This queen flew into the book I was reading outside today.
I am guessing that she is a Monomorium or Solenopsis mostly from her size (just under 4mm, but I couldn't get her to sit still on a ruler for a photo.)
She is much smaller looking than the M. pharaonis queens I am used to seeing, and she still has her wings.
She is kind of hairy, as you can see in at least one of the pics.
In the photos where she looks more golden, that's because she was backlight and the light was shining through her gaster. She looked to be a dark brown (much darker than M. pharaonis).
I am guessing M. eratogynum or M. minimum. But It's kind of a wild guess. I am newly returned to CA after 20+ years in Canada, plus I generally don't deal with the wee species (except for a brief period of interest in M.pharaonis years ago) (Could it be a thief ant/Solenopsis? they are also wee things, are they not?)
Sorry for the lousy photos. She's tiny and all I had on me was a dirty 2cm tube.
Edited by Andrengo, June 27 2021 - 12:48 AM.