Confirmation on this Ant Species

Help with identifying the species your ants

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notmyidea
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Location: Victoria, BC, Canada

Confirmation on this Ant Species

Post: # 3423Post notmyidea
Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:49 pm

Image

Caught on a paved path in a forest early August, Victoria, BC, Canada.

Length is about 6-7mm.

These queens were showing pleometrosis behaviour (several were digging together).

From all the research I have done, I believe this is Lasius Pallitarsis, common around here. Am I right?

Yesterday, I believe I caught Lasius Neoniger, significantly smaller than Pallitarsis, and they are too small to photograph well (I ordered an extension tube to photograph them!).

MrILoveTheAnts

Re: Confirmation on this Ant Species

Post: # 3442Post MrILoveTheAnts
Fri Sep 11, 2015 7:15 pm

This is a Lasius queen. L. pallitarsis seems a likely ID to me but I'm not certain how to tell them apart from queens of Lasius neoniger queens which are the same size, color, and with a similar sheen of small hairs. If they're successful though, pay attention to the color of the workers, which should help in cementing a name to this queen.

The smaller queen you describe sounds like a Brachymyrmex depilis queen or something in that genus. Superficially they look very much like tiny Lasius queens. Another possibility, and slightly bigger, would be either Lasius flavus or L. nearcticus which are smaller than L. neoniger/L. pallitarsis but more orange in coloration.

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antscanada
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Re: Confirmation on this Ant Species

Post: # 3517Post antscanada
Mon Sep 14, 2015 2:19 am

MrILoveTheAnts wrote:This is a Lasius queen. L. pallitarsis seems a likely ID to me but I'm not certain how to tell them apart from queens of Lasius neoniger queens which are the same size, color, and with a similar sheen of small hairs. If they're successful though, pay attention to the color of the workers, which should help in cementing a name to this queen.

The smaller queen you describe sounds like a Brachymyrmex depilis queen or something in that genus. Superficially they look very much like tiny Lasius queens. Another possibility, and slightly bigger, would be either Lasius flavus or L. nearcticus which are smaller than L. neoniger/L. pallitarsis but more orange in coloration.
MrILoveTheAnts, knows his stuff. He's very knowledgeable having been around in the ant keeping community as early as I remember, hvaing worked with ants for years. I have learned a lot from him. I agree with what has been said above. With Lasius, if I don't tentatively call them Lasius neoniger or Lasius cf. neoniger, I just leave them at Lasius sp. I find for ant keeping purposes, the care of most Lasius is generally the same regardless of the particular species.
Ant Love Forever.

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notmyidea
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Re: Confirmation on this Ant Species

Post: # 3569Post notmyidea
Tue Sep 15, 2015 9:26 pm

Thank you for the responses. I will keep an eye on the colour of workers when they emerge. At least a few of them have eggs and hopefully some nanitics will emerge soon. I'll also get some good picture of the smaller queens once I get my extension tube! :D

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notmyidea
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Location: Victoria, BC, Canada

Re: Confirmation on this Ant Species

Post: # 3587Post notmyidea
Thu Sep 17, 2015 6:25 pm

Finally got my extension tube for my DSLR. These were taken with a 60mm Macro Lens + 25mm extension tube to get an idea of how small they were. You really get to see the hairs on these:

Image

Image

I caught two of these ladies. Both are definitely mated, I caught them in the act!!


These were caught September 9, in the evening, Victoria, BC, Canada. They are about 3-4mm long.

Brachymyrmex sp. as MrILoveTheAnts says?

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notmyidea
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Location: Victoria, BC, Canada

Re: Confirmation on this Ant Species

Post: # 3611Post notmyidea
Fri Sep 18, 2015 7:05 pm

Jonathan21700 wrote:Myrmica sp. Very hard to ID.
They are semiclaustral and need to be fed every 2-3 days.
I think you are right. Thanks for the ID. I think I will release them. :|

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