78 replies to this topic

[drtrmiller]

Yeah, at first glance, I was wondering if they were alate pupae.

[nurbs]

Wow, those are some big pupae... larger than her. I wonder what the workers will think of such a small queen...

 

Yeah, those are F. ravida pupae. It is why I wasn't sure if this alate was F. ravida. I may actually remove them since they may become hostile towards her according to Dr. Trager.

[James C. Trager]

The latest batch of pictures is great. Not F. puberula, rather, F. aserva, recognized by lack of pilosity.

Just keep an eye out for any hostilities. The F. ravida may be fully duped into thinking she's their mother and not harm her at all. 

[nurbs]

The latest batch of pictures is great. Not F. puberula, rather, F. aserva, recognized by lack of pilosity.

Just keep an eye out for any hostilities. The F. ravida may be fully duped into thinking she's their mother and not harm her at all. 

 

Thanks Dr. Ant

 

I will change the title of this thread.

[Jonathan21700]

Beautiful! Good luck!

[dspdrew]

I can't believe you just go out for a hike and find the coolest ants. 

 

Can you give the GPS coordinates of where you found this? I want to put it on my map.

[Crystals]

I have a sneaking hunch that those huge cocoons are actually alates.  I see lots in nests right now.

[dspdrew]

That's what I was thinking too.

[nurbs]

I can't believe you just go out for a hike and find the coolest ants. 

 

Can you give the GPS coordinates of where you found this? I want to put it on my map.

 

 

Yup. The trail is called Pine Knot Trail and starts at the back of the Aspen Glen Picnic area. Trailhead is clearly marked and you will be generally heading South (34.235766, -116.927374):

 

https://www.google.c...6dcd750cbb7793b

 

You can park on the side of the road for free if there is no snow (if there is you need an Adventure's Pass which is $5. You can get one at REI or the rangers station).

 

I found her roughly 1.5 miles up the trail. Guestimate is around 34.230048, -116.924423 (there are no markers for the trail on google maps so that is a pure guess)

 

The trail is 6 miles round trip (3 miles up to Grand View Point and then 3 miles back down).

 

With all this said, I just want to caution anyone who wants to hike up the trail. I'm not talking to you Drew or anyone who has done lots of hiking and camping, but if there are any lurkers here planning on going up the trail and you are an inexperienced outdoorsman (strolling around the local park is not a hike) and you want to go just to collect ants, please be prepared!!! Bring comfortable closed toe hiking shoes, lots of water, and salty snacks and a lunch. I always carry a first aid kit and flashlight as well.

 

The trail is not hard if you've done lots of hiking, and it provides lots of shade and beautiful scenery. You will see many downhill mountainbikers as well. But it is an incline! It keeps going up and you will probably get tired after the first quarter mile. 

 

I don't want to hear you on the evening knews being rescued my rangers and saying "Some guy named NURBS on da ANT FORUMZ told me to go here to look for ANTS!"

 

What I am saying is just use common sense when going out there 

 

 

 

 

I have a sneaking hunch that those huge cocoons are actually alates.  I see lots in nests right now.

 

You may be right Crystal. I caught an alate with some of these Formica and they are about the same size as the cocoons.

Edited by nurbs, July 8 2015 - 5:37 PM.

[nurbs]

I have a sneaking hunch that those huge cocoons are actually alates.  I see lots in nests right now.

 

 

Here is a shot of an unfertilized alate F. subpolita and a worker with the large cocoon I pulled from a nest. I thought maybe you were correct Crystal, but I just compared their size. As you can see, the alate is still a lot bigger than the cocoon.

 

F. aserva do not appear to be large ants relative to their cousins.

 

Edited by nurbs, July 9 2015 - 12:56 AM.

[nurbs]

She ignores the larvae

 

[James C. Trager]

Normal for them to ignore the larvae. Larvae need to be fed, and she doesn't have the resources. It's possible she'll eat one.

[dspdrew]

You can park on the side of the road for free if there is no snow (if there is you need an Adventure's Pass which is $5. You can get one at REI or the rangers station).

 

As far as I know, you no longer need an Adventure Pass to simply park at these locations. They can't charge someone money unless they use the amenities. These got ruled Unconstitutional, so they had to make that change. I think they didn't bother to remove or change any of the signs or anything like that, figuring most people will continue to purchase them anyways.

 

 

Normal for them to ignore the larvae. Larvae need to be fed, and she doesn't have the resources. It's possible she'll eat one.

 

Doesn't she need a callow worker to help these others eclose?

[nurbs]

 

You can park on the side of the road for free if there is no snow (if there is you need an Adventure's Pass which is $5. You can get one at REI or the rangers station).

 

As far as I know, you no longer need an Adventure Pass to simply park at these locations. They can't charge someone money unless they use the amenities. These got ruled Unconstitutional, so they had to make that change. I think they didn't bother to remove or change any of the signs or anything like that, figuring most people will continue to purchase them anyways. 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I was aware of that. The signs they did change, and they slapped on "passes only required when there is snow". So go figure.

[Crystals]

 

Normal for them to ignore the larvae. Larvae need to be fed, and she doesn't have the resources. It's possible she'll eat one.

 

Doesn't she need a callow worker to help these others eclose?

 

I have noticed some parasitic Formica have no problem tearing open the cocoons, while others never even attempt. Not sure about this species.  I usually use my fine jewelry tweezers to tear open the cocoons and pull out the pupae for at least half of the cocoons.

[LC3]

[Off topic but]

Are there any ants that are social parasites on Camponotus?

[Ants4fun]

Camponotus universitatis is one I found. I their is also a different genus of ant that uses Camponotus as a host.

[aeximius]

These videos and images are fantastic!  Thanks for sharing.  The speed at which she collects those pupae is really astonishing. 

[nurbs]

Looks like you guys were right. I came home today and look who decided to join the party:

 

 

At this point I am very confused. Because I know I grabbed cocoons from only two colonies: F. subpolita and F. ravida

 

There were two different cocoon sizes from F. subpolita. And there was only one cocoon size from F. ravida. I know it was F. ravida from the size of the workers (they were huge) and also the mound they were under. 

 

One would assume the large cocoon from the F. subpolita would be alates, right? But if you look at that newborn alate, it looks like F. aserva??? I am so confused.

 

The F. ravida cocoons were roughly the same size as the larger F. subpolita cocoons, so I cannot differentiate them now because they are all mixed up in the test tube.

 

Here is a video. I have extension tubes on my camera so it does not autofocus. I am focusing on it manually by shifting the camera back and forth, so it is not the best.

 

Edited by nurbs, July 10 2015 - 11:35 PM.

[Ants4fun]

Perhap the alates will drop their wings and act like superworkers.