2467 replies to this topic

[gcsnelling]

 

What else should we call these ants then? Wow, looks like you got a lot of stuff

 

Undescribed Camponotus? 

 

Camponotus cf. vicinus?

 

 

 

I would just call them Camponotus sp.

[AntsCalifornia]

Anywhere getting rain that would cause honeypots to fly? I probably should have gone to baldy last night, sounds like a lot of Camponotus flew and I have a bunch of logs that are perfect for wood nests like TC's.

 

Edit: It's pouring rain around where I live, so I'm assuming some other places must be getting rain as well.

Edited by AntsCalifornia, July 7 2018 - 12:38 PM.

[WestLA_DO]

Anyone going out locally tonight or is everyone heading out to the desert tonight?

Edited by WestLA_DO, July 7 2018 - 1:26 PM.

[nurbs]

Been watching the Doppler. These areas have been getting slammed today. This is the first of many rains that will come. Pretty sure things will be flying there. Might check them out Sunday or Monday night.

 

 

[dspdrew]

I have never been able to ID those large Camponotus. I don't remember exactly why I called them C. ocreatus originally, however, they are not C. vicinus as Nurbs thinks. There are way too many differences. The workers are WAY larger than C. vicinus, they have longer legs, they are found in completely different habitats and elevations, and they fly completely different times of the year. Even though coloration doens't always mean much, the way they are colored is also not the same. Sure they have similar colors, but the color pattern is completely different. The queens are not that much longer than C. vicinus, but the length of a queen is not what makes it larger or smaller--this changes depending on how full their gasters are. Every other part of these queens, including appendages are larger and thicker than any C. vicinus I have ever seen. So I'm calling them Camponotus sp. until someone can ID them.
 
Edit: I'm pretty sure they are Camponotus CA02 now.

Edited by dspdrew, August 5 2018 - 5:59 PM.

[nurbs]

Never said they were 100% C. vicinus, but with all our current large Camponotus options here in SoCal, vicinus is the closest. These aren't C. sansabeanus or C. maritimus, and they sure as heck aren't ocreatus, modocs, quercicolas, or laevigatus. They also do not resemble anything close to festinatus or fragilis either.

 

Also disagree about habitats and elevations - you said there were C. vicinus at Trabuco, and we saw large black Camponotus there as well, which were either a black C. vicinus or C. quercicola. Going by that logic, if those species can exist at Trabuco's habitat and elevation, so can this undescribed "vicinus". But yes, Drew is correct - they are not the same as our "garden variety" vicinus we are used to. But it's the closest we have to describing them. 

[Zeiss]

Never said they were 100% C. vicinus, but with all our current large Camponotus options here in SoCal, vicinus is the closest. These aren't C. sansabeanus or C. maritimus, and they sure as heck aren't ocreatus, modocs, quercicolas, or laevigatus. They also do not resemble anything close to festinatus or fragilis either.

 

Also disagree about habitats and elevations - you said there were C. vicinus at Trabuco, and we saw large black Camponotus there as well, which were either a black C. vicinus or C. quercicola. Going by that logic, if those species can exist at Trabuco's habitat and elevation, so can this undescribed "vicinus". But yes, Drew is correct - they are not the same as our "garden variety" vicinus we are used to. But it's the closest we have to describing them. 

I ended up collecting four of the cocoons from that trail of the Camponotus sp. we saw at our second stop last night and opened one.  It appears all of them are majors, even though they weren't that big.  

[dspdrew]

They're not C. vicinus. Not even close.

[YsTheAnt]

[KBant]

So anyone have pics of this camponotus ocreatus

[Zeiss]

So anyone have pics of this camponotus ocreatus

Yes, I took pictures of my queen, majors, and a pupal major.  I will be uploading an ID request shortly.

[AntsCalifornia]

Anyone go to the desert yet?

[Enderz]

Anyone go to the desert yet?

Drew went to the desert today, got tons of queens. Not sure where but just lots of rain out there, i'm sure there are plenty of flights happening.

Edited by EnderzATwar411, July 8 2018 - 8:32 PM.

[miwu]

Anyone go to the desert yet?

Drew went to the desert today, got tons of queens. He said pheidole, honeypots, and other queens flew (he even got some mexicanus!).

Where in the desert? I was east of Barstow today morning around 3am and didn’t see any flights. Lots of activities but no founding chambers or queens.

[AntsCalifornia]

Nurbs found a bunch of C. fragilis it looks like, does anyone know if you can dig those up?

 

Also, has anyone found honeypots yet?

Edited by AntsCalifornia, July 9 2018 - 8:45 AM.

[nurbs]

Yeah, lots of honeypots. Found an insane amount of C. fragilis, a handful of M. navajo, M. mexicanus, three "purplebacks" (undescribed honeypots), P. rugosus, and tiny bleh stuff like Boringmyrmex and Pheidole. 

 

Not a bad run, was digging from 9pm-2am, mostly in the same spot. C. fragilis queens up for grabs in the marketplace.

 

[nurbs]

Was going to hit up east of Barstow because that area got drenched, but what ended up happening was that it rained again in the same spot the very next day, most likely washing away any chambers. 

 

 

 

 

Anyone go to the desert yet?

Drew went to the desert today, got tons of queens. He said pheidole, honeypots, and other queens flew (he even got some mexicanus!).

Where in the desert? I was east of Barstow today morning around 3am and didn’t see any flights. Lots of activities but no founding chambers or queens.

 

Edited by nurbs, July 9 2018 - 10:14 AM.

[miwu]

Was going to hit up east of Barstow because that area got drenched, but what ended up happening was that it rained again in the same spot the very next day, most likely washing away any chambers.

Anyone go to the desert yet?

Drew went to the desert today, got tons of queens. He said pheidole, honeypots, and other queens flew (he even got some mexicanus!).

Where in the desert? I was east of Barstow today morning around 3am and didn’t see any flights. Lots of activities but no founding chambers or queens.

I see. I was assuming they would fly Saturday night (I was there Sunday early morning), but maybe they flew earlier. I wanted to check Joshua Tree but was too exhausted. Is that where you guys were?

[nurbs]

Yeah, Yucca Valley, outside of Joshua Tree Park.

 

 

EDIT:

 

Some quick potato shots. Was out digging in the desert from 9-2am. It’s always best to get them right after they fly, much easier to dig up. A cop car came by around 1am asking what I was doing, too. They were totally cool, and said they were just curious what a guy out in the middle of the desert was doing with a shovel. I showed them the queens. They left without incident and I continued looking for more. Should have told them I was burying a dead body.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was going to hit up east of Barstow because that area got drenched, but what ended up happening was that it rained again in the same spot the very next day, most likely washing away any chambers.
 

 

 

Anyone go to the desert yet?

Drew went to the desert today, got tons of queens. He said pheidole, honeypots, and other queens flew (he even got some mexicanus!).

Where in the desert? I was east of Barstow today morning around 3am and didn’t see any flights. Lots of activities but no founding chambers or queens.

I see. I was assuming they would fly Saturday night (I was there Sunday early morning), but maybe they flew earlier. I wanted to check Joshua Tree but was too exhausted. Is that where you guys were?

 

 

 

Edited by nurbs, July 9 2018 - 12:16 PM.

[Straywolf94]