15 replies to this topic

[Foogoo]

One or two of these were from a random stop off Cajon Rd and the majority were from a small creek on the way to Lost Lake. There were a lot of ants which appeared like Liometopum occidentale but moved in quick, jerky movements. Two were wanderers at Mormon Rock. My best guess is Liometopum and/or Myrmecocystus.

 

Habitat of collection:  Rocky chaparrel

Length (from head to gaster):  ~10mm
Color, hue, pattern and texture:  Black gaster, reddish-brown body
 

Edited by dspdrew, May 12 2015 - 7:18 PM.
Added the species name to the title.

[Tpro4]

i'd say a lasus queen of some sort

[Alza]

liometopum occidentale

[dspdrew]

Pretty sure that is Formica francoeuri. There's tons of them in that area.

 

Edit: Actually if it's not just your pictures, that looks way too bald to be Formica francoeuri. It might be F. moki then.

[Foogoo]

Does my description of the workers sound like Formica? Looked to me like Liometopum but would sprint, stop, sprint, etc., almost like some spiders. I'll try getting some better pictures tomorrow, it's tough with them in tubes and ceiling lights.

[Miles]

Absolutely Formica. I've kept Formica for four years... No doubt in my mind.

It's rather early for Formica to be flying. I don't think I have ever seen alates, online or in person, this early in the year.

[dspdrew]

Does my description of the workers sound like Formica? Looked to me like Liometopum but would sprint, stop, sprint, etc., almost like some spiders.

 

Sounds exactly like them. Myrmecocystus move this way too, but it seems like Formica are the most extreme.

 

Pretty funny how I gave the same exact description when I first came across them two years ago and also thought they looked like L. occidentale as well.

 

http://antfarm.yuku....l-Forest-Orange

[PTAntFan]

What time of day did you find the wanderers?

[Gregory2455]

Formica sp.

[Foogoo]

What time of day did you find the wanderers?

Between noon-afternoon, at least that's when I was there. It seems like they flew in the morning. There was a good breeze too so who knows where the flight originated.

[Crystals]

If you were closer to BC, I know there was a decent sized Formica flight up there yesterday.  Pure black Formica species of some sort (they did send a picture and it was indeed Formica).

[dspdrew]

I got some high resolution pictures of these queens and their workers.

 

Queen

 

 

 

 

 

Worker

 

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure these are Formica francoeuri like I suspected in the first place. The queens just look a lot different than I imagined.

[Foogoo]

Those pictures are amazing!

[dspdrew]

Thanks.

[James C. Trager]

Classic (very hairy) F. francoeuri. Nothing else quite like it in the F. fusca group.

 

Foogoo, that jerky locomotion you described is quite typical of many Formica spp.

Miles, generally, I agree about the earliness of this flight for a Formica, but I think we ought to allow it for a southern California species.  Actually, F. obscuripes has already been seen from flights of this year, considerably to the north.

[dspdrew]

Just thought I would add these pictures of what the males look like since I was able to pin up a good specimen of one.