2 replies to this topic

[hestoncv]

Curious if anyone follows formal methods for surveying an area for what species are available. Maybe this resource would be interesting for some. It includes collection methods and preserving the ants and how to label them, seems very interesting. https://mississippie...ecting.tips.htm

Let me know if you got something interesting from it.

[Skwiggledork]

Definitely a lot of interesting info there. I collect ants, but I'm far from doing any kind of formal survey. I just carry a few jars and if I see an any I want a better look at I grab it for later. My collection reflects the same kind of biases that crowdsourcing apps like Inaturalist do. I have a lot of common diurnal ants and hardly anything else. 

 

I also need to ID them, but I keep them pinned and labeled at least. This reminds me I need to take pictures of more of my collection for the journal I started.

As far as figuring out what species are nearby. I use antmaps.org/antweb.org to see what has been reported in my state and antwiki.org to see what kind of habitat they live in. I'm sure there are a lot that don't show up on those sites and a few that do show up that are no longer around, but for as little as I know, that's more than enough.  

[hestoncv]

Definitely a lot of interesting info there. I collect ants, but I'm far from doing any kind of formal survey. I just carry a few jars and if I see an any I want a better look at I grab it for later. My collection reflects the same kind of biases that crowdsourcing apps like Inaturalist do. I have a lot of common diurnal ants and hardly anything else. 

 

I also need to ID them, but I keep them pinned and labeled at least. This reminds me I need to take pictures of more of my collection for the journal I started.

As far as figuring out what species are nearby. I use antmaps.org/antweb.org to see what has been reported in my state and antwiki.org to see what kind of habitat they live in. I'm sure there are a lot that don't show up on those sites and a few that do show up that are no longer around, but for as little as I know, that's more than enough.  

Ill check out those websites! appreciate it.