34 replies to this topic

[cooIboyJ]

I searched again and for the whole genus male alates are 6-10 mill and queen alates are 10-15 mill and I am using an ai on an insect app

Edited by cooIboyJ, July 24 2024 - 3:09 PM.

[Mettcollsuss]

Well, the AI is definitely incorrect in this case. Ants are a subject with very sparse information so generative text programs are going to be very prone to hallucinations or half-truths.

[cooIboyJ]

I was worried about that

[cooIboyJ]

Even if it is probably a male I’m still going to keep it just in case it is a queen

Edited by cooIboyJ, July 24 2024 - 3:06 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

 

What gaster shape should you look for?

In some Pogonomyrmex males the third tergite is more strongly convex than the others, creating an appearance of two flat or at least slightly convex faces meeting at an angle, giving the gaster an overall appearance of having somewhat distinguished dorsal and declivitous faces. See this specimen: https://www.antweb.o...shot=p&number=1

 

 

I’ve just looked it up and it says that male pogonomyrmex alates are 6-8mill and queen alates are 8-12mill and this alate is 12mill.

What's the source for this? Is this for a particular species or across the genus? Pogonomyrmex is a large genus with pretty significant size variation between species. I don't know about the entire genus but for the typical North American clade of Pogonomyrmex (the barbatus, occidentalis, californicus groups), the queens and males aren't terribly disparate in size. See for example: https://www.inatural...tions/231290957

 

I agree here https://canada-ant-c...-ant-care-sheetit said that P.occidentalis males range from 9-12 mm and that can't be that different across the genus

Edited by GOCAMPONOTUS, July 24 2024 - 2:30 PM.

[OiledOlives]

Even if it is probably a male I’m still going to keep it just in case it is a queen
Even if it is probably a male I’m still going to keep it just in case it is a queen

You might want to update your journal title to "new pogonomyrmex male", considering that's what this is.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

 

Even if it is probably a male I’m still going to keep it just in case it is a queen
Even if it is probably a male I’m still going to keep it just in case it is a queen

You might want to update your journal title to "new pogonomyrmex male", considering that's what this is.

 

lmao

[Stubyvast]

You may be correct that it is a male, but you're not losing anything if you just wait for a few weeks to see if it produces eggs. But yes the likelihood that a male would fall into water, especially pools, is pretty high, from what I've seen with tetramorium immigrans. I think there were more males than females in the pool I saw (I didn't focus much on males though...females are more important here). But it could be different for Harvester ants. 

[cooIboyJ]

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Edited by cooIboyJ, July 24 2024 - 3:06 PM.

[cooIboyJ]

I found it at around seven pm, is that early? Because it was the only ant that looked like that, the only other ants that I saw were brachymyrmex workers.

[gcsnelling]

Based on location I am inclined to say this is a male P. rugosus.  They do tend to fly this time of year, esp if there has been a bump in humidity or a bit of rain. Color is super variable so this is a really poor feature to use for an Id.

[cooIboyJ]

I might go out tonight to find some more because it rained a bit earlier

[cooIboyJ]

Well, the AI is definitely incorrect in this case. Ants are a subject with very sparse information so generative text programs are going to be very prone to hallucinations or half-truths.

Do you think that ai would be fine for asking it for ant worker sizes?

[mbullock42086]

Based on location I am inclined to say this is a male P. rugosus.  They do tend to fly this time of year, esp if there has been a bump in humidity or a bit of rain. Color is super variable so this is a really poor feature to use for an Id.

the rugosus in my area are bright red and almost resemble barbatus but the ones in california seem to be mostly dark umber-ish.

[ANTdrew]

Don’t trust AI for anything.