBcc
Picture of Camponotus Herculeanus queen and worker: http://www.ants-kalytta.com/images/products/cahe0001-1.jpg

The pictures I have are a bit low quality, and don't show off her color very well. She's a dark brown in color, and definitely smaller than a common black carpenter ant. She measures around 9-10 millimeters long. Her legs are lighter too, being a lighter, slightly reddish brown.

I also took a look around the area, and another tree, about 100 feet away, I found two separate colonies of carpenter ants foraging on the bark. One was very clearly Camponotus Pennsylvanacus, and the other was a smaller species, with dark reddish-brown bodies and lighter legs.

SolenopsisKeeper
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
Location: United States, Florida

Re: Camponotus? Caught in Wisconsin, May 26th

Post: # 92791Post SolenopsisKeeper
Fri May 27, 2022 11:23 am

Swirlby wrote:
Thu May 26, 2022 6:51 pm
I've caught my very first queen today (May 26th). I did a bit of research myself, and I think she's a Camponotus Herculeanus queen.

Last night, it rained until about 10:00 PM. I live in Wisconsin, in the US, and I found her on the side of a pine tree that had it's lower branches cut a long time ago for aesthetic purposes. The sides of the tree oozed sap. This queen was sitting on the bark, and once she knew she was being pursued, she would try and hide in between the cracks of the bark.

She fell off the side of the tree and I lost track of her in the loose grass on the ground. I gave up after a few minutes, and went looking around some other trees, but I decided to look at the tree I saw her at once more. I got very lucky, and I spotted her gaster sticking out of a small pile of loose grass and pine needles at the base of the tree. I prodded at the grass and she dug deeper, before I decided to scoop up the small pile of grass and put it in my bottle. I had her moved to a test tube setup afterwards.

She kept trying to hide in a crease on the inside of the bottle as I was moving her into a tube. Once in the tube, she calmed down quickly, and stopped trying to escape after only a minute or so. Now, she just sits still, and occasionally grooms her antennae or legs.

Pictures of my ant: https://imgur.com/a/q6qXBcc
Picture of Camponotus Herculeanus queen and worker: http://www.ants-kalytta.com/images/products/cahe0001-1.jpg

The pictures I have are a bit low quality, and don't show off her color very well. She's a dark brown in color, and definitely smaller than a common black carpenter ant. She measures around 9-10 millimeters long. Her legs are lighter too, being a lighter, slightly reddish brown.

I also took a look around the area, and another tree, about 100 feet away, I found two separate colonies of carpenter ants foraging on the bark. One was very clearly Camponotus Pennsylvanacus, and the other was a smaller species, with dark reddish-brown bodies and lighter legs.
She doesn’t look very big.

Now looking at measurements, it looks like a species of Formica. Maybe Formica subsericea? This species is very tolerant of food, and makes fast, lightening-like movements.

I didn’t study the picture, but it also could be Camponotus nearcticus. They are very small Camponotus, and queens are 8-10mm. A more experienced ID’er would be required as I live south, and am only familiar with the Formica.
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

Swirlby
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat May 21, 2022 11:24 pm

Re: Camponotus? Caught in Wisconsin, May 26th

Post: # 92797Post Swirlby
Fri May 27, 2022 12:08 pm

Yeah, I'm starting to think she's not a Herculeanus too.. I do think she is some kind of Camponotus, seeing as how I found her on on a pine tree, and found similarly colored Camponotus ants on another tree nearby.

I'm not sure how long I can keep a queen in a test tube without letting her lay eggs, so I've stashed her away in a closet so she can get to it.

Swirlby
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat May 21, 2022 11:24 pm

Re: Camponotus? Caught in Wisconsin, May 26th

Post: # 92803Post Swirlby
Fri May 27, 2022 6:28 pm

SolenopsisKeeper wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 11:23 am
Now looking at measurements, it looks like a species of Formica. Maybe Formica subsericea? This species is very tolerant of food, and makes fast, lightening-like movements.
She wasn't particularly fast. Kind of slow, actually. She never tried to run when I was trying to catch her. She hid instead.

SolenopsisKeeper
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
Location: United States, Florida

Re: Camponotus? Caught in Wisconsin, May 26th

Post: # 92837Post SolenopsisKeeper
Sat May 28, 2022 10:09 am

Swirlby wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 6:28 pm
SolenopsisKeeper wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 11:23 am
Now looking at measurements, it looks like a species of Formica. Maybe Formica subsericea? This species is very tolerant of food, and makes fast, lightening-like movements.
She wasn't particularly fast. Kind of slow, actually. She never tried to run when I was trying to catch her. She hid instead.
Hmm… do you see Workers of either species close to where you caught her?
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

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