Page 1 of 1
New queen, first of the season for me :D
Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 11:19 pm
by Theantguy13
So some of you may remember me from last year, as that is when I joined. Well A quick update, none of my colonies made it into my omni-nest, all dieing or refusing to move in *cough* solenopsis queen *cough*. Anyway I just caught my first queen of the season and in excited as ever because I've never seen this kind of queen before! Anyway here is a link to an imgur album, because my phone is being weird and won't let me embed it into the post for some reason.
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/aAZxM
Re: New queen, first of the season for me :D
Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 11:37 pm
by Theantguy13
Crap I got so excited I forgot the details XD
Length: about 5-6 mm maybe longer
Location: California riverside area
Behavior: I've noticed she isn't bothered by light as much as other ants I've had. She also has been chewing on the cotton a bit but not enough to break out like other species, I know pogonomyrmex can... Learned that the hard way, luckily I caught her and managed to contain her.
Re: ID Request
Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 2:31 am
by Phoenix
Don't Know What Species She Is, But My Guess Is That She's Semi-Claustral.
Re: New queen, first of the season for me :D
Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 7:11 am
by Martialis
This seems like Veromessor sp., another harvester ant. I think she's fully claustral, though it wouldn't hurt to feed her and observe if she gives it to her larvae. Only feed protein.
Re: New queen, first of the season for me :D
Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 7:47 am
by Batspiderfish
Looks like a Pogonomyrmex male to me. Any images of the side? Better lighting would also be helpful.
Re: New queen, first of the season for me :D
Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 12:53 pm
by Theantguy13
Ok so I'm at school right now but I can get more pics at home in about 4.5 hours or so.
I can tell that it is definitely not a male, as its head is not very tiny at all.
I don't know a lot on species ID but this one could probably be a harvester ant, as some people said.
also those measurements may not be very accurate as she was moving a lot when I tried to check, ill try for better measures when I get home.
Re: New queen, first of the season for me :D
Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 5:32 pm
by Theantguy13
Ok so for one I massively failed on the measurement, she's actually about 1cm long.
For 2 I took some more pictures from a side view, here they are
http://imgur.com/a/1ZK4B
Re: New queen, first of the season for me :D
Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 7:47 pm
by Batspiderfish
Yeah, definitely a male Pogonomyrmex. They look kinda unique.
You can see the tiny mandibles, the short antennal scapes, and the external genitalia at the end of the gaster.
Re: New queen, first of the season for me :D
Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 12:17 am
by Theantguy13
Darn I'm kinda bummed now...
Re: New queen, first of the season for me :D
Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 1:55 am
by Barfdog
Theantguy13 wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2017 12:17 am
Darn I'm kinda bummed now...
I know it totally sucks, but luckily Socal is POPPIN when it comes to Gan Farmers so if all else fails you can get one through the Gan project.
I'm also learning the hard way things don't always work out the way they should when antkeeping.. like when your queen leaves her one worker behind stuck in a mixture of mold and the small drop of honey that got EVERYWHERE. Luckily I saved it via cotton swab and her second worker is eclosing as I type this.