12 replies to this topic

[Jamiesname]

I caught this queen back in May and now she finally has some workers. I can't pin down what species though. I'm guessing L. Claviger or L. Umbratus, but it could be neither. Can anyone tell by the pics? My app for my microscope isn't opening, so these pics are the best I can get for now.

Date Caught: Sometime last May. She was likely left over from fall of 2017, hibernating under the stone where I found her in the spring.

Location: Northeastern Michigan, lower penninsula.

Size: Queen = 7mm. Workers = 2.5mm-3mm

Color: Queen: dark brown/reddish. Workers: Light yellow, almost white. They are a lot lighter than they look in the pics and they're not callows. Some are weeks old.

Habitat: Lawn, few maple trees, under a brick.

Edited by Jamiesname, November 1 2018 - 1:55 PM.

[Jamiesname]

I got my endoscope app to work again, so here's some better pics. Any ideas?
Someone mentioned L. Nearcticus. Are those parasitic?

Edited by Jamiesname, November 4 2018 - 6:17 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

EDIT: After a few more minutes of research, I believe it may be L. subumbratus.

Edited by AnthonyP163, November 4 2018 - 6:44 PM.

[AntJohnny]

They look like Lasious Flavous. Meadow ants
99 percent sure.

Edited by AntJohnny, November 24 2018 - 7:46 PM.

[Jamiesname]

They look like Lasious Flavous. Meadow ants
99 percent sure.

The color of the workers are similar, but L. Flavus (formerly known as) aren't parasitic. I have a lasius flavus colony from a queen I caught two years ago and there is a big difference in coloration, head size and gaster size. I have a couple more L. Flavus queens from last fall as well.

Edited by Jamiesname, November 25 2018 - 9:51 AM.

[AntJohnny]

OK. It's hard to tell size from pics. I did notice there gasters looked a little off from meadow ants after I replied

[Canadian anter]

I feel Lasius aphidcolis

[Jamiesname]

Does anyone know if there's somewhere to send dead specimens for identification?

[Canadian anter]

SchoolofAnts

[StayLoki]

Lasius flavus

[StayLoki]

Double post lol

Edited by StayLoki, December 20 2018 - 8:41 AM.

[YsTheAnt]

Nope, not L. flavus. Some sort of parasitic species.

[Jamiesname]

SchoolofAnts

I ended up sending in a worker to this program and the ID came back as Lasius Subglaber. Thank you for sharing this program with me.