2467 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

the flow that went through last year was horrific, basically a 10 foot layer of mud blanketed the entire length of the road. i was up north watching the storm from barstow it was like.. 5 inches of rain all quick

Oh yeah that area got destroyed last year very late in the year. The road was closed by the time I got out there. But I could see how bad things got washed out up near JT.

[mbullock42086]

 

the flow that went through last year was horrific, basically a 10 foot layer of mud blanketed the entire length of the road. i was up north watching the storm from barstow it was like.. 5 inches of rain all quick

Oh yeah that area got destroyed last year very late in the year. The road was closed by the time I got out there. But I could see how bad things got washed out up near JT.

 

all the dry lakes near bear valley road were full of water and rthe mojave river was raging

[Somethinghmm]

Temecula is expecting some rain and I still see P. rugosus alates poking their heads out from time to time. Maybe they'll fly very late in the season like they did last year. Fingers crossed.

[gcsnelling]

Sounds like the Mojave desert has seen some interesting times of late.

[mbullock42086]

Sounds like the Mojave desert has seen some interesting times of late.

last year was alot more epic but this year was great!  for me at least lol

[dspdrew]

This year was the weakest monsoon season I've seen since I started doing this.

[mbullock42086]

This year was the weakest monsoon season I've seen since I started doing this.

I kinda targeted pop-up storms, really.  I use a combo of wundermap and google maps to approximate location and predict where water will drain.   I try to scale the maps as closely as possible to ensure i hit the right area, it usually worked for me.   

[Somethinghmm]

In Temecula, there was an OK sized Pogonomyrmex californicus flight. I saw a few queens on the sidewalks and I can imagine catching a lot more at an optimal spot.

Edited by Somethinghmm, October 7 2019 - 8:04 PM.

[dspdrew]

In Temecula, there was an OK sized Pogonomyrmex californicus flight. I saw a few queens on the sidewalks and I can imagine catching a lot more at an optimal spot.

 

I highly doubt P. californicus were flying in October. Are you sure they weren't P. subnitidus? Even that would be a little strange. I have seen colonies of P. rugosus evict their left-over alates at the end of the season before.

[dspdrew]

The last of the monsoon storms dumped some rain in a few spots near Chiriaco Summit on Thursday September 26th. Acromyrmex flew the next day all over the entire area, even in places that didn't get very much rain. I went out around 3:00 AM Saturday morning and stopped near the South entrance of Joshua Tree National Park and collected a bunch. They were still digging their nests, so I figured they would probably still have their fungus. While I was grabbing them I found a Cyphomyrmex queen too. I looked for more, but never found much of anything else.

 

Cyphomyrmex sp. queen

 

 

 

There wasn't much of anything else around that area, so I drove about 15 miles out on a dirt road called Summit Road, to two little spots where I knew about 2 inches of rain had fallen, and that it was the first significant rain that area had gotten all season.

 

 

 

Sure enough, I found Acromyrmex versicolor, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Myrmecocystus navajo, M. yuma, and M. mexicanus.

 

 

 

I probably got the last ones of the season.

 

Here's some cool looking Acromyrmex versicolor nests I found out there.

 

 

 

 

Around the 15 mile point I turned around where this old abandoned train bridge went over the wash. Looks like it held up pretty good over the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone wants to see what it's like driving out there, I took some video. The road crosses small wash after wash, and sometimes even goes down and runs along the bottom of the wash for a long distances.

 

[AntPhycho]

The last of the monsoon storms dumped some rain in a few spots near Chiriaco Summit on Thursday September 26th. Acromyrmex flew the next day all over the entire area, even in places that didn't get very much rain. I went out around 3:00 AM Saturday morning and stopped near the South entrance of Joshua Tree National Park and collected a bunch. They were still digging their nests, so I figured they would probably still have their fungus. While I was grabbing them I found a Cyphomyrmex queen too. I looked for more, but never found much of anything else.

 

 

Sure enough, I found Acromyrmex versicolor, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Myrmecocystus navajo, M. yuma, and M. mexicanus.

 

What amazing finds... I'm jealous 

[Kalidas]

Very nice indeed.

[gcsnelling]

Ahhh you're killing me Drew, I miss that area.

[Manitobant]

Is this the first time anyone has found cyphomyrmex? Good luck with her!

[liquidbee]

Hey Dspdrew, are you starting this thread back up for 2020 ??

[Zeiss]

Hey Dspdrew, are you starting this thread back up for 2020 ??

It's been constantly posted on for years.  Yes.

[kgollehon]

Found an early C. sansabeanus queen in the vicinity of Topanga state park on February the 3rd, going to be going back out to the Malibu region this weekend for another long hike. 

[nurbs]

Found an early C. sansabeanus queen in the vicinity of Topanga state park on February the 3rd, going to be going back out to the Malibu region this weekend for another long hike. 

 

Interesting. Was it winged?

[kgollehon]

 

Found an early C. sansabeanus queen in the vicinity of Topanga state park on February the 3rd, going to be going back out to the Malibu region this weekend for another long hike. 

 

Interesting. Was it winged?

 

No it had already removed both wings! A heavy fog had rolled in that afternoon as I was hiking and It was in about the 70s compared to the last few days. I'm thinking that the combination of humidity and temp might've triggered the flight? 

[dspdrew]

 

 

Found an early C. sansabeanus queen in the vicinity of Topanga state park on February the 3rd, going to be going back out to the Malibu region this weekend for another long hike. 

 

Interesting. Was it winged?

 

No it had already removed both wings! A heavy fog had rolled in that afternoon as I was hiking and It was in about the 70s compared to the last few days. I'm thinking that the combination of humidity and temp might've triggered the flight? 

 

 

It's hard to say what it means if you only find one. Are you sure it wasn't C. semitestaceus?