2467 replies to this topic

[PTAntFan]

8 total and 2 unidentified I found under rocks at Vazquez Rocks this morning. BTW, NO morning activity by the Pogonomyrmex I saw yesterday, no foraging, just some workers hanging out inside the entrance.

and thanks loads, Drew for the tip!

[Foogoo]

I'm not even sure exactly what "closed" means. Lots of times parking lots or roads are closed off, but it doesn't mean you can't go past the gate on foot. It's usually just closed to vehicles.

 

You can park right on the side of the road just outside the gate. They recently put up a bunch of orange fencing, so I'm not sure what that means, but I've seen people hiking there before when the gate's closed.

We're too rule abiding .

 

8 total and 2 unidentified I found under rocks at Vazquez Rocks this morning. BTW, NO morning activity by the Pogonomyrmex I saw yesterday, no foraging, just some workers hanging out inside the entrance.

and thanks loads, Drew for the tip!

Dang, you went from Vasquez to Cajon? I need to check out Vasquez, were you in the park or outskirts of it?

[PTAntFan]

I was in the park, but the video is from a major nest outside the park.  If you park on the dirt shoulder just on the east side of the entrance and then walk into the path by the sign, heading eastward you'll come into a property of some kind.  Not sure if it's owned and abandoned or what, but in the middle of the property is this large mound. That mound has three large nests in it. 

 

Yeah, huge day for me.  Burbank to Vazquez, Vazquez to Phelan, Phelan to Cajon, Canjon to Burbank.  I'll call it "the loop" from now on I guess. 

 

Vazquez was pretty much a bust but I kept turning rocks that seemed likely and found two dealates.  No idea what they are, will post pics for ID tomorrow.

 

When I got to Mormon and saw the gate all locked up, I got real depressed.  Definitely a bit too rule abiding, but really the shoulder there by the entrance to the park seemed to just be begging for a ticket.  I don't know why.  But I didn't give up and Lone Pine Canyon Road proved fruitful.  After the first four we're in test tubes, I decided I would fix up four more tubes and try for a total of 8.  The last one took almost as long as the first.  The first was impossible to catch. SO FAST and completely watching my moves to corner her instead of looking down and just running.    The last just wouldn't appear until i had decided to be content with 7 and was walking back to my car.  There she was by they side of path just waiting for me. 

[Foogoo]

Thanks for the details. The last time I was at Vasquez was years ago, so this helps!

 

I remember now, the driveway leading up to the Mormon Rocks gate is no parking and yeah, the shoulder didn't look like a kind place to park. I use bigger mouth containers (tiny tupperware type or prescription bottles) to catch them in the field and transfer to tubes when I get home. I find that makes it catching them much easier.

[dspdrew]

Dang, you went from Vasquez to Cajon? I need to check out Vasquez, were you in the park or outskirts of it?

 

Wait 'till you see how far I went.

 

 

Vazquez was pretty much a bust but I kept turning rocks that seemed likely and found two dealates.  No idea what they are, will post pics for ID tomorrow.

 

Can't wait to see the pictures.

 

 

I remember now, the driveway leading up to the Mormon Rocks gate is no parking and yeah, the shoulder didn't look like a kind place to park.

 

  That shoulder is so big, you could literally fit six cars side by side on it. Just looked at Google maps, and someone is even parked there when they took the picture.

 

As for the drive way, yes, there is a very clear no parking message painted on the ground in front of the gate telling people not to block the driveway (obviously, it's a fire station), but I don't remember seeing any "no parking" or "no stopping" signs on the road. You can park on the shoulders of most country roads unless there are signs posted stating otherwise.

 

BTW, most of the queens I found there, I found on that shoulder actually.

[dspdrew]

Here's how my day of anting went.

 

I first stopped along Cajon Blvd. (old Route 66) where I could walk down to the wash. On the way I saw some Pogonomyrmex and Dorymyrmex insanus nests really close together. This is probably the closest I've ever seen them together.

 

 

 

The second I got to the wash, I found a Formica francoeuri alate running around. It was around 9:30 am and about 75 degrees. Within minutes, I started seeing them swarming everywhere. They don't seem to fly very high off the ground. Some of them hardly even get off the ground at all. I did see a few females get up around three or four feet and fly away.

Here's some video I got of the mating flight.

 

 

 

Since these were just starting to mate, and all still had their wings, I wanted to make sure I wasn't collecting any infertile alates. I made sure that I only collected the ones I actually saw mating; preferably with multiple males. I was actually sticking the whole mating ball in the container so they could continue to mate.

 

I tried to get some video of it.

 

 

 

 

By 10:30 the whole mating flight was over, and it was almost hard to tell it ever happened. There were a few spots where there were still some males flying around, but it was very hard to find any females at that point.

While I was there I caught a glimpse of what I think was probably a Myrmecocystus mexicanus worker who decided to wander out of its nest for a second before quickly running back in. I've been told that they're all over around that area, so I know where I'll be going to look for them later this summer.

I left and drove to Mormon Rocks Station to look around, and actually found quite a few F. francoeuri dealates running around there. There was also some lady with a bolt cutters trying to get the gate open. I think she might have worked there, but I wasn't sure haha.

After this I headed East on the 138 up to Valley of Enchantment/Crestline. There was still plenty snow on the side of the road from the storm two days ago. I stopped at some little road up there and walked around. I saw this strange little grave someone made.

 

 

 

Dorymyrmex insanus were starting to fly. I tried to get a video, but that didn't turn out too well. As a matter of fact, I now see that when my phone died it corrupted the file anyway. I flipped a log over, and found a whole colony of Formica moki living under. I managed to get the queen and about half the workers. I got some of the eggs, but most of the brood is usually swept away really quick by the workers. Once I had tasted enough formic acid, I packed up and got back on the road.

My next stop was somewhere along the 18 around Rim of the World. There I saw some Formica ravida, but couldn't locate their mound. I think I saw some F. moki roaming around, and a nest of Pogonomyrmex, probably P. montanus.

I stopped at a trail a little ways past Snow Valley where I saw more P. montanus and what was probably Formica subpolita.

On the way back down the mountain I first stopped where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Hwy 18. It's more of a high desert type habitat on this side of the maintains. There I dug into a nest of what look like Camponotus semitestaceus. I hit a little pocket of larvae, so I collected it to use for boosting or something. I don't remember seeing much of anything else there. I then stopped at some turnout just before the Mitsubishi cement factory. There I saw a colony of Pogonomyrmex rugosus and some workers of a really large-sized Crematogaster species under a log.

I drove all the way around the mountains, through Yucca Valley and stopped off at Mission Creek Preserve. I saw on the radar that they received some rain, but it was probably just a sprinkle because when I got there it was all pretty much bone dry. The only ants out were Veromessor pergandei, and Dorymyrmex bicolor. When it's too dry for any other species of ants to come out, it seems you can almost always find a few of them.

On my way home I stopped to do some black lighting on the first turnout going up the 330, where the elevation would be low enough that the temps wouldn't go too far below 70 after dark. When I stepped out of the truck I immediately saw a S. invicta queen crawling around. I ran the black light for a while once it got dark, and saw a bunch of S. molesta queens and three of what looked like one of the parasitic Lasius species I found last year in Mt. Baldy. This was strange because the elevation was only about 1800 feet where I was, and supposedly Lasius are only found where it snows. It's extremely rare for snow to fall at that elevation around here, so either these queens flew a long long ways, or they are indeed living where it does not snow.

[PTAntFan]

Huge trip. Great footage.

[Foogoo]

 

  That shoulder is so big, you could literally fit six cars side by side on it. Just looked at Google maps, and someone is even parked there when they took the picture.

 

As for the drive way, yes, there is a very clear no parking message painted on the ground in front of the gate telling people not to block the driveway (obviously, it's a fire station), but I don't remember seeing any "no parking" or "no stopping" signs on the road. You can park on the shoulders of most country roads unless there are signs posted stating otherwise.

 

BTW, most of the queens I found there, I found on that shoulder actually.

 

Maybe I was just tired and needed an excuse to go home.

 

Will you be adding your observations to the Southern California Ants Map? I'd especially like to know where the Camponotus and Myrmecocystus were.

[dspdrew]

Haha yeah... I'm getting to it. It's crazy how much stuff there is to do after coming back from one of these trips. AND, it's already looking like this Saturday or Sunday might be good for another one. They're forecasting even more rain in this next storm, and also a good chance in the desert areas this time.

 

BTW, I think C. semitestaceus is probably already done flying for the year. They fly very early.

[Foogoo]

I'm wondering if I should bother heading out tomorrow, looks like Agua Dulce, Mt. Wilson and Wrightwood are all going to be mid-60s at the warmest.

[dspdrew]

Exactly why I was only looking for a place it rained in the desert. All the mountains and foothills are just too cold still. Where I'm going, it will even be warm enough to black light at night.

[PTAntFan]

80s from Palm Springs to Salton Sea Sunday, but nothing over low 70s in sight for high desert.

 

Is that where you're headed, Drew?

Edited by PTAntFan, May 15 2015 - 3:06 PM.

[dspdrew]

Yes. South Salton Sea area. It's actually pouring rain out there right now as we speak. The high desert didn't get much of any rain either.

[PTAntFan]

Am I seeing things or are Mt. San Jacinto and Palm Springs about to get crushed?

[dspdrew]

Sounds like you're seeing things. Crushed by what?

[PTAntFan]

Rain.

[Foogoo]

I didn't go far this weekend, just locally and other than Pogonomyrmex digging out their nests, not a whole lot going on. Just now, at a Pogonomyrmex nest on my street, I noticed a single, black winged ant emerge from the nest, then go back in. Has anyone else seen that? Not dark red, but straight black.

[dspdrew]

That's a male. Most male ants that I have seen are black, no matter what color the workers are.

[dspdrew]

Well, with all the rain the lower desert got, it doesn't seem like anything flew. I did however find nine Pogonomyrmex magnacanthus queens in Glamis. Four of them I found running around, and five I dug out of founding chambers. I'm not exactly sure if the four I found running around actually flew that day, or if they were flushed out of their founding chambers by the rain. The only founding chambers I found were in one little cluster, and were clearly there before the rain came through, because they were barely recognizable.

 

I dug into a few P. californicus nests, and did not find a single alate, so maybe we still have a month or so before they fly. I know last year they started flying at the very end of May out in Palmdale.

 

I setup my black light after it got dark, but the only thing I got were a few Solenopsis molesta queens, as always.

[AntsTexas]

u guys out west are have loads of fun exploreing, here in lubbock there's squat! lol

 

 even worse i can't drive have to get/try to get my mommy 2 take me places when she's feeling up to it.... lol

Edited by Ant-Man, May 18 2015 - 11:39 AM.