16 replies to this topic

[Foogoo]

I headed out to the trail drew and kellakk visited a few weeks ago to see what I could find. No queens, but lots of colonies right on the trail. This was all in Chino Hills Regional Park

 

Habitat: Bare dirt
Length: ~5mm
Color, hue, pattern and texture: Red head and thorax
Distinguishing characteristics: ---
Anything else distinctive: ---
Nest description: Normal Pogonomyrmex mound/hole

 

Is it possible to tell from pictures alone what Pogonomyrmex species these might be? Are rugosus always darker red (unlike these)?

 

Habitat: Scrub
Length: ~1mm
Color, hue, pattern and texture: Yellow
Distinguishing characteristics: ---
Anything else distinctive: ---
Nest description: Small sandy mounds, multiple mounds in small areas.

 

 

Can someone confirm whether these are Dorymyrmex bicolor?

 

Habitat: Rock pile near non-running wash, shaded and cool
Length: ~5mm
Color, hue, pattern and texture: Black
Distinguishing characteristics: HUGE larvae (alates?)
Anything else distinctive: ---
Nest description: Underneath a rock, appears nest goes deeper into rocks

 

I wanted to find more in the area so I flipped another rock and found a family of earwigs (or something similar). Flipped another and saw a medium brown snake head staring right back at me. I set the rock back and high tailed out of there!

 

 

[kellakk]

1. Probably P. californicus.

2. Forelius sp.

3. Solenopsis xyloni by the 2 nodes.

4. What, I rarely see snakes in this area.  Lucky!  Where exactly was that?

[Foogoo]

1. Probably P. californicus.

2. Forelius sp.

3. Solenopsis xyloni by the 2 nodes.

4. What, I rarely see snakes in this area.  Lucky!  Where exactly was that?

 

Huh, thanks! I assumed they were californicus but that's the only other species I know. Is the coloration of subnitidus the same? And are Forelius larvae typically that big or were they alates? Since I couldn't find the queen, I did my best to return them all home.

 

The snake and the black ants were in the east rock pile on the slope down to the channel right here.

Edited by Foogoo, February 16 2015 - 9:54 PM.

[kellakk]

Oh, the yellow ones in the 2nd pic were Forelius, not the black ones.

[Foogoo]

Oh, the yellow ones in the 2nd pic were Forelius, not the black ones.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I swear I thought they were Solenopsis.

[Foogoo]

Anyone have any clue about the black ants? Last set of pictures.

[Gregory2455]

Anyone have any clue about the black ants? Last set of pictures.

Dorymyrmex insanus? By the way, I do not really see a snake.

[Foogoo]

 

Anyone have any clue about the black ants? Last set of pictures.

Dorymyrmex insanus? By the way, I do not really see a snake.

 

The pictures aren't that great but these guys were much bigger, more Camponotus size. But looked nothing like them.

EDIT: I did some googling and they look like Formica fusca. Confirm, deny?

 

Ha! It would have made for a neat picture if I wasn't balanced on a rocky slope with nowhere to run.

Edited by Foogoo, February 17 2015 - 10:33 PM.

[Gregory2455]

Ehhhhh... I still think at least it is a Dolichoderinae. How about Liometopum luctuosum? That would explain the alate larvae, as they should already be producing alates.

[James C. Trager]

I agree with the Liometopum luctuosum ID for the black one. If we didn't know the size, one might guess Tapinoma sessile, but then we would wonder why the larvae are white rather than the usual yellow (among other subtler differences).

[dspdrew]

Wow, that would be the first I've ever seen those in hills like these. Can Liometopum luctuosum live where pine trees don't grow?

[kellakk]

There are pine trees in that area, if I remember correctly.  But I've never seen that species there.  Foogoo, did you mean this is in Carbon Canyon Regional Park?  Or Chino Hills State Park?

[dspdrew]

Both of those places are in the foothills, thousands of feet below the elevation that pines grow in any numbers at all. There might be a random pine tree here or there, but the only places I've ever seen L. luctuosum are in pine forests, which around here are above 5000 feet. I don't know enough about them to know how often they would be found outside a pine forest.

[Foogoo]

There are pine trees in that area, if I remember correctly.  But I've never seen that species there.  Foogoo, did you mean this is in Carbon Canyon Regional Park?  Or Chino Hills State Park?

 

You tell me . The maps link shows exactly where I found them, all I know was it was on the trail off the Nature Center.

[James C. Trager]

L. luctuosum can live where there no pines. In Arizona I've seen them inhabiting the bases of cottonwood and oak trees near streams, as well as in the more usual piney habitat.

Edited by James C. Trager, February 19 2015 - 5:59 AM.

[dspdrew]

Ohhh, wow. Now I want to see if these really were L. luctuosum. I can't believe all the species we've found there compared to all the other hills in the Orange County area, excluding O'Neill Park of course, though I've never seen these at O'Neill Park.

[Foogoo]

L. luctuosum can live where there no pines. In Arizona I've seen them inhabiting the bases of cottonwood and oak trees near streams, as well as in the more usual piney habitat.

 

Would they live in a rock pile on the side of a cool wash? This one is still bugging me. My pictures aren't that great but I distinctly remember them having long gasters. Maybe I'll go back and see if they're still there... Just hope I don't find the snake again.