12 replies to this topic

[ArcaneAnt]

1. Queen ant was caught in the city of Spokane in a neighborhood environment. Found on a pavement sidewalk.

2. August 18th around 7pm, an hour or so before sunset. It was about 85 degrees fahrenheit
3. Found on a sidewalk in a neighborhood environment.
4. I unfortunately do not have a way of precisely measuring her, but I've included a reference image showing her next t a T. Immigrans queen I caught a month or two ago.
5. Appears just dark black or brown to me.
6. She seemed to have some maybe long hairs or something coming off the bottom of her head. I'm not super familiar with ant body terminology so I'm not sure what to call them.
7. She was a whole lot quicker than the T. Immigrans I caught a month or so ago, but that may just be relative because of her size.
8. I was unable to locate the nest she was from.

 

Attached Images

• 
• 
• 
• 

[ArcaneAnt]

(Also the T. Immigrans queen is hopefully gonna be the first colony I raise that gets past the founding stage assuming I don't mess it up somehow lol, wish me luck)

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

some Formica.sp

[IdioticMouse26]

Maybe F. fusca?

[Artisan_Ants]

Most likely Formica fusca group of ants if not F. fusca itself. There is a slight but rare possibility of Formica neogagates group but I highly doubnt it. Workers are a better indicator as F. neogagates group workers tend to be smaller as well as having setae present on pronotum for workers, unlike that of fusca group species like fusca itself and F. subsericea having no setae present on pronotum and on most of mesosoma area (compared within AntWiki please correct me if I'm wrong).

[Artisan_Ants]

Maybe F. fusca?

I was also thinking that it might be F. fusca or at least within the F. fusca group.

[bmb1bee]

Formica fusca is not present in the Americas. I would personally leave the ID at just Formica sp. until someone more well versed in identification is able to add their input.

[RushmoreAnts]

I second this. fusca is European It's common American cousins are subsericea, argentea, and podzolica, among others. Can we not rule out the neogagates group?

[Artisan_Ants]

I second this. fusca is European It's common American cousins are subsericea, argentea, and podzolica, among others. Can we not rule out the neogagates group?

I believed it could be fusca based off of AntWeb, and AntMaps stating that it could be found within Washington state. I don't know when it was last updated but it claimed to contain a bunch of other Formica species (all from different groups) so I thought fusca may have not been a bad guess. As of neogagates group, we would need workers or at least nanitics as it would just be easier to ID and differentiate from fusca group rather than with queens (since both groups vary greatly in queen size, color etc based on distribution).

[RushmoreAnts]

 

I second this. fusca is European It's common American cousins are subsericea, argentea, and podzolica, among others. Can we not rule out the neogagates group?

I believed it could be fusca based off of AntWeb, and AntMaps stating that it could be found within Washington state. I don't know when it was last updated but it claimed to contain a bunch of other Formica species (all from different groups) so I thought fusca may have not been a bad guess. As of neogagates group, we would need workers or at least nanitics as it would just be easier to ID and differentiate from fusca group rather than with queens (since both groups vary greatly in queen size, color etc based on distribution).

 

AntMaps lists fusca in North America is "dubious" (the brown color). It defines "dubious" as: "Erroneous records reported in previous publications or databases but later identified as misidentifications. Those are presented to prevent potential future misidentifications." AntWeb is often outdated, and any records they have of fusca in North America are "Erroneous records" and "misidentifications." 

[Artisan_Ants]

 

 

I second this. fusca is European It's common American cousins are subsericea, argentea, and podzolica, among others. Can we not rule out the neogagates group?

I believed it could be fusca based off of AntWeb, and AntMaps stating that it could be found within Washington state. I don't know when it was last updated but it claimed to contain a bunch of other Formica species (all from different groups) so I thought fusca may have not been a bad guess. As of neogagates group, we would need workers or at least nanitics as it would just be easier to ID and differentiate from fusca group rather than with queens (since both groups vary greatly in queen size, color etc based on distribution).

 

AntMaps lists fusca in North America is "dubious" (the brown color). It defines "dubious" as: "Erroneous records reported in previous publications or databases but later identified as misidentifications. Those are presented to prevent potential future misidentifications." AntWeb is often outdated, and any records they have of fusca in North America are "Erroneous records" and "misidentifications." 

 

Stating this makes more sense now. I thought that it meant that these species were found in those places, but full verification of it actually existing there wasn't fully known.

[T.C.]

Tetramorium are a very hardy species from my experience. You should be alright. I frequently found them with multiple queens and then the workers kill all but one of the queens.  One of the queens I removed a week ago had all of it's legs chewed off.  Long story short I found it on a rug four days later still alive and in the same spot. 

[RushmoreAnts]

That is my experience as well. I documented it in my journal.