19 replies to this topic

[Siddharth]

1. Location of collection: Parking lot, IIT Bombay, Mumbai-India
2. Date of collection: November 30, 2016 (Time: 8:00PM)
3. Habitat of collection: Apartment Concrete parking lot illuminated at night with tubelights.
4. Length (from head to gaster): 1REMEASURED: 8-9mm
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture: Dark honey color| 3 leg segments on each leg, three legs on each side| thin dark-brown (almost black) mandibles, easily visible to the naked eye| most of the abdomen is a dark-brown-black color| 
6. Distinguishing characteristics:
7. Distinguishing behavior: eggs laid very close to moist cotton in Test-tube setup, pupae moved so as to touch the aforementioned moist cotton. 
8. Nest description: Queens of similar feature seen nesting in the gaps in the concrete in the parking lot. Queens seen wandering late at night, around 7:30-9PM. One also seen at 11:00PM

 

Images: http://imgur.com/a/9fxZ9

Slightly better images: http://imgur.com/a/bbYjV

Even better images: http://imgur.com/a/hYp3h 

Edited by Siddharth, December 13 2016 - 11:39 PM.

[Alabama Anter]

Hmmmm... I don't know much about India but it could be the following... (I recommend another measurement btw)
Crematogaster, Solenopsis, Camponotus (?)

[Siddharth]

Hmmmm... I don't know much about India but it could be the following... (I recommend another measurement btw)
Crematogaster, Solenopsis, Camponotus (?)

After all that I've seen, I find myself thinking Solenopsis, however the workers I've encountered seem too darn chill to equate with the ballistic 'sting-on-site' attitude normally associated with Solenopsis. I mean, I've placed my finger right next to their hill and they go along in life like nothing's happened. The size of the ant's too small for me to even consider Camponotus, no idea on crematogaster. (I also got an estimation of Myrmicine on another forum)

Edited by Siddharth, December 11 2016 - 7:58 AM.

[Batspiderfish]

There are a lot of Camponotus whose queens are in the 10-13mm range. You can tell by the two petiole nodes, however, that this a queen from Myrmicinae.

I wouldn't go much further than that without pictures of the queen that are in focus.

[Siddharth]

There are a lot of Camponotus whose queens are in the 10-13mm range. You can tell by the two petiole nodes, however, that this a queen from Myrmicinae.

I wouldn't go much further than that without pictures of the queen that are in focus.

Thanks for the info! Ill try to get clearer pics asap.

Edited by Siddharth, December 11 2016 - 8:09 PM.

[Siddharth]

There are a lot of Camponotus whose queens are in the 10-13mm range. You can tell by the two petiole nodes, however, that this a queen from Myrmicinae.

I wouldn't go much further than that without pictures of the queen that are in focus.

Are these pics a bit better? http://imgur.com/a/bbYjV

[TheAnswerIsTheLogic]

most probably pheidole , congrats.

can you do a photo from the front?

Edited by GeniusNutella12, December 13 2016 - 7:56 AM.

[Siddharth]

most probably pheidole , congrats.

can you do a photo from the front?

Sure. I'll get one clicked as soon as possible. Thanks!

Also, according to https://www.ncbi.nlm...les/PMC4741291/, and https://www.ncbi.nlm...41291/table/T2/ there are 25 species of Pheidole ants in my state(maharashtra) , so its likely it is in fact pheidole. 

Edited by Siddharth, December 13 2016 - 8:29 AM.

[Alabama Anter]

Hmmmm if the queen really is that big I'm not sure that it is Pheidole. Maybe a re measure?

[Siddharth]

Hmmmm if the queen really is that big I'm not sure that it is Pheidole. Maybe a re measure?

I re-measured the queen and got some better pics of her. Re-measured length: 8-9mm

pics: http://imgur.com/a/hYp3h

[FSTP]

Not to be a broken record but PLEASE place your photo IN the thread.

 

Thanks

[Canadian anter]

Reminds me of the non-well known Solenopsis ambychila which is rumored to be parasitic

[Siddharth]

Not to be a broken record but PLEASE place your photo IN the thread.

Thanks

Sure thing! (Also how do you post the pic in the post without it looking like that 'proken pic' icon?

Reminds me of the non-well known Solenopsis ambychila which is rumored to be parasitic

Well, the queen Has laid eggs which have pupated. So prob. Not a social parasite queen.

[AnthonyP163]

Not to be a broken record but PLEASE place your photo IN the thread.
Thanks

Sure thing! (Also how do you post the pic in the post without it looking like that 'proken pic' icon?

Reminds me of the non-well known Solenopsis ambychila which is rumored to be parasitic

Well, the queen Has laid eggs which have pupated. So prob. Not a social parasite queen.

Yes, it can't be a social parasite. It looks like a Solenopsis Geminata, if they are even over in India. I know it's Solenopsis almost for sure, unless it's a very big/ wrongly measured Temnothorax queen. However, there are two petiole nodes like batspiderfish said, so it's in Myrmicinae.

[AnthonyP163]

Also, a hint: search up Myrmicinae in the search bar, go to images and it should show a picture of about 15 or so genera of them. It could be one of those ants.

[Siddharth]

Not to be a broken record but PLEASE place your photo IN the thread.
Thanks

Sure thing! (Also how do you post the pic in the post without it looking like that 'proken pic' icon?

Reminds me of the non-well known Solenopsis ambychila which is rumored to be parasitic

Well, the queen Has laid eggs which have pupated. So prob. Not a social parasite queen.

Yes, it can't be a social parasite. It looks like a Solenopsis Geminata, if they are even over in India. I know it's Solenopsis almost for sure, unless it's a very big/ wrongly measured Temnothorax queen. However, there are two petiole nodes like batspiderfish said, so it's in Myrmicinae.

Thank you cery much! Also, i have a second queen of the same type which lost her eggs to mold. Is it a good idea to try and introduce her to the other queen when she gets a few workers? Also, as far as I've seen, S.geminata are found in India.

Edited by Siddharth, December 14 2016 - 8:22 AM.

[Alabama Anter]

Not to be a broken record but PLEASE place your photo IN the thread.
Thanks

Sure thing! (Also how do you post the pic in the post without it looking like that 'proken pic' icon?

Reminds me of the non-well known Solenopsis ambychila which is rumored to be parasitic

Well, the queen Has laid eggs which have pupated. So prob. Not a social parasite queen.

Yes, it can't be a social parasite. It looks like a Solenopsis Geminata, if they are even over in India. I know it's Solenopsis almost for sure, unless it's a very big/ wrongly measured Temnothorax queen. However, there are two petiole nodes like batspiderfish said, so it's in Myrmicinae.

Thank you cery much! Also, i have a second queen of the same type which lost her eggs to mold. Is it a good idea to try and introduce her to the other queen when she gets a few workers? Also, as far as I've seen, S.geminata are found in India.

Before u do that I recommend getting them IDed 100%! Also I would wait for BatSpiderFish

[Mdrogun]

Nevermind! This is Solenopsis geminata. I missed your last post.

Edited by Mdrogun, December 14 2016 - 2:16 PM.

[1000101011]

Can you please get some better pictures? In almost all of them you can barely make out a silhouette of an ant. I think this is Pheidole but without any decent pictures you'll never be able to get an ID.

Finally!!! someone said it.

[Connectimyrmex]

AUGH HELP I'm DROWNING IN WORDS

 

You can probably put your queens together, but when a worker comes, remove one queen. The queens will fight each other.