9 replies to this topic

[futurebird]

I found my first queen in NYC ... right on the sidewalk. I thought she was lasius neoniger, but when I compared her to my neoniger queen... it was obvious 

 

she's a killer queen

dynamite with a laser beam.

 

I made this for her

https://www.reddit.c...a_killer_queen/

[Manitobant]

that's not a parasitic lasius queen. Its probably a starved neoniger queen or something similar.

[B_rad0806]

for the first 5 seconds I was like, "what the heck is that?" then I realized it was cleaning itself 

[futurebird]

that's not a parasitic lasius queen. Its probably a starved neoniger queen or something similar.

 

https://www.reddit.c..._this_neoniger/

 

That's what I thought at first. She's bigger than my neoniger queen. Longer by about 2mm someone claimed her head was "wide" IDK about that. The link above has better identification photos than the video. 

 

The one thing she lacks that most parasitic queen have are thick legs. 

[Manitobant]

The pictures on reddit make me think that there is a slight chance it is parasitic, however parasitic queens usually have a bigger head compared to thorax as well as a smaller gaster.

[futurebird]

I really need a good book with clear photos and descriptions of the US lasius species. I have the poor girl in a dual test tube set up with about 3 neoniger workers (one callow) and 8 pupae. She has her own tube and there is a small outworld.

Some photos of the set up here:

https://twitter.com/...712362226884612

 

She is not neoniger. That's all that I know. Her head is larger and she is overall larger. By maybe 2 mm. I'd like to give her the correct set up, but since the workers are scared to go near her I won't move her until I can get a good identification.

[futurebird]

I felt so bad for misjudging her I made her an apology video...

 

[Kaelwizard]

Yeah she doesn't look like a parasitic species to me based on the video.

[NickAnter]

Could be pallitarsis or americanus.

[futurebird]

hmm Lasius pallitarsis?

 

 

IDK if the mandibles work?

 

The large-eyed Lasius pallitarsis can be confused with any of the other three species in the niger group: Lasius neoniger, Lasius americanus or Lasius niger. The key distinguishing feature is that L. pallitarsis has a clearly defined offset, short, and upturned basal tooth on its mandible. This offset tooth is best seen in full-face view with the mandibles open, but if you can’t open the mandibles, count the teeth you can see. If you only see six (and the offset, seventh one is hidden under the clypeus), it is likely you have L. pallitarsis. (Ellison et al., 2012)