28 replies to this topic

[Amazant]

It’s like a miniature queen and it is a little bigger than a worker, her gaster is a little larger than others and her abdomen is huge.



This worker(?) is usually surrounded by some workers like today when I checked on them



Could anyone tell me what this is I’m really confused I have never seen something like this before and the colony is really small.

Edited by Amazant, September 17 2019 - 3:54 PM.

[AntPhycho]

Edit - . . . This is why I don't comment on identification posts 

Edited by AntPhycho, September 17 2019 - 6:34 PM.

[ponerinecat]

Its a reproductive, you can see wing stubs

If its tetramorium then likely its a social parasite.

[Amazant]

Yeah it’s a Tetramorium and if it is a social parasite how could she have gotten in and what type could it be if it is a social parasite?

[ponerinecat]

I dunno, it doesnt remind me of anything other than another tetramorium.

[Amazant]

This is still really strange and confusing and I want to know how it got in to the formicarium

[ponerinecat]

I don't know, but I gave you an ID on your other post.

[Amazant]

Thanks

[Manitobant]

Could be tetramorium atratulum, a rare workerless species that produces tons of alates that mate In the nest. Nice find!

[Amazant]

Maybe, but they don’t look to much alike but I’ll see what happens!

[ponerinecat]

Could be tetramorium atratulum, a rare workerless species that produces tons of alates that mate In the nest. Nice find!

that's a nope. queens are fatter than termite queens.

[Manitobant]

Could be tetramorium atratulum, a rare workerless species that produces tons of alates that mate In the nest. Nice find!

that's a nope. queens are fatter than termite queens.

only when they start laying. Here is a vid of non-physogastric ones:https://youtu.be/o1FlzEo8hSE

[ponerinecat]

still doesn't look alike, too small

[Amazant]

I got some more pictures and in this one there is this weird thing coming out of her gaster, does anyone know what this is?


Also she definitely has wings which have been chewed a little bit.

[Serafine]

Might be an intercaste, a queen-worker hybrid.

 

Is this a wild-caught colony or a colony raised from a single queen?

[Mettcollsuss]

Might be an intercaste, a queen-worker hybrid.

That's what I was thinking.

[Martialis]

I agree with intercaste. 

 

Pretty cool!

[Ferox_Formicae]

Definitely intercaste. Given the fact that she only has wing buds and not full-blown wings, she's definitely not Tetramorium atralum or any other social parasite. Still super cool though!

[VenomousBeast]

Looks a lot like Strongylognathus testaceus but they normally parasitize on Tetramorium caespitum... Maybe they've found there way to US and now parasitize on their close cousins, Tetramorium immigrans??

[Martialis]

Looks a lot like Strongylognathus testaceus but they normally parasitize on Tetramorium caespitum... Maybe they've found there way to US and now parasitize on their close cousins, Tetramorium immigrans??

 

 

Not that it isn't a possibility, but it doesn't seem as likely as an intercaste necessarily. T. immigrans themselves were considered to be T. caespitum until very recently, too.

 

I'm assuming this is a Tetramorium colony since that's the only myrmicine (other than Crematogaster, but they're very distinct) Amazant has.