5 replies to this topic

[Jean]

I was walking my dogs thru the neighborhood, thinking how much I'd like to get a myrmecocystus species, especially m. mexicanus, when I looked down and saw a golden ant. I said, holy sh*t!  I picked her up and sure enough, that's what she was. Maybe I'm spending too much time thinking about ants, but it was pretty weird.

 

But I had to get the dogs walked, so set her back down on her way…came back later and unable to find her colony. She was next to a brick planter, a lot of agave type cactus crowded together, and large pebbles all over the dirt in a small yard. I have never seen m. mexicanus in the hood, it's dominated by acromyrmex. Any experience on what these colonies look like? 

[YsTheAnt]

Myrmecocystus nests are much easier to spot at night, when thousands of workers are out an about. During the day, they are difficult to find. Take a flashlight and look around at night, you will find a plethora of species you probably never saw before.

[Miles]

Myrmecocystus nests are much easier to spot at night, when thousands of workers are out an about. During the day, they are difficult to find. Take a flashlight and look around at night, you will find a plethora of species you probably never saw before.

While this is true for nocturnal Myrmecocystus (such as M. mexicanus), diurnal species like M. mendax will almost be entirely underground and inactive during the night.

Edited by Miles, November 27 2018 - 9:59 AM.

[Jean]

For a moment there Miles I thought I would discover the colony after dark … but I can still hope for some luck with their nuptial flight!

[Miles]

It's likely that you'd have better luck looking for the M. mexicanus colony after dark (they are primarily nocturnal). It's just the diurnal species that won't be out.

[YsTheAnt]

Myrmecocystus nests are much easier to spot at night, when thousands of workers are out an about. During the day, they are difficult to find. Take a flashlight and look around at night, you will find a plethora of species you probably never saw before.

While this is true for nocturnal Myrmecocystus (such as M. mexicanus), diurnal species like M. mendax will almost be entirely underground and inactive during the night.

Oh yeah, you are right . Considering this ant was golden though, it was probably a nocturnal species and the nest should be relatively easy to spot at night.