1. Location of collection: off mountain trail
2. Date of collection: 5/18/19
3. Habitat of collection: general area is sage brush mostly, but these were in a shaded area with a lot of pieces of sticks, bark, and semi-moist dirt near a stream
4. Length: ~8 mm
5. Coloration, hue, pattern and texture: black head and legs, golden-orange thorax with golden stripes, black with white stripes on abdomen
6. Distinguishing characteristics: I didn't have a magnifying glass, nor a very high quality camera but it appears the thorax has 5 segments, tapering larger towards head and smaller towards abdomen. abdomen appears to have 4 segments, three being large and the last being small. The color/pattern seems like it is pretty distinguishing to me.
7. Anything else distinctive: not that I noticed
8. Nest description: I didn't see the actual entrance, but I'm pretty sure it's under leaves/twigs, without any mounding.
9. Nuptial flight time and date: not sure
10 . Post the clearest pictures possible of the top, side, and face of the ant in question, and if possible, their nest and the habitat they were collected in.
I find them rather striking, hoping to get an ID so I can research nuptial flight timing on them or find one for sale in SoCal.
