2467 replies to this topic

[PTAntFan]

They laid a couple each but are now clawing to get out, so one of them probably goes into experimental nest tomorrow or next day.  So balmy up here right now!  I should have a black light setup for tonight.  Someone on A.N.T.S. posted that Solenopsis is flying this evening in Texas.  Does that increase likelihood of flights in another state?  I once saw a documentary that said colonies of same sp. fly altogether across regions, but I don't trust docs anymore. 

[cpman]

Solenopsis invicta is seemingly always flying, at least here in Austin. I've even seen queens wandering around in December and January! Granted, the flights not in the summer months are tiny, but they still happen occasionally.

Edited by cpman, June 28 2015 - 8:38 PM.

[PTAntFan]

Somethin is out. Tennis court was mobbed. I was making test tubes in the field. Finally started putting them in a single container. Want to check another court closer to where I saw some other genus.

[PTAntFan]

All told 4 Alates and 9 Dealates. I think S. Invicta or other but haven't really tried yet. Spent the last hour making test tubes for all of them. If that is the sp. do you know if they are polygynus? Is that the right word? I had about 8 of them all together at one point and they seemed happy together. I separated all the dealates to their own tubes but if they are I'd probably combine a few.

Edited by PTAntFan, June 28 2015 - 10:42 PM.

[dspdrew]

Solenopsis xyloni flew in mass yesterday. They do fly in small amounts all night, almost every night the weather is right for most of the summer. Same goes for S. molesta too. Both of these are almost always flying. If you need to, as long as they're all the same species, you can put them all in the same container until you get home. I find you can do this with pretty much every myrmicine we have around here. I even have multiple species in the same container sometimes. Just don't try this with formicines though; they'll likely be dead in minutes from formic acid.

[Foogoo]

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.

Was this all in Placerita Canyon? This weather has had me disappointed lately but sounds like I have somewhere to visit next weekend!

[PTAntFan]

Yeah it was. PM me and let me know when you're going and if I'm free I'll show where I saw stuff. If I can't make it I'll send some notes. Mostly I was on the cement path along the east parking side, not the middle road and the Botany trail that runs behind the nature center.

[Foogoo]

Yeah it was. PM me and let me know when you're going and if I'm free I'll show where I saw stuff. If I can't make it I'll send some notes. Mostly I was on the cement path along the east parking side, not the middle road and the Botany trail that runs behind the nature center.

Definitely will do. Right now I'm hoping to get out there early Saturday morning. We'll see how tempting the bed feels.

 

I posted a picture in the Mating thread, but looks like Solenopsis is getting ready to fly tonight where I am.

Edited by Foogoo, June 29 2015 - 8:11 PM.

[BrittonLS]

Solenopsis invicta is seemingly always flying, at least here in Austin. I've even seen queens wandering around in December and January! Granted, the flights not in the summer months are tiny, but they still happen occasionally.

You're telling me. I find an S.invicta queen pretty much every time I go out looking for ants.

[dspdrew]

It looks like there's been quite a few small storms passing through all over Southern California for the past day. I've seen most of it moving west a little north of the 10 freeway from Blythe into the Joshua Tree National Park area. It looks to me like there has probably been enough rain to trigger a flight in some of those spots, so I think I'm going to head out on the 10 this weekend. I think if anything flies, it will most likely be Pogonomyrmex rugosus (they seem to fly all summer long). I have a pretty good colony of them already, so I probably won't be collecting very many. But, if someone is willing to drive down and pick them up BEFORE they are in need of a test tube or any other setup (setting up test tubes makes me want to hang myself), I'll dig up some extras.

[Subverted]

I think I will probably wait to head out to the desert until Acromyrmex are a pretty good bet...but if you are willing to grab a few extra P. rugosus I would definitely be interested. Not sure what I can offer in return though, let me know haha

[Foogoo]

Based on your experience with those areas, what do you think the chances are for Veromessor and Myrmecocystus? I was planning on going to Placerita in hopes of Veromessor but if storms came through the area...

 

It looks like a large patch of light rain (green) passed through the high desert too. I wonder if that's enough to trigger some flights after the recent heatwave?

Edited by Foogoo, July 1 2015 - 12:37 PM.

[Gregory2455]

Based on your experience with those areas, what do you think the chances are for Veromessor and Myrmecocystus? I was planning on going to Placerita in hopes of Veromessor but if storms came through the area...

 

It looks like a large patch of light rain (green) passed through the high desert too. I wonder if that's enough to trigger some flights after the recent heatwave?

Pretty sure its too late for Veromessor. This is about the begenning of Myrmecocystus season, but I am waiting for some rain in later July/ early August.

Edited by Gregory2455, July 1 2015 - 1:33 PM.

[Foogoo]

Ok thanks, maybe I'll stick to Placerita and hope for V. andrei.

[PTAntFan]

You'll see them for sure, but that's the second time I've read about them having flown earlier in the year.  I did not see any sexual at the two nests in Placerita. 

 

It's still a decent are to look around for stuff, but that may be due primarily to its proximity for me and the relative abundance of sp.  It's better than the verdugo hills here by my house!

[dspdrew]

You aren't going to find V. andrei in the desert. V. pergandei on the other hand are all over out there, but they fly in March. Myrmecocystus should be flying in the deserts now. There are lots of different species of them out there, and many of them are pretty commonly seen. They all gotta fly some time, and that's what I hope to catch.

[Foogoo]

Wamdar and I headed to Placerita this morning. Great spot, saw Veromessor, Pogonomyrmex, Tapinoma, Liometopum, Formica, Forelius, and possibly Solenopsis. The Veromessor (I'm assuming andrei, any way to easily distinguish from pergandei?) colony was huge, I'm just not sure how to time their flights in this dry weather. Unfortunately no queens this time though...

[dspdrew]

V. pergandei is pure black, and very shiny; V. andrei is more of a dark purple, and not shiny. V. andrei look a lot more like Pogonomyrmex than V. pergandei as well.

[dspdrew]

Well my last desert trip on 7-3-2015 was a complete waste. I think it was either too hot, or just didn't rain enough in total. It was over a hundred degrees in most places I went to, and even though it poured rain the day before, the ground was dry three inches down. It was also only wet for another three inches deeper, then dry again after that.

 

Some big storms sat out over the Goffs, CA area yesterday, dropping over an inch of rain, so I think I'm going to try my luck again. If  I don't come back with any queens, at least I will have a little better understanding of what triggers and what doesn't trigger these mating flights. I think I'll go tonight and stay out there until tomorrow. I'm planning to go through the mountains on the 38 again, stopping near Big Bear to do some black lighting since it rained there a bit today. Then I'll head down the 18 to the 247, and then to the 62. I'll take the 62 through Twenty-nine Palms to Amboy Rd, which will take me up to Route 66, where I can continue to Goffs. Coming back, I'll probably just take the 40 to the 15.

[Thomas_Nguyen2456]

Hey Drew, you want to catch me some ant queens.