2 replies to this topic

[kellakk]

I have a Solenopsis minor that I'm trying to identify to species for my internship.  I'm using this guide to try to identify it.  I got the best face shot possible with the stereo microscope that I was using, but it's really hard to judge for me which species this is.  Can anyone help me?

 

 

[cpman]

Minors are tricky to ID. I don't have access to it, but according to Dr. Trager's key to this genus, Carlton, C. E. 1987. Identification of Arkansas fire ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Solenopsis spp.) workers can be used for minors. I'm unsure if it has these two species, as Arkansas may be too far west.
Dr. Trager does note that S. ambychila "resembl[es] a small, yellowish S. xyloni and very closely resembling S. aurea from which only queens and major workers can be distinguished with certainty," so I do wish you luck with this difficult ID...
Also, in Mackay and Mackay (2002), they say that the smallest workers of these species are indistinguishable.

Edited by cpman, July 2 2015 - 7:43 PM.

[dspdrew]

This is the first time I've looked at the differences between these species, and after looking at images on AntWeb, I think the differences are pretty clear. I was always under the assumption that the ones I have been finding were S. amblychila, and I just took a look at one of the queen specimens I have, and it's definitely S. amblychila. As for this specimen of yours, I have no idea.