34 replies to this topic

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Here are the pictures:

They don't accurately convey the smallness of the weird queen, probably because she is in the foreground and because the other queen shown here is probably the smallest normal one. trust me though, she looks quite small in real life. The last one shows size the best.

Edited by Antennal_Scrobe, July 17 2019 - 8:57 AM.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

If only she was next to one of the other queens, then you would really be able to see the size difference.

[TennesseeAnts]

I just got a colony of Temnothorax curvispinosus without a curvispinosus queen, and with a parasitic Temnothorax queen.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

A shame... How could you tell without a size comparison?

[TennesseeAnts]

I am glad! The parasitic queen is skinny and brown/black with a large head.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Oh, so is she a normal social parasite species that makes workers? My parasite queen is workerless, she lays eggs that hatch into alates when cared for by the host workers and queens.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Did I mention these ants are master escape artists? The one paperback I had at first didn't stop them, now I have 3 hardcovers on top of their setup, which seems to be working, I haven't seen an escaped ant in weeks.

[TennesseeAnts]

Yeah mine has workers.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

What species is she? I imagine they have different ones in Tennessee.

[TennesseeAnts]

I don't know yet. I will key her out tomorrow.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

They are all in the artificial nest now.

[Canadian anter]

Yeah mine has workers.

Temnothorax minutissimus does not produce workers.I suggest you recheck your ID

[Antennal_Scrobe]

T. minutissimus is an inquiline parasite species, whose queens live inside functional colonies of other ants, in this case T. curvispinosus. They are mostly identical to the host queens except for the fact that they are only about two thirds the size. My colony has three normal curvispinosus queens and one very small, differently colored, and strangely behaving queen who seems to be T. minutissimus. the workers are not hers, but if she produces alates, I can confirm my ID.

 

Yeah mine has workers.

Temnothorax minutissimus does not produce workers.I suggest you recheck your ID

 

Edited by Antennal_Scrobe, July 24 2019 - 1:10 PM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Yeah mine has workers.

Temnothorax minutissimus does not produce workers.I suggest you recheck your ID

I know. I meant mine produces workers, and is a temporary social parasite.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

The are several male alates present in this colony now. The worker count does not appear to have increased or decreased. I am pretty sure they are not producing any new brood.