7 replies to this topic

[cpman]

Hi everyone!

There was a flight of fire ants today at my house.
I caught 3 to see if any of the natives were flying, and one of them didn't have a median clypeal tooth!
Therefore, some native fire ants WERE flying today!

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EDIT May 27, 2015: Another native ant flew today. I'm adding the pictures here, as she is similar to the original queen. The original post continues below.





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She is 8 mm long exactly.

I'm just wondering whether she is S. geminata or S. xyloni.

Here is her head:




Here is her whole body:


If I remember right, you need a shot of the petiole to distinguish queens of these two species, so here is one I took:



I'm thinking S. geminata right now due to the lack of a petiole process, but I'm not sure if that is consistent for queens.

Thanks for any help!

Edited by cpman, May 27 2015 - 5:38 PM.

[AntsTexas]

wow, nice pictures...  what did u use to get them??

[cpman]

I used my iPhone 4S and my microscope. Thanks!

Edited by cpman, May 18 2015 - 4:13 PM.

[AntsTexas]

cool yw, i like the 2nd and 3rd pics...  very clear

Edited by Ant-Man, May 18 2015 - 4:17 PM.

[Chromerust]

S. Geminata in Texas?

[cpman]

S. geminata in Texas?

 

They are considered native to the more southern parts of Texas (including Austin) and are distributed over a fairly wide portion of the state.

Here is a map of county records of this species:

 

[cpman]

I checked her again for a medial clypeal tooth, and again, she does not appear to have one. I'd still like confirmation of the species though.

Edited by cpman, May 26 2015 - 7:46 PM.

[cpman]

I just edited the original post with pictures of another native fire ant queen I caught today.