13 replies to this topic

[Manitobant]

Hey guys! I will be going to Florida on Thursday and will be doing a lot of anting while there. I will be in Fort Lauderdale, the Florida keys and Orlando. I am expecting to come across the usual suspects like paratrechina longicornis, Solenopsis Invicta, pheidole megacephala and tapinoma melanocephalum. I will also be keeping an eye out for some rarer ants like pseudomyrmex, cephalotes varians in the keys and the fungus growers. If anyone could fill me in on the Florida ant fauna that would be much appreciated and I will be posting constant updates on the ants that I find, so stay tuned!

Edited by Manitobant, April 6 2019 - 6:16 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Solenopsis are everywhere there.

[WeatherAnt]

Keep an eye out for Camponotus planatus (the compact carpenter ant), they're really neat and drastically different from other Camponotus species in that area. Also, if you're super lucky you can find trap jaw ants (Odontomachus sp.) which I've seen down there. There are lots of Pheidole species as well. Also, if you take some time and dig through leaf litter you could find some cryptic species like Cyphomyrmex. Good luck!

[Manitobant]

Today i am leaving and i expect to arrive at 8:00 PM florida time. I'm gonna be doing some light trapping when i arrive and i will be posting again if i get any results.

[Manitobant]

Ok guys... I was very busy the last 2 days but it’s finally time to updates this thread. I found A LOT of ants, but sadly no cephalotes varians in the keys. Anyways, here are the pics:

Odontomachus: http://www.formicult...0190328-195029/

Paratrechina longicornis: http://www.formicult...0190329-090010/

Pheidole megacephala Queen: http://www.formicult...0190329-104730/

Crematogaster: http://www.formicult...0190329-132939/

Paratrechina longicornis queen: http://www.formicult...0190329-134222/

Pseudomyrmex gracilis: http://www.formicult...0190329-153113/

Pheidole floridana Queen: http://www.formicult...0190329-212853/

Stay tuned for updates in the following days!

[ANTdrew]

Must feel nice to be above the freezing point for a change! Good luck in your anting.

[Rstheant]

You get to keep those?!

[Manitobant]

I’ve been quite busy the past few days but I now have time to update t you guys on the ants that I found:

Dorymyrmex Brunei: http://www.formicult...0190330-124554/

Camponotus floridanus: http://www.formicult...0190330-141754/

Wasmannia auropunctata queen: http://www.formicult...0190330-183036/

Termite alates: http://www.formicult...0190330-200354/

Camponotus planatus: http://www.formicult...0190331-123732/

Pheidole navigans queen and colony: http://www.formicult...0190331-215119/

Edited by Manitobant, March 31 2019 - 6:16 PM.

[Manitobant]

I don’t think we could have a Florida anting trip without these little bas***ds showing up

“Sigh”

Solenopsis Invicta:http://www.formicult...0190330-141459/

[Manitobant]

Sorry i haven't updated in a while! Orlando has been quite uneventful as I've been at theme parks all day and the wind is crazy. No new queens but i did find some technomyrmex difficilis:http://www.formicult...0190403-185449/

[Manitobant]

Well, today is the last day and I sure went out with a bang... the invicta decided to unleash the full force of their nuptial flight all across the community and I ended up with over 50 queens!

http://www.formicult...0190405-170244/

[Manitobant]

Last night i had a great light trapping session and came across 7 brachymyrmex obscurior queens!

http://www.formicult...0190405-201344/

Edited by Manitobant, April 6 2019 - 6:12 AM.

[Manitobant]

Well guys, right now i am in the airport to head back to canada. All queens have either been released (the native ones) or perserved (the invasives) for my collection of queen specimens. I overall had a great trip and collected many wonderful ant species! This trip is now officially over!

[kalimant]

Hey guys! I will be going to Florida on Thursday and will be doing a lot of anting while there. I will be in Fort Lauderdale, the Florida keys and Orlando. I am expecting to come across the usual suspects like paratrechina longicornis, Solenopsis Invicta, pheidole megacephala and tapinoma melanocephalum. I will also be keeping an eye out for some rarer ants like pseudomyrmex, cephalotes varians in the keys and the fungus growers. If anyone could fill me in on the Florida ant fauna that would be much appreciated and I will be posting constant updates on the ants that I find, so stay tuned!

 

Topeekeegee Yugnee Park near Fort Lauderdale had a Trachymyrmex species when I visited a couple months back.

 

Pheidole megacephala are all over the parking area, and a few Solenopsis invicta are there as well.

 

If you are in Key West, P. megacephala and S. invicta are the dominant ants, but there are many others, including some Pseudomyrmex species.

 

https://pheidolemega...n-key-west.html

Edited by kalimant, April 16 2019 - 10:24 AM.