So, I know that a whole bunch of people have been wondering when I'll be coming back to Formiculture, as it's been many months of very little activity from me, and I guess it's about that time now. So, where have I been over the past several months? Well, I moved, and the process has been very complicated to say the very least. I moved about 50 minutes away from my old house in Irmo to a more rural area called Prosperity. It's a beautiful environment, and there's a lot of species here I've never seen before, and not just ants. I've seen Red Efts, Nine-Banded Armadillos, Coyotes, tons of fish (more on that later), Great Horned Owls, among others (go ahead and check out my iNaturalist account for a more comprehensive list). As far as ants goes, I've seen Polyergus longicornis, Cardiocondyla minutior, Strumigenys margaritae, laevinasis, rostrata, ornata, pilinasis, and reflexa, Stigmatomma pallipes, Camponotus caryae, the form of Colobopsis impressa previously referred to as pylartes fraxinicola, Proceratium croceum and chickasaw, and many more. I've also made 4 new state records, those being Strumigenys margaritae and laevinasis, Procerarium chickasaw, and Lasius subglaber. I've explored sandhill habitats, collected tons of new specimens, and took up the secondary hobby of fishing (I now live on the lake/river by the way). I just got back from Michigan, and collected some cool species there, and next summer I'm probably going to Florida and California. I've not been able to keep up with keeping ants due to family reasons, but I have been able to hold onto a Strumigenys ornata queen, which is actually my favorite native Strumigenys (if you didn't know already). My ant collection is still going strong however, and I'm currently up to at least 142 species with 7 state records! In any case, I should be able to be on Formiculture a bit more now, and I've got some cool things I want to show you guys!
Love and huggies,
~Cloud
I have to dig for them the old fashioned way unless I go to a particularly forested area.
