4 replies to this topic

[PaigeX]

Hey there again!

I found another Queen while walking around outside. At first I thought she was a fluffy worker so I picked her up with a container to have a closer look. Only then did I see the wing scars on her thorax.

 

She is smaller than Polyrhachi Ammon but I think Larger than Polyrhachi Vermiculosa. I forgot to get the mm of her size in the picture but I think you get the drift.

 

1. Location of collection: CURRA, QLD, Australia 
2. Date of collection: 20-21 of November 2021
3. Habitat of collection: Open woodlands
4. Length (from head to gaster): Around 10mm
5. Colour, hue, pattern and texture: Golden colour on Gaster. rest mainly black with some metallic shine. Has some hairs visible all over body. 
6. Distinguishing characteristics: 100% a spiny ant as she has the distinctive pairs of spines.
 

I think she's either a little larger Polyrhachi Vermiculosa or Polyrhachi Aurea but I'm not experienced enough to tell the difference between them. 

 

Thank you for reading

 

Edited by PaigeX, November 25 2021 - 1:19 AM.

[PaigeX]

Update on her. She has more eggs now and I had a look at my Polyrhachi Vermiculosa queen. They have a small difference between each other. At this time I still don't know what kind she is.

Also found another golden spiny ant colony that are 2/3 the size of Polyrhachi Vermiculosa and smaller than this queen. They look identical to Polyrhachi Vermiculosa and other golden spiny ants but are way smaller. I will have to post about it once I wake up with picture comparison on this thread as they are all still golden spiny ants xD

Edited by PaigeX, November 30 2021 - 4:40 AM.

[PaigeX]

Here is the new Colony I found. much smaller than Polyrhachis vermiculosa.

 

Polyrhachis vermiculosa size. Enjoy trying to spot the queen in this picture xD. 

 

Unknown golden spiny ant size.

 

 

Whole Polyrhachis vermiculosa colony. Test tube size: 2x 18mm and 1x 20mm.

 

 

Whole unknown golden spiny colony. I put in an extra test tube as they have a lot of cocoons and will have a boom in population soon. Test tube size:  2x 18mm

 

If there are any other Aussies out there that can maybe help me ID this unknown golden spiny ant colony, I would very much appreciate it! Thank you

Edited by PaigeX, November 30 2021 - 6:37 PM.

[Mettcollsuss]

The queen and the unknown colony are both some species in the subgenus Chariomyrma. There are 21 species of Chariomyrma recorded from Queensland, many of which don't have queens on record, so it'd be best to wait for workers for an ID. For the colony, can you try to get photos of better photos of the workers, ideally from outside the test tube so that there's no distortion. The more angles you can provide, the better, but the most useful angles will be top-down, from the side, and of the face. Here are the species of Polyrhachis (Chariomyrma) recorded from Queensland.

[PaigeX]

The queen and the unknown colony are both some species in the subgenus Chariomyrma. There are 21 species of Chariomyrma recorded from Queensland, many of which don't have queens on record, so it'd be best to wait for workers for an ID. For the colony, can you try to get photos of better photos of the workers, ideally from outside the test tube so that there's no distortion. The more angles you can provide, the better, but the most useful angles will be top-down, from the side, and of the face. Here are the species of Polyrhachis (Chariomyrma) recorded from Queensland.

Oh yea! I've looked on that site so much and without a better camera I can't get a good picture. I bought a 1600x Digital Microscope camera and awaiting its arrival. I'll isolate a worker once I get it and get a good picture then. Thank you for letting me know about the subgenus, I'll investigate further Into it.