6 replies to this topic

[Ants_Dakota]

Body:
1. Location of collection: Newton Hills State Park

2. Date of collection:7/20/24, 9:30pm at a blacklight
3. Habitat of collection: Small forest, but collected in a clearing near a basketball court
4. Length: Unknown at the moment because I do not have a ruler, but they are temnothorax so that should help. One thing to note, when I caught this species, I caught a second either smaller species or a microgene that was a millimeter or two shorter. 
5. Coloration, hue, pattern and texture: Variable, see pictures
6. Distinguishing characteristics: Nothing I can think of
7. Anything else distinctive: High color variation
8. Nest description: Unknown

9. Nuptial flight time and date: 9:30pm 
10 . Here are the best pictures I have got

These may be appearing in my Micro Ants journal 

Album: Temnothorax sp. ID

11 images

0 comments

 

[OiledOlives]

Any photos displaying the propodeal spines of the worker? It seems like Temnothorax ambiguus but I would prefer to verify with spine length. 

I also cannot confirm that they are all the same species. Temnothorax queens are a pain to ID to species, especially with unclear photos, and different species will go through founding together. 

[Ants_Dakota]

Any photos displaying the propodeal spines of the worker? It seems like Temnothorax ambiguus but I would prefer to verify with spine length. 

I also cannot confirm that they are all the same species. Temnothorax queens are a pain to ID to species, especially with unclear photos, and different species will go through founding together. 

That is my current guess as well. I will attempt to get some in the future. Huh that would be interesting to have a multi species colony.

Edited by Ants_Dakota, September 13 2024 - 3:58 PM.

[Ants_Dakota]

Ok updated pictures of the workers and queens.

 

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[OiledOlives]

Temnothorax ambiguus

[Ants_Dakota]

Temnothorax ambiguus

Can you explain how you confirmed this?

[OiledOlives]

A ventral view is the worst angle for almost all ant identifications but in some of the photos of the worker the spines are clearly visible. T. ambiguus and T. cuvispinosus are easily differentiated by the length of the propodeal spines in respect to the width between the base of the propodeal spines of the workers. In T. curvispinosus, the spines are significantly longer than the bases are far apart. In T. ambiguus, the distance between the bases of the propodeal spines is about equivalent to the length of the propodeal spines. Several other factors differentiate the two species, but this is the easiest (asides from patterning) and the only one which is visible in the photos.

Other species of Temnothorax are differentiated by the general habitus (duloticus and pilagens, bradleyi and smithi are far stouter, americanus looks completely different as it is piceous with a thick, rectangular head, schaumii is "flat" and its propodeal spines are extremely short, texanus has a bulbous postpetiole and is piceous in coloration, the eyes of minutissimus are minute and is workerless, longispinosus has the namesake long spines and is piceous in coloration)