17 replies to this topic

[WILLj]

So I recently caught six queens in Sydney, Australia. The queens I caught may indeed be some species of pheidole, but I am unsure as although they look very similar, they have some small colour differences. The bodies are a dark black and the heads are a reddish colour. I found them running around on a tennis court last night(17th January 2020)

Link to photo:https://albumizr.com/a/
Sorry for the not-that-good photo

[WILLj]

https://albumizr.com/a/5uCa
This link may work, I don't think the link does

[GeorgeK]

Can you provide pictures from several angles please?

[TheMicroPlanet]

Perhaps an overhead view and profile view? I think I see 2 petioles but i'm not sure.

[Martialis]

Length?

[NickAnter]

It's a Myrmicine. Either Pheidole or Carebara. Probably the former.

[Manitobant]

Definitely Pheidole sp, maybe megacephala.

Edited by Manitobant, January 18 2020 - 8:41 AM.

[NickAnter]

Probably not. I don't think they are that prevalent there.

[ponerinecat]

Pheidole sp. We can't give you a species ID, there are too many identical and undescribed species in Aus.

[Martialis]

Meranopolus was my first guess. It doesn’t look “stocky” enough for a Pheidole.

Edit: Er, actually I think Pheidole is a strong possibility. A measurement is needed to really tell anything about her.

Edited by Martialis, January 18 2020 - 10:21 AM.

[ponerinecat]

Pheidole is near garenteed.

[Manitobant]

Megacephala has a lot of records from sydney and comes in many different color forms. There is also a reddish tint on the thorax which leads me to believe its megacephala. Even if it isn't, its 100% a pheidole queen.

Edited by Manitobant, January 18 2020 - 10:40 AM.

[ponerinecat]

Megacephala has a lot of records from sydney and comes in many different color forms. There is also a reddish tint on the thorax which leads me to believe its megacephala. Even if it isn't, its 100% a pheidole queen.

There is no way to narrow it down, unless you go through lots of records and get better photos of the ant. Even then, it's highly likely this is an undescribed species.

[Martialis]

I don’t think it’s undescribed. Don’t look for zebras until you’re sure it’s not a horse.

[AnthonyP163]

 

Megacephala has a lot of records from sydney and comes in many different color forms. There is also a reddish tint on the thorax which leads me to believe its megacephala. Even if it isn't, its 100% a pheidole queen.

There is no way to narrow it down, unless you go through lots of records and get better photos of the ant. Even then, it's highly likely this is an undescribed species.

 

I wouldn't say it's highly likely. Possible, maybe. It's more likely that, if not P. megacephala, it could be a species that simply isn't well documented or known, although described. 

[WILLj]

Just if you guys wanted more information, she is about 6mm long with stripes on her gaster.
Here is another photo:https://albumizr.com/a/hlzo

[Martialis]

Some sort of Pheidole, no doubt.

[RushmoreAnts]

Pheidole is (generally) on par with Camponotus in terms of species richness. It would be more difficult to identify a Pheidole species than say Carebara or Solenopsis.