20 replies to this topic

[Acutus]

Saw these 4/18  in Anne Arundel County Maryland. Have actually seen them along the road for at least 2 years and decided to check them out. There are quite a few of the mounds some bigger some smaller in a relatively small area. I know the pictures suck but was hoping y'all may have some idea. I was hoping I'd have better pics by now from my friend as we captured a couple workers but all I have is these for now. They definitely sting bite or something cause one got on my leg. Did not leave a mark though.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Acutus, May 3 2019 - 12:58 PM.

[Ferox_Formicae]

They're some kind of Formica, that's for sure.

[TennesseeAnts]

Might be a parasitic Formica.

[AntsBC]

Formica obscuriventris, a member of the F. rufa group. AntDude is correct, they do indeed start colonies via social parasitism.

Edited by AntsBC, April 30 2019 - 7:38 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Yep. I agree with AntsBC. Took me longer, but I got the same answer.

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, April 30 2019 - 8:21 AM.

[Acutus]

Yep. I agree with AntsBC. Took me longer, but I got the same answer.

 

 

Formica obscuriventris, a member of the F. rufa group. AntDude is correct, they do indeed start colonies via social parasitism.

 

 

Thanks guys!! It's a pretty cool area and there are MANY of these hills all over the area. 

So each hill is a seperate colony? I'm guessing when they produce alleates the new Queens just find another close colony and take over. They only do this to other Formica though right?

This Ant stuff is cool!

 

And you knew it was Formica originally because of the size of the hills? Just trying to learn what to look for.

Edited by Acutus, April 30 2019 - 1:39 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

No, my guess would be that those other mounds are satellite nests, as Formica are known to be polydomus. And yes, they enslave other Formica fusca group colonies.

[Acutus]

No, my guess would be that those other mounds are satellite nests, as Formica are known to be polydomus. And yes, they enslave other Formica fusca group colonies.

 Thanks Ant_Dude!!

[rbarreto]

Formica obscuriventris, a member of the F. rufa group. AntDude is correct, they do indeed start colonies via social parasitism.

 

How did you ID with these pictures? From my experience the Formica genus requires at the very least some close ups.

Edited by rbarreto, April 30 2019 - 3:41 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

You can zoom in.

[rbarreto]

You can zoom in.

 

I'm not trying to be rude, sorry if I came across that way. I'm just genuinely curious as to where you zoomed in that gave you the impression that it was Formica obscuriventris. 

[TennesseeAnts]

Second to last pic. And you didn't come across as rude.

[rbarreto]

Second to last pic. And you didn't come across as rude.

 

But why F. obscuriventris over say F. exsectoides? From what I can tell obscuriventris colonies tend to build mounds with thatch. Whereas exsectoides build mounds similar to that in the pictures above.

[Jamiesname]

Those are Formica Exsectoides. Look at the location on Google maps and then check the location on Antmaps for Formica Exsectoides and Formica Obscuriventris. As a side note, I have several queen's for sale if anyone is from Michigan:


http://www.formicult...ueens-for-sale/

Nest's can contain dozens of queens. During nuptial flights queen's will land after mating and the workers will drag (usually the ground is crawling with workers in areas with a lot of mounds) the newly mated queen's to the nearest nest where they will join ranks with any other queens in the colony. This species is also a parasite to other Formica species.

I've caught and moved both queen's and worker's to different nests more than 5 miles away and they were accepted into the nests as if they've been members their entire lives.

They're a very interesting species. I have a colony with 9 queens, 3-4 dozen workers and eggs/larvae all over the place. I'll probably start a journal on them soon.

Edited by Jamiesname, April 30 2019 - 6:34 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Second to last pic. And you didn't come across as rude.

 
But why F. obscuriventris over say F. exsectoides? From what I can tell obscuriventris colonies tend to build mounds with thatch. Whereas exsectoides build mounds similar to that in the pictures above.

I have found F. obscuriventris colonies with thatch as well. But here in Tennessee, there are a very limited number of pines, so they tend to use dirt and leaf stems.

[AntsBC]

These ants lack the concave depression on the top of their heads which Formica exsectoides and all other F. exsecta group members possess, therefore ruling out the possibility of them. Formica obscuriventris are also known to create mounds like this, and they are present in Maryland.

Edited by AntsBC, April 30 2019 - 8:41 PM.

[Jamiesname]

These ants lack the concave depression on the top of their heads which Formica exsectoides and all other F. exsecta group members have, therefore ruling out the possibility of them. Formica obscuriventris are also known to create mounds like this, and they are present in Maryland.

I'm looking at the ant in the center right of the last pic. There's another ant down diagonally to the right of that one that you can see fairly clearly. To me, they both appear to have concave depressions on the top of their heads.

Edited by Jamiesname, April 30 2019 - 8:21 PM.

[Acutus]

I'll get better pics as well. Don't know what's holding them up. My friend has a couple workers we captured and a good macro setup.

 

I also forgot to mention that these mounds are in grass that border a bunch of Pine Trees. Lob-lolly I think but I wasn't paying attention to the trees. I can revisit the area though.

[AntsBC]

 

These ants lack the concave depression on the top of their heads which Formica exsectoides and all other F. exsecta group members have, therefore ruling out the possibility of them. Formica obscuriventris are also known to create mounds like this, and they are present in Maryland.

I'm looking at the ant in the center right of the last pic. There's another ant down diagonally to the right of that one that you can see fairly clearly. To me, they both appear to have concave depressions on the top of their heads.

 

 

Oh, I didn't see that. When i posted the answer of F. obscuriventris, I was on my phone. Looking at it from the big screen, I agree, these ants do have the concave depression, therefore concluding that they are actually Formica exsectoides. 

 

Good catch, next time I'll remember to look at photos on my computer.

Edited by AntsBC, May 1 2019 - 12:53 PM.

[Acutus]

Here are updated pics of the ant I told mt friend to focus on the head. One thorax shot too.