6 replies to this topic

[Waganga]

Hello All! I caught what I think is my first queen in an odd situation earlier this morning...

 

Image Repository:

 

https://drive.google...EekkrjiaGV5cPVu

 

Location/Habitat: Suburban back yard, Northglenn, CO, USA - See collection notes at bottom...

Date: 5/11/18

Length: ~10mm

Coloration: Dark brown gaster, orange or dark orange body, legs and head

Distinguishing Characteristics: Appears to be hair free? Very sleek looking exoskeleton, shiny all over. One petiole node (hard to see in pictures), wasn't able to count antennae segments. Big hump back makes me think she is a queen?

Behavior: Ran from me to find cracks to hide in, did not seem to have a sense of direction involved with her fleeing. Initially tried to hide under a twig in a sidewalk crack, and then under some small rocks and clay around pill bugs. Once she found a "safe" feeling nook, she stayed right there until I uncovered her. Fleeing to a safe feeling crack also makes me think she is a queen?

Nest: None known in my area

Nuptial Flight: None known in my area

 

Collection notes: About 1 month ago, my husband and I bought a rosebush at our local Home Depot. We kept it inside from the date we bought it until today, when we brought it outside around 9am to plant it. It sat outside for about an hour. When I picked it up to bring it to my husband, that's when I noticed this ant! When she initially fled, she fled back INSIDE the packaging of the rosebush. After I got something to collect her with, I shook her out onto the sidewalk.

 

The packaging on the rosebush says Mea Nursery in Lindale, TX. Since she was living inside the rosebush packaging, and our rosebush sat indoors for about a month, it makes me wonder if she's not from Texas, or from anywhere between Lindale, TX and Denver, CO. Especially since there haven't been any distinctive reports of nuptial flights in Colorado yet this year.

 

Assuming she's from Colorado, I think she's most likely to be one of any number of Formica sp.? I'm really not sure, though, since I'm new to all of this! I'm a little concerned that, if she is from another place, she might have already been founding/laying eggs in the packaging for the rosebush (I didn't think to inspect it). So if she came out to greet the sunlight. maybe she was trying to forage? I dunno!

 

Colorado Antweb for convenience. 

 

Looking forward to everyone's experienced opinions.

 

Happy Weekend!
Kayla

 

 

Edited by Waganga, May 30 2018 - 8:25 PM.

[nurbs]

Interesting story, so she could be an accidental stowaway. Initial impression from the images is C. hyatti, but according to Antwiki they do not occur in either TX or CO.

 

Another educated guess would be C. decipiens. They have very little hairs as well. Or C. discolor.

 

You will need much closer and clearer shots to get a 100% ID though. The images are too dark. Hopefully some experts on this forum in your region can help out. Good luck!

 

 

EDIT:
She looks malnourished! Give her some sweets!

Edited by nurbs, May 12 2018 - 12:45 AM.

[GeorgeK]

Now that some sweet excuse to trade ants across borders

 

Edit: I think you should also check dirt in rosebush container to see if she laid any eggs to collect them

Edited by GeorgeK, May 12 2018 - 2:19 AM.

[Waganga]

Interesting story, so she could be an accidental stowaway. Initial impression from the images is C. hyatti, but according to Antwiki they do not occur in either TX or CO.
 
Another educated guess would be C. decipiens. They have very little hairs as well. Or C. discolor.
 
You will need much closer and clearer shots to get a 100% ID though. The images are too dark. Hopefully some experts on this forum in your region can help out. Good luck!
 
 
EDIT:
She looks malnourished! Give her some sweets!

C. as in camponotus? Isn't she too small for that? Hmm... C. decipiens and C. discolor both also match to my untrained eye. C. hyatti do occur in NM, which a truck shipping rosebushes from TX would probably have had to pass through/stop in to get to CO. It's not impossible, just unlikely?

 

I'm hesitant to just assume she's Camponotus, though, since I've already accidentally misidentified my own back yard colony as C. Modoc when they are much more likely F. Argentea. The rosebush did come from TX, but I'm afraid it's looking for zebras to assume she's "exotic" haha. There's a dozen Colorado native Formica species that also have orange bodies are dark booties.

 

I'll check on her this morning and try to give her a teeny bit of local raw honey. I'm a little underprepared as far as bug parts to provide her! I'm also quite afraid of her taking off - she's much faster than I anticipated!

 

My camera doesn't take great faux-macro shots with indoor lighting. I'll see if I can get some shots in the sunshine outside. It's work and rain all day today, so that'll probably be tomorrow morning.

 

 

@GeorgeK - I mean, Home Depot is technically doing the illegal shipping.   I'm in the clear! 

I'm going to check the packaging this morning. Unfortunately, the rosebush has already been rushed into the ground. My husband is tolerant of my new ant fascination, but not so much so that he'll stop landscaping to stare at a queen ant with me. By the time I considered that she could have been founding in the rosebush, it was far too late to check. 

Edited by Waganga, May 12 2018 - 4:46 AM.

[LC3]

This is definitely a Camponotus species. They’re a really diverse genus and come in all shapes and sizes. In the U.S and Canada they’re spread across the subgenera’s Tanaemyrmex, Camponotus and Myrmentoma (If I recall correctly). All of the species nurb’s listed are Myrmentoma. They’re all known to be rather small compared to the other two, usually below or around 10mm compared to the other Camponotus which are usually 14-20mm with most being around 16mm.


C. nearcticus a Myrmentoma Camponotus

I agree with nurb’s guesses.

[Waganga]

I haven't had a chance to take clearer pictures (no sunshine here), and frankly I want to leave her in peace as much as possible. If she really came all the way from TX, she's had an extremely stressful journey! I'm kind of surprised she's even alive - it seems like a lot of queens die of stress if they suffer from too much unpredictability and jostling. Her gaster looks fatter after having fed her some honey, with stripes showing closer to the waist. (Like she's full/her gaster is more distended? I don't know what the terminology would be!) I also got a reptile heating pad and stuck that to the bottom of a glass baking dish, which her test tube setup is resting in, so she has some heat as well. Gonna try to leave her undisturbed for about a week, and hope she lays some eggs! Or, see if she doesn't make it.. 

 

After reviewing images at alexanderwild.com and reviewing Aaron's C. Discolor journal, I think C. Discolor is the best match. I'll update here later if I ever think this isn't accurate, though! 

[Waganga]

Update?: My husband and I did a landscaping project in the front yard over Memorial day weekend, and for each day we worked I noticed a worker ant that looked an awful lot like the queen I'd caught... After looking around a while today, my husband and I noticed ANOTHER queen of this species hanging out around the window frame of our home! So, I'm no longer convinced that this initial queen came from Texas. Both of them must be local! 

 

Although Antwiki doesn't record C. decipiens as a Colorado species, Antweb does. However, the worker that I caught looks a lot like the C. vicinus workers pictured on Antweb, because it has a very dark brown head and a very dark brown gaster, with a light orange thorax. Neither the worker or the queens look hairy at all, even with a bright light on them.

 

Edit: Just thought I would mention, the first queen I caught is doing quite well. She has a brood of 6-7 eggs that she keeps organized and stands fervent guard over at all times. The second one got awarded some honey and a very small piece of shredded chicken, but she seemed much more interested in drinking from the cotton ball.

 

Edit Again: Actually, now that I am looking at them side by side, they aren't as similar as I initially thought. Can anyone recommend a good universal macro lens for an android smartphone? I just can't seem to get good enough pictures without some kind of macro, and a macro lens for my DSLR would be hugely expensive.

Edited by Waganga, May 30 2018 - 8:40 PM.