24 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

I decided to combine both species into one journal, as it will be a bit easier to maintain than two additional journals and I got them at the same time anyway.

 

----Pheidole Moerens--

 

While I was briefly staying at a motel yesterday, I decided to look around to see what I could find as far as ants go. The first thing I saw was Monomorium ergatogyna and a tiny Argentine ant colony. I saw no Pheidole workers around at all.

 

So, I was pretty surprised to lift a piece of wood and find a colony of P. moerens nesting in it! Including (extremely likely, as I dug around there and saw no sign of any additional nest. Since there is fresh batches of eggs in the wood, and alates...99% sure I got the queen). I have been trying to get a colony of this species for a while, and they are sort of common here in Irvine (Southern California)...but hard to get.

 

Very tiny species (tiny alates too, so I imagine tiny queens)...and while in nature they only get small colonies (usually 500 workers and 100 soldiers). I'm sort of hoping like a couple other known species (Dorymyrmex bicolor and Pheidole hyatti), they end up growing a lot more in captivity. I'm not sure if anyone has actually kept this species (I did a quick google search and found barely any info on this one even though they are common), so guess I'll find out if with an increase of food and better conditions...they end up growing bigger in colony size. As for being common, they are really easy to miss...so probably why they aren't very noticed.

 

Also, one little fact. They very rarely nest in soil. They mostly nest in plants and wood I believe...so its almost definite I got the entire colony (except maybe a few workers in their tunnels in the soil I might have missed).

 

This species is more slow moving than my Pheidole megacephala colony, also vastly less aggressive. I kind of like that. And one big positive, they eat seeds! That is why I like harvester ant species and other Pheidole so much...I am really interested and like seed-eating ants the most. My P. megacephala colony never eats seeds at all and are really picky.

 

Since I just got them yesterday not much else to add. But, really hope this colony does well. They are my best find yesterday.

 

And next up...

 

---Monomorium ergatogyna--

 

First. Yeah not sure if I'll keep them or trade/sell them off if someone wants them. I'll see how things go.

 

I got WAY more than I ever wanted to get. Over 100 queens (they hide super easily in the soil and are hard to see), too many workers to count and tons of brood and alates. When I was getting them, I did not even see 25% of the amount of ants I got when I was collecting them, so they hide really well and must be so tiny they are easy to miss.

 

So with that...they are very tiny (tiny queens too) and I doubt each queen by herself lays many eggs (so tiny). But, I got SO many queens...

 

I actually really like this species though. They are native, but like Tapinoma sessile...can develop supercolonies in urban areas. One colony I saw stretched an entire block, going up a rather large hill and had millions of workers and I have no idea how many queens (must have been TONS). They also win most of their fights against Solenopsis invicta (and other Solenopsis, like Solenopsis xyloni that I saw dead bodies around some of the M. ergatogyna mounds) and win 100% of their fights against Argentine ants. So, in an urban area with only S. invicta or Argentine ants around, they are probably beneficial as they do allow other ants to live amongst them (except they do kill the workers a lot of the other ants. But that is probably a bit normal. Never take over their nests of native ants). However. They'll go inside Argentine ant colonies (they seem to target this species a lot) and kick them out (seen this quite often). Which is actually funny to see Argentine ants taking all their brood and everything and running off. Then the M. ergatogyna queens come along and occupy it (which is even funnier to watch as in one case, the Argentine ant colony was huge that was nesting there).

 

They are really easy to keep overall. Except they take someone pretty skilled at keeping ants to keep them and you NEED fluon (nothing else works) and it needs to be applied perfectly. They are probably #1 native California ant at escaping (even Solenopsis molesta is easier to prevent escaping. ). Depending on the plastic, they can even easily walk over the fluon (and it wasn't how I applied it, as I applied it exactly same as all my other ants and it always worked). I switched containers early (or I'd have had huge problems on my hand) and the fluon (again applied the same) worked a lot better. Probably one of the few species that has an easier time walking over fluon, if the quality of plastic has too many little rough edges invisible to the eye. Even my Pheidole megacephala (and, Argentine ants I briefly kept) can't even get past fluon no matter the container.

 

So, after losing some workers (not that many)...and doing touchups on the fluon (even a hint of dust or speck of dirt lets this species walk over it without issue). I ended up with (after an hour) an escape proof container.

 

I'll see how this species ends up doing. I really want to keep them and get a good colony out of them and they'll make huge nests all inter-connected from containers I hook up in the future. It would look awesome. And they readily make trails. But, I'm not sure if I'm really skilled enough at keeping them properly. So, we'll see.

 

Oh and speaking of trails...they recruit faster than any ant I've personally seen in California. Twice as fast as Pheidole megacephala (which already recruits really fast). Put in food? Literally one worker finds it, and 2-3 seconds later a trail is made and a bunch of workers are getting the food. Connect two ant farms up with tubing? One worker goes in. Seconds later many workers go in. All from one worker, and suddenly a whole bunch of ants follow behind within a matter of 2-4 seconds.

Edited by Vendayn, May 4 2015 - 7:26 PM.

[Myrmicinae]

Does your M. ergatogyna colony have apterous queens?

 

Also, here is an interesting piece on P. moerens by Dr. Wild, if you haven't seen it yet:

 

http://www.myrmecos....eidole-moerens/

Edited by Myrmicinae, May 1 2015 - 4:30 PM.

[Vendayn]

There were a few actual females with wings. Except...when I was putting them in my container the wings fell off really easily. Which I didn't really notice until now, looking back on it. The remaining queens in the ant farm took their wings off that had them. So, yeah...all the queens are wingless now. Is it possible that for some reason, this colony has wingless females and I don't actually have as many fertile queens as I thought?

 

What would make all the females have no wings for this species? Or if they do/did have wings, why would they come off so easily?

 

And thanks for the article link. I did see that a while ago, but nice to read it again. They are definitely very timid, but light and even breathing on them doesn't seem to bother them at all.

[Vendayn]

I am starting to think this isn't Monomorium ergatogyna from my reading into this, but a species that must look really similar (complete black, super shiny) with mostly wingless females.

 

I wonder what they could be then. I definitely got fertile queens (got quite a few with enlarged abdomens).

[Myrmicinae]

M. ergatogyna is the only Monomorium species listed for CA, apart from M. pharaonis.  The reason that I ask is that the name "ergatogyna" implies aptery in queens.

Edited by Myrmicinae, May 1 2015 - 6:33 PM.

[Vendayn]

Oh, does it? I didn't realize that. Then that is what I have. I tried finding if Monomorium ergatogyna had aptery queens, but maybe I didn't search right or something.

 

Does that mean the 100+ queens is more like a few fertile queens? That would be lucky for me.

[Myrmicinae]

Oh, does it? I didn't realize that. Then that is what I have. I tried finding if Monomorium ergatogyna had aptery queens, but maybe I didn't search right or something.

 

Does that mean the 100+ queens is more like a few fertile queens? That would be lucky for me.

 

Maybe so.    Can you verify whether there are both alate and apterous queens?  Also, do you have any males?

 

It is actually quite common for M. minimum-group species in general to produce apterous queens.  I don't think that anyone knows why this is.  It would be an interesting topic to research. 

[Vendayn]

I can verify that when I first got them, there was winged queens. Not only males, but actual winged queens. Their wings fell off very easily though,and I barely touched them. After I moved them to the temporary holding container, almost all the wings were gone. And then no winged queens at all when I moved them to the ant farm.

 

And yeah, I have at least one male. He was crawling around, looked like he was trying to get out.

[Vendayn]

The male from my Monomorium ergatogyna colony is dead (and actually, the male is the size of the females if not even a tad bit bigger (I have to take a better look). Which, is interesting. Usually I see males being a lot smaller than the female queens.). The male I'm guessing mated with one or more of the queens, since it was healthy earlier. Just was running around on the soil, not really doing anything.

 

Most have decided to nest in the small log I put in the middle. Not many in the soil. The log has tons of holes and crevices in it...its pretty much almost hallow with bits of wood inside.

 

The Pheidole moerens are off to a good start. Just one dead soldier, but it looked like I accidentally injured her Other than that, they are good. Didn't get any of the crushed quinoa or walnut, but I'm not too worried about that. Probably gather small bits when I don't see it.

[Vendayn]

I've had quite a few of the females die on me in my Monomorium ergatogyna colony. A few workers too. Not sure why...it isn't a moisture problem, nor is it too wet in there. I see 5-6 dead females, and about 10 or so dead workers. If I recall, I had this problem before...but I thought it might be because of the way I setup the container (it was a lot harder without fluon).

 

But...maybe this is normal. When I transported a colony of Monomorium ergatogyna from the hillside (where I used to live in San Diego) to inside the old apartment complex. I had gotten a HUGE colony of them. Within a few days that entire colony nearly vanished (huge population drop). However, after 1 year (the next Summer)...I went to look and they were all over the place and taking over Argentine ant colonies. The 2nd year they were producing alates and had taken over a huge area. But, that first year...they nearly vanished and I thought they died at the time.

[Vendayn]

I gave my Monomorium ergatogyna to my neighbor. This was 3 days ago now. Partly because eventually I'll be moving, and if I move out of state I couldn't bring them. If I move within the state, I'll just take some with me. :PWhich my neighbor...put the colony in a potted plant outside his door because his apartment was being invaded by Argentine ants and he didn't want poison sprayed because he has dogs. And his dogs eat ant traps and they don't work that well for Argentine ants. Three days later, Monomorium ergatogyna have spread all around his unit (and mine (right next door) and kicked out all the Argentine ants. I looked, and the M. ergatogyna were invading the last Argentine ant nest in the nearby area. At first they went into his place, but when he cleaned up his kitchen (and wiped some of the workers up) they stopped coming in. So...now no more Argentine ants. A bit further down are a whole bunch of Argentine ants that have moved in since Winter ended, except they are being invaded by the Monomorium as well and losing ground. I had a lot of workers to do all that in such a short time period!

 

My Pheidole moerens colony however is doing great. Don't see any new eggs though, but they've done a lot of digging and I see some brood on the bottom of the glass jar. I guess they moved out of the wood and into the more wet soil. I'll take a better look tomorrow to see if I can't find any fresh batches of eggs...hope I got a queen. I know they are always active at night time (I barely see them if at all, in the day...so they are a nocturnal species mostly. Might have to do with the heat too, they might like it cooler).

[Vendayn]

Also, I thought my neighbor was...you know...actually going to keep the Monomorium. Turns out, he wanted them for anti-Argentine ant. I could have done that for him, but oh well. To be honest, I wouldn't have given him the colony if I knew that was what he was going to do. But too late now.

Edited by Vendayn, May 11 2015 - 4:42 PM.

[Vendayn]

The Monomorium ergatogyna have taken over the dumpster area, where most of the Argentine ants were (dumpsters are a 15-20 second walk from my unit). They have also gone behind the garages in the little plant areas, and heavily occupied my outdoor garden I have. There are mint, jade plants, bean plants (vine variety) and quinoa growing back there. Among a few other types of plants that started growing. I imagine the Monomorium ergatogyna will probably make heavy use of this area as there is a lot of different plants here.

 

They also took over the Pheidole megacephala which are now 100% gone...they were nesting in the wall in my neighbor's garage (half inside/half outside). I watched the M. ergatogyna fighting them and the Pheidole megacephala got destroyed rather quickly (even the soldiers lost quick), but they were heavily outnumbered. Solenopsis invicta that were also in the area have disappeared, but I don't know if they got killed off or not...I occasionally see a worker, but not as many as I used to see.

 

Brachymyrmex are still around, guess they either are left alone or they have good defense or something. Dorymyrmex bicolor and Pogonomyrmex californicus seem to be ignored as well.

 

Argentine ants are still around in the outer areas, but they too are quickly losing as before.

[Ants4fun]

Nice! That's exactly what everyone needs! A native species that destroys the invasive species, and leaves the fellow natives alone!

[Vendayn]

Yup. In the last place I lived, I brought Tapinoma sessile to the area and Solenopsis xyloni were nesting alongside them. The T.sessile grew to 10,000,000 ants (huge colony) but the Argentine ants killed them. It was a huge war though, but T. sessile aren't good at fighting (one Argentine ant can kill three T. sessile workers). And where they were, there were massive Argentine ant colonies around. The Tapinoma sessile couldn't even make a dent in their numbers, even though they did kill a lot.

 

Monomorium ergatogyna do a lot better against Argentine ants. One M. ergatogyna worker can kill 3 Argentine ant workers. There was a hillside that was covered with them, and Argentine ants couldn't get any colony going on it. There was a lot of Solenopsis xyloni as well...but, the M. ergatogyna colony disappeared for some reason and then Argentine ants moved in. They had a large colony inside the apartment complex too, that grew really large...probably still there.

 

If I'm likely to move at the end of the year, I probably won't see how all the ant colonies develop sadly. I can at least watch what they do this year.

 

Also, there is a Pheidole moerens colony by my garage, in my garden. Didn't even know one was there, until I put crushed walnuts outside. Quite a big colony too, so must have been there for a while. The Monomorium ergatogyna leave them alone as well, and even sharing the crushed walnuts.

 

And finally...I moved my own Pheidole moerens colony to the old container the M. ergatogyna were in. Their nest is mostly in the wood, so it was easy to transfer them. Don't know if I have a queen or not still, but I hope I do!

Edited by Vendayn, May 13 2015 - 6:38 PM.

[Vendayn]

So, I guess Brachymyrmex and Monomorium ergatogyna co-exist. Along with Pheidole moerens, Pogonomyrmex californicus and Dorymyrmex bicolor. All seem to get along in the garden area.

 

I thought Brachymyrmex and M. ergatogyna would fight, because they are both about the same size and have similar nesting areas. But, I see Brachymyrmex workers and nests around where M. ergatogyna nests and trails are. So, I'm glad there isn't any aggression between them at all. But, all of them do pick fights with Argentine ants.

[gcsnelling]

Interesting tales Vendayn, does this mean that you have successfully introduced an invasive species ( Ph. megacephala) to Irvine??

[drtrmiller]

OT: Is P. megacephala a plant pest, or do they only harm local fauna?

[Vendayn]

Interesting tales Vendayn, does this mean that you have successfully introduced an invasive species ( Ph. megacephala) to Irvine??

A while back, a friend (no longer a friend though) was living with me and he was working in the neighborhood where they were (he went around fixing peoples computers, he worked for Geek Squad but got laid off after I reported him). So, he got a bunch of ants cause he knew I liked Pheidole (except I didn't really want Ph. megacephala). Then skip a few weeks. He then he poured bleach into most of my ants (including the ones he brought back) and threw out the rest of my other ants (he was really high on some pretty hardcore drugs, didn't even know he did that until my parents caught him). One of which was the remaining Pheidole megacephala colony, dunno how many exactly he threw out in total. But, they went into my neighbor's garage and into his walls. I tried getting as many as I could, but I didn't want to destroy the walls so I couldn't get all of them. The last I saw them, the Monomorium ergatogyna were going into their nest, but dunno actually if they killed them or not.

[Vendayn]

I do have a Pheidole megacephala colony now that I got from my neighbor's walls (I tried flooding them out with a hose). But, I won't be releasing them. I've always planned to put them in the freezer if they get too many, or start getting alates or I move.

 

And I did report the colony. But no one ever came. I called pest control (I tried Orkin and few local ones I found on google) a bunch of times on various days (weekdays and once on a weekend), but no one ever picked up or replied to my voice mails. Even told apartment complex but they just said they don't spray for ants. My neighbor has put out various bait traps and stuff (he has a lot of pets, so doesn't spray poison) but they haven't worked. He has tried Antbloc (the granule stuff), various ant baits...and they are all ignored. And soap/water trick doesn't work either, since they still come out of his walls. But maybe the Monomorium will kill them off.

 

But yeah, the colony is there cause my ex-friend dumped them out in his crazy state of mind (among other ants, plus all the other ones he killed). But this was a while ago now.

Edited by Vendayn, May 18 2015 - 6:27 PM.