4 replies to this topic

[Lazarus]

1. Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
2. Date of collection: 21 July 2018
3. Habitat of collection: City Sidewalk
4. Length: Queen: 8mm
5. Coloration, hue, pattern and texture: Brown/Yellowish tinge to gaster, much darker (black thorax and head)
6. Distinguishing characteristics:
 

 

[rbarreto]

Maybe Lasius americanus.

[Lazarus]

Maybe Lasius americanus.

 

You may be right on that. I pulled up a few pictures of queens of this species and they sure do look a lot like mine. I tried putting her under the microscope to get a better look but she was not cooperating, insisting to cling onto the cotton an not allowing me to get a good top view.

[Batspiderfish]

Lasius americanus is the only niger-group Lasius sp. flying until mid August.

[Lazarus]

Sadly she died.

 

I just took a peak in her tube and she was clinging to the front cotton (not the one with the water).

Could she have died because she was stuck on it and either exhausted herself or could not get to the moist cotton to hydrate herself?

Is this a common thing that happens on occasion? I ask because I once saw videos of a person wrapping their front cotton with some very sheer material forming a smooth surface. Could that have been to avoid this?

 

This was a double whammy day for me returning from Toronto to find this AND my one other Lasius, a neoniger I caught last year that seemed to be doing fine, also dead. She had about 70 workers. 

Edited by Lazarus, July 29 2018 - 1:17 PM.