8 replies to this topic

[Bern]

I am wondering if there is a check sheet, or a formal method used in identifying ants.  Has anybody put together a method where a person can go from step to step?        Like maybe  look at the ant and check for one or two nodes?   You now have two smaller groups.    Next step look at colors   Next step check ? ? ? ?     Etc.

 

I have watched several U-tube videos and it looks like some people can see an ant running down a sidewalk and immediately ID it.  How?

 

Is it mainly done by being familiar with the ones that are in the area, or do they go through some sort of mental check list,   like color here and there,  size,   nodes ,   etc.

 

I'm just starting at trying to be able to ID some.  I'm over whelmed and unsure of a reasonable approach       Is there a good place to start?

 

 

Thanks

[GB.Mike]

I got started by using AntWiki and AntWeb just looking at the pictures. 

 you can find your area where you live and look through. I suggest looking at what you like in your area and reading about them. I just visually got used to what I was looking at starting out, for instance pogonomyrmex ants look different from Camponotus.

 

There are step by step things called Taxonomic keys that are really detailed and list out everything. like this one Key to North American Pogonomyrmex - AntWiki

[Skwiggledork]

I would also add Antmaps.org to the list of good resources. It gives you a list of what is found in your state/country and you can research them further on antwiki.

[PaigeX]

Yea I too found this very hard at first. I had to get familiar with the pictures. I used Ant selling websites first for the most common sold/found ones and then went to the 3 sites said above By Skwiggledork and GB.Mike for more in depth IDing.

[ANTdrew]

Take Youtubers IDing ants on the sidewalk with a grain of salt. In fact, take everything on YouTube with a grain of salt.

[Chickalo]

Generally, it's easy to get it down to subfamilies if you know what to look for.  My identification is really bad, and I can only recognize the ones around me, which is the first step; post photos somewhere like Discord for quick ID, keep those photos on your phone.  See them enough and ask for pointers and you will recognize them.

 

I can ID 3 subfamilies easily; Formicinae, Myrmicinae, and the Poneroids.

Formicinae:  Usually big but can be small, only one petiole and normal looking.  They don't have stingers.

Myrmicinae:  Usually smaller around here but can get larger, a petiole and a post petiole.  They have stingers.

Poneroids:  Really wack looking, usually long with their post petiole attached to their abdomen.  They have stingers.

 

For a couple common genera around my area (might not work in other places):

Camponotus:  Usually large, smooth back, polymorphic

Formica:  Medium sized, bumpy back, usually monomorphic

Tetramorium:  Small, brown, like to have wars, kind of annoying

Ponera:  Black and long, wack looking

Myrmica:  Usually red and medium sized.

Aphaenogaster:  Usually black with a long petiole/post petiole

Crematogaster:  Small and cute little heart shaped gasters

Prenolepis:  Hourglass shaped mesosoma

Solenopsis (molesta):  Tiny, golden

Brachymyrmex:  Tiny, brown

 

Ah I hoped I could help you even to a little degree, さよなら、ともだち

[gcsnelling]

Lots and LOTS of practice.Making an Id based on a photograph is hit and miss at best.

[madbiologist]

I am wondering if there is a check sheet, or a formal method used in identifying ants.  Has anybody put together a method where a person can go from step to step?        Like maybe  look at the ant and check for one or two nodes?   You now have two smaller groups.    Next step look at colors   Next step check ? ? ? ?     Etc.

 

I have watched several U-tube videos and it looks like some people can see an ant running down a sidewalk and immediately ID it.  How?

 

Is it mainly done by being familiar with the ones that are in the area, or do they go through some sort of mental check list,   like color here and there,  size,   nodes ,   etc.

 

I'm just starting at trying to be able to ID some.  I'm over whelmed and unsure of a reasonable approach       Is there a good place to start?

 

 

Thanks

 

Since it looks like other people have already answered most of your questions, I'll share a little "game" that helped me start learning basic field ID (and simply learn the species around me).

 

I don't know what state/country you are in, but many of them will have scientific articles written with the sole purpose of listing the ant species found in that region, a checklist of sorts. I would go down the checklist, pick a species name that caught my eye - or at random - and copy paste it into google images and then AntWiki. For common species, the image search will give you a lot of pictures of the ant species (or at least very similar species) and you can get more familiar with what the species looks like. However, it's a good idea to be careful with this, as many rare species do not come up with good results. On AntWiki, you'll usually be able to find a lot of useful information about the ant species, from how to formally identify it, to interesting information about its biology.

 

This will only help you get a general idea though, to really become good at identification, you need to get experience. Stick around the Formiculture ID threads and listen to what other people have to say, make sure to voice any questions you have. You could also join an antkeeping discord server and turn notifications on in their identification channel, these are typically very active and tend to have a good number of people who know what they're talking about when it comes to ID, it's a really good way to talk about identification in real time in an informal setting.

 

 

 

Lots and LOTS of practice.Making an Id based on a photograph is hit and miss at best.

 

 

It's also a good idea to keep this in mind. While many ant species are easily identifiable with a decent - or even bad - photograph, but there are just as many others (if not more) that can only be identified to the genus level with a decent photo. The species in these genera can so indistinguishable from each other that they require microscopic images or DNA samples to identify, although DNA barcoding is only very rarely needed.

[Bern]

Thanks to all, for the comebacks I've received.

 

Getting anxious for spring to come, and hopefully I will have a little idea of what I will find.  You all have given me a better list of some ideas to study, than what I have found so far, on my own.  I now have more reading and studying that I plan on spending time on.  At the moment, we have snow on the ground, and it was in the negative temperatures a few nights ago.  Will be a little while, but in a few weeks, things will change fast.

 

I am located in SW  Idaho, USA.