Queen ID - South Chicagoland - Captured 7.1.18

[vstrelow]

Hello, have been waiting to post this ID until I could get an adequate photo. This queen is 6-6.5 mm long and dark brown/black in color. She was found as a nest migrated to a new location and the colony had over 100 queens that I saw, I captured around 20. Most were kept in single tubes, but have had success housing three of them together with at least one of them laying eggs. Most of the single specimens began laying within 24 hrs of being captured, they seem to be quite prolific with the higher producers having upwards of 20 eggs within a day or two. A worker when crushed has a strong smell of funky coconut, I believe they may be Tapinoma sessile, but would like verification. Fingers crossed this photo comes through, they have been very hit or miss lately despite all of them being uploaded in the same manner through a shared album.

[TheRealAntMan]

We can’t see the picture.

[vstrelow]

[TheRealAntMan]

Parasitic Lasius.

[vstrelow]

I have caught several parasitic Lasius sp, they all seem to have smaller gasters proportionately to the rest of the body, slightly larger heads and have been larger in size. This species is also polygynous, having seen a minimum of 100 queens in this one nest alone. To me, she looks a lot like this queen, which is Tapinoma:

[TheRealAntMan]

I couldn’t really tell because of the blurry picture but you could be right.

[vstrelow]

There was some cotton stuck to the tube, I will try again when I get home. Thanks for the insights this far.

[vstrelow]

The smell and the number of queens in the colony are the biggest reasons I'm thinking Tapinoma, I am new to all this though, so I have a lot to learn yet.

[AntsDakota]

I have caught several parasitic Lasius sp, they all seem to have smaller gasters proportionately to the rest of the body, slightly larger heads and have been larger in size. This species is also polygynous, having seen a minimum of 100 queens in this one nest alone. To me, she looks a lot like this queen, which is Tapinoma:

The smell and the number of queens in the colony are the biggest reasons I'm thinking Tapinoma, I am new to all this though, so I have a lot to learn yet.

Those queens look like Lasius claviger. They are also called Citronella ants because they smell like citrus fruits.

[Batspiderfish]

They are Tapinoma sessile, "the odorous house ant", better known for smelling "like rotting coconut" as opposed to the subjectively pleasant citronella of the Acanthomyops subgenus. Queens from Tapinoma are in the 4-6mm range, as opposed to Lasius claviger, which are 8mm or larger.