1666 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

Yeah for us in Cali, four months after the season ends, it's already beginning again. L. humile flies (at least the males do) early Spring, right around the time that Camponotus starts flying.

[Gregory2455]

I don't want L.humile because it is such an invasive pest, but then again, I can experiment different methods of beating them back, without the use of pesticides and stuff that hurt other things in the ecosystem. I heard before that L.humile can be displaced by Forelius pruinosus, but I am not sure if that is true.

[Gregory2455]

Nylanderia cf. vividula flew in the Simi Valley suburbs today.

[Alza]

nylanderia is the one that drops fire ants, right ?

[dspdrew]

Lasius niger (http://forum.formicu....php/topic/479-) and two species of parasitic Lasius (http://forum.formicu....php/topic/477-) and (http://forum.formicu....php/topic/481-) flew in the evening and into the night of 8-27-2014 in Mt. Baldy, California.

[Alza]

3 weeks ago i found a really small species that looked like a leaf cutter and it had wings. it was like orangish and it had yellowish legs and flew into my pool, any ideas on what it was ? 

[dspdrew]

Possibly Cyphomyrmex.

[Alza]

that's it! it looks just like that. thanks dspdrew

[dspdrew]

Nice. I was actually hoping to find some of them. Do you know the exact date you found that queen, and was it dead or alive?

[Alza]

it was alive and i do not remember the exact date but it was about 3 weeks ago. that's the most accurate i can give you. And in the morning around 8 am

[dspdrew]

Do you happen to remember if it rained the day before? I don't see any records of rain in Southern California three weeks ago.

[Alza]

we had a cloudy day, and in my area actually got a drizzle about a week before this. 

[dspdrew]

Yeah, a week before that would be when a pretty good sized monsoonal storm actually reached LA and Orange County.

[Alza]

i have a question, are those ants pests to farmers ? and how big do they grow ?

[Gregory2455]

Cyphomyrmex is pretty high maintenance.

Can we see pictures of your queen? And does she have her fungus?

[Alza]

i lost it 3 weeks ago, i put it in this insect watch container and it escaped through the breathing holes. i wasnt aware it could climb

[Gregory2455]

Oh.

[dspdrew]

I don't think they would be a pest to farmers, because I think most of them don't use plants to fertilize their fungus.

[Alza]

what do they use ?

[Gregory2455]

Yeah, what do they use?