2467 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

Of the two common species here, Veromessor pergandei, are probably the most abundant ant in the desert. They are pretty much everywhere out there, and they are also active pretty much year round, no matter how cold or how dry it is. I've also found them a lot in desert scrub foot hill areas like most of Riverside County.

 

The other of the common species here are Veromessor andrei, which I have found in the foothills all over Southern California, even right near the coast in Laguna. The only place I don't find them is in the desert.

 

I have had plenty colonies of V. pergandei, but V. andrei I have never had, which is why I really want them.

[PTAntFan]

Either polyformic?

[Foogoo]

Either polyformic?

Do you mean polymorphic? Polyformic appears to be from WoW. 

[PTAntFan]

LOL! Yes, I did.

[dspdrew]

Veromessor pergandei workers have a huge range in size. They go from about 3 mm all the way up to about 9 mm--almost as big as the queen. V. andrei range also if I remember right, but not as much as V. pergandei.

[Foogoo]

Google says yes, though I haven't seen much of them myself.

 

I have had plenty colonies of V. pergandei, but V. andrei I have never had, which is why I really want them.

 

I wonder if we're too late. I just read yesterday that V. pergandei typically fly Jan-Mar.

[dspdrew]

Oh yeah, you're way too late for V. pergandei. Chromerust, kellakk and I found a bunch of them in the desert the first week of February. V. andrei on the other hand are flying right now.

[PTAntFan]

If they range in size, I'm all over that.  Checking the map, but would love suggestions on times of day and where to look.

 

Nothing near me.  I'll do some research but looks like their habitat is pretty similar to foothills I can find up here.  Is Trabuco Cyn heavily wooded?

Edited by PTAntFan, June 24 2015 - 1:40 PM.

[Foogoo]

If they range in size, I'm all over that.  Checking the map, but would love suggestions on times of day and where to look.

 

Nothing near me.  I'll do some research but looks like their habitat is pretty similar to foothills I can find up here.  Is Trabuco Cyn heavily wooded?

If you like polymorphous species, how about Pheidole?

 

I imagine they have to be in the San Gabriels as well, but I haven't had much luck where I've checked yet. Trails are too populated and off trail is too heavily wooded and rocky. There has to be some good areas I haven't found yet.

[cpman]

Pheidole aren't polymorphic nearly to the extent of Veromessor. They have only 2 castes, compared to a large number for Veromessor.

[dspdrew]

Almost all Pheidole are dimorphic.

 

Trabuco Canyon is chaparral in some areas, and right around the creek further into the National Forest it's pretty heavily wooded. It's just like any other canyon/creek in the mountains here in Southern California, except it's large enough to have running water year round.

 

If you're looking for V. andrei, they will usually be nesting in the same habitat you find Pogonomyrmex. Most of the colonies I find are right along side trails or dirt roads. Half the time I find a nest, it's inactive, either because of the time of day, or because they abandoned it. This species moves to a new nesting location quite a few times a year.

[PTAntFan]

Large enough to have running water all year?  Wow, I can't even think of anything near me like that except the LA river!  It's so unbelievably dry everywhere these days.

 

I was up too late to get out before work today, but I may try to get out right after dawn tomorrow to some of the foothills, perhaps Vazquez Rocks.

[dspdrew]

San Gabriel River is always running. I don't think that's too far from you.

[PTAntFan]

Checked out fish canyon trail, beautiful but only found one colony of some kind of Formica.

Weird, it started raining here in Burbank. Could be interesting afternoon.

[dspdrew]

I think I'm going to try my black light in Trabuco Canyon tonight. I just bought a big 48 inch bulb, and I can't wait to try it out there. There were trace amounts of rain yesterday, the humidity is increasing a bit, and the temperature has gone up a little. Right now they are forecasting temps of 74 at 9:00 pm, which is perfect. The weather has been similar for quite some time now without any real drastic changes though, so I'm not really expecting too much.

[PTAntFan]

Not much happened as far as I can tell in Burbank last night. Checking out placerita cyn now.

[dspdrew]

What are you looking at this time?

[PTAntFan]

It's turned out rather interesting actually. I think I found a large Veromessor colony. It had a bunch of debris but no activity with a large rock over part of the entrance. I thought some colony had been decimated in a raid. I lifted a rock and found a bunch of workers scrambling to get deeper. I grabbed a couple for ID and took a pic before putting the rock back.

I also found 3 Pogonomyrmex queens (I think/hope) wandering the path. One is 90% dead, so I'll use her for ID. There was no best in sight so they must have been foraging but all in the same area makes me skeptical. Bunch other species here. I think this will be my regular spot from now on. Closest plentiful place near me.

[PTAntFan]

Whoa. Got home and both Pogonomyrmex have eggs already. I guess they liked my test tubes after mucking about in the super dry chaparral. I was going to put one in an experimental formicarium, but now I'm hesitating.

[dspdrew]

Haha, sounds like you got P. subnitidus (they're common in the hills). They do way better in test tubes than P. californicus, and they just flew yesterday. Now that I think about it, I think I forgot to put that on my mating flight thread updates. Anyway, I was just laughing about how one of mine laid a pile of eggs an hour after putting it in a test tube.