11 replies to this topic

[Telarian]

Hello Formiculture crew,

 

My son and I have managed to find some queens of yet another species. When I first got these ones under the microscope and saw the size of those eyes, I worried for a moment that I had caught males. Especially with them having yet to shed wings. But, everything else about them says queen to me. Hopefully I'm not wrong about that. We caught three of them. None of them have yet shed their wings. This also worried me a bit that I had caught them prior to mating, but I caught one at 9:30 am and the other two at around 3:00 pm. That doesn't seem like the kind of timing that would have caught them pre-flight to me.

 

I THINK I may know what this species is. I was right on the last one, so maybe I'm feeling overconfident. Pogonomyrmex is pretty easy to id based on the nests after all.

I believe this is Camponotus Nearcticus. We'll see if I'm getting better.

 

FIRST-Where collected? United States in Broomfield, Colorado (a suburb of Denver).

 

SECOND-Habitat of collection? On a concrete walk in front of my office. Mostly this is surrounded by asphalt. There is some grass and a few bushes and small trees nearby though.

 

THIRD-Coloration, hue and pattern?  Limbs are a dark brown at the base getting a bit lighter towards the tips. When viewed straight on, the body (from head to gaster) appears pretty much completely black. But when you look from any other angle, the body has a silver sheen that changes as you move your view or the ant moves. It makes for a very interesting look, almost like black and silver camo.

 

FOURTH-Distinguishing characteristics? Single segment in waist, which is quite tall. Head a bit longer than it is wide. Large, dark (but with a silver sheen), wide-spread, eyes on the side of the head. Three dot pattern on the top of the head. Relatively few hairs on the ant.

 

FIFTH-Length in millimeters? 9 mm in length.

 

SIXTH-Anything else distinctive? Excellent climber. Fast gait.

 

Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/jAvi4

 

Thanks for your assistance.

 

Tory Netherton

[AntsAreUs]

Those are very good pictures! I was thinking that this might be Camponotus modoc?

[Gregory2455]

Formica species.

[Ants4fun]

This is a Formica queen, most likely in the fusca group. I found queens almost exactly like these a couple weeks ago! One has laid some eggs, the other keeps eating them.

[Telarian]

Thank you all for your help. We have a great deal of learning to do yet.

 

If you don't mind my asking, what indicates to you the id in this case?

I'm trying to learn more about how you tell these things.

[LC3]

Here's a few indications: some Formica are  shiny,Camponotus are usually smooth but not usually shiny. Plus the head Camponotus queens have pretty big heads and their eyes are more placed on top rather than the sides, while Formica usually have eyes on the side of their head and the eyes are usually bigger than Camponotus. you can also tell by their movement Formica workers (not sure about the queens) are pretty jitterish, like moving in zig zags while moving, Camponotus workers are also jiterish but not to such extent and the queens don't seem to move jiterishly. (I'm not even sure if jiterish is a word haha)Not to mention Camponotus queens tend to have long-ish gasters while Formica are more oval. This may not be 100% accurate but it's the best I can do.

 

A good way to tell the difference is looking at pictures, I would suggest Alex wilds website as it has lots of picture of ants.

Click Here to see Formica

Click here to see Camponotus

[Ants4fun]

That's a pretty good explanation. And yes, the formica queens are PLENTY gittery!

[Telarian]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the explanation.

[Crystals]

Here is a link on how to tell them apart.  This is pinned in the Handy Links Thread.

http://www.formicult...ce-differences/

 

Edit: just noticed that all of the nice pictures are gone.  That might have to updated one day.

[Telarian]

Ah, excellent. Very helpful. Thank you Crystals.

[dspdrew]

Here is a link on how to tell them apart.  This is pinned in the Handy Links Thread.

http://www.formicult...ce-differences/

 

Edit: just noticed that all of the nice pictures are gone.  That might have to updated one day.

 

Wow, I guess he's definitely done with ants for good.

[Telarian]

That's a shame.