2124 replies to this topic

[akaant]

I found A Camponotus male, then shortly after found A Camponotus chromaiodes queen.

[akaant]

Unfortunately she suffered from overnight sudden death syndrome.

[Nathant2131]

Will be in Northern NH for the weekend. Wonder if anything flew there yet...

[noebl1]

For those who caught Lasius neoniger and other's in the Fall, how are they doing?  Any nanitics yet?  My Lasius neoniger (the 4 that made it thru so far), one has a huge brood pile, others are smaller.  I think they all have larvae at various stages more or less. I have two other Lasius sp, potentially flavus or similar, also both with good sized brood piles. 

 

My Lasius alienus with the Lasius umbratus queen, are taking a really long time to eclose, these are from eggs laid this Fall (not sure if any this Spring.)

 

Apparently I just didn't have enough patience, as just checked on my Lasius queens a mere 4 days after this post, and 3 of the 4 have small piles of pupae  4th I can't tell as looks like she has some stuff in the cotton ball.  Guessing I'll have some mouths to feed shortly.

 

Mixed luck on Camponotus this year.  I lost one of the C. Myrmentoma, however lost all three C. pennsylvanicus so far.  Just strange.

Edited by noebl1, May 26 2017 - 2:11 PM.

[Nathant2131]

For those who caught Lasius neoniger and other's in the Fall, how are they doing?  Any nanitics yet?  My Lasius neoniger (the 4 that made it thru so far), one has a huge brood pile, others are smaller.  I think they all have larvae at various stages more or less. I have two other Lasius sp, potentially flavus or similar, also both with good sized brood piles. 
 
My Lasius alienus with the Lasius umbratus queen, are taking a really long time to eclose, these are from eggs laid this Fall (not sure if any this Spring.)

 
Apparently I just didn't have enough patience, as just checked on my Lasius queens a mere 4 days after this post, and 3 of the 4 have small piles of pupae  4th I can't tell as looks like she has some stuff in the cotton ball.  Guessing I'll have some mouths to feed shortly.
 
Mixed luck on Camponotus this year.  I lost one of the C. Myrmentoma, however lost all three C. pennsylvanicus so far.  Just strange.

For those who caught Lasius neoniger and other's in the Fall, how are they doing?  Any nanitics yet?  My Lasius neoniger (the 4 that made it thru so far), one has a huge brood pile, others are smaller.  I think they all have larvae at various stages more or less. I have two other Lasius sp, potentially flavus or similar, also both with good sized brood piles. 
 
My Lasius alienus with the Lasius umbratus queen, are taking a really long time to eclose, these are from eggs laid this Fall (not sure if any this Spring.)

 
Apparently I just didn't have enough patience, as just checked on my Lasius queens a mere 4 days after this post, and 3 of the 4 have small piles of pupae  4th I can't tell as looks like she has some stuff in the cotton ball.  Guessing I'll have some mouths to feed shortly.
 
Mixed luck on Camponotus this year.  I lost one of the C. Myrmentoma, however lost all three C. pennsylvanicus so far.  Just strange.

2/3 of my C. pennsylvanicus queens have died already- one exploded with maggots a few days after.

[Cindy]

I haven't yet checked on my C. pennsylvanicus queens, but have left them unheated. When I return to the US I'll need to update.

[Myrmidon]

I was worried after seeing all the sudden death syndrome happening. Mine seem to be alright! I have caught 2 more wandering around the house as well; decided to keep them too. 

[noebl1]

With the huge amount of Camponotus I see here during flights, a parasitic wasp/fly/etc that eats them would be an interesting idea and very possible (@batspiderfish may know more).  I also noticed on my C. pennsylvanicus that died, her gaster had ballooned pretty quickly in size, does make me wonder if some sort of larvae living inside.  

[Nathant2131]

With the huge amount of Camponotus I see here during flights, a parasitic wasp/fly/etc that eats them would be an interesting idea and very possible (@batspiderfish may know more). I also noticed on my C. pennsylvanicus that died, her gaster had ballooned pretty quickly in size, does make me wonder if some sort of larvae living inside.

Exactly what happened to mine. Her dead corpse ballooned, and days later I look at the tube and maggots everywhere, with a big gash in her gaster.

[Nathant2131]

Ants of Freedom, New Hampshire

I go anting here around a neighbourhood with dense forest all around. The road has sandy substrate areas beside it, so it is a little bit open at some areas. When I say "open" or "at the edge of the forest", it is still in the forest and not too open.

 

Aphaenogaster- I found a colony of these under a log on the start of a dense forest. They were grayish black. The second time I encountered these, it appeared to be a different species. it was a relatively wide but short mound in an open, sandy area. the mound was inconspicuos since it was short and had the same color substrate as the stuff around it. There was one mound but several entrances. The worker's color was different than the other colony I found (brownish red), and their nesting behaviour was different. At first glance, they looked a lot like Myrmica, but looking at the mesosoma was an easy distinguisher. I also notice that Aphaenogaster in general have a very thin and long pedicel.

 

The second colony I found and their habitat:

 

 

 

 

Crematogaster- The first time I encountered these, it was a colony (?) under the skin of a tree, on the edge of the forest and sandy area. No, it was not under bark in a log, it was just some random piece of tree bark sitting around. The reason why I'm not sure it was a colony is becase it was just a group of a few dozen workers under it; I could not detect an entrance anywhere and there was no brood. the second time I found them, it was a single worker foraging at the edge of the sand/forest, next to a rock. This genus remains somewhat elusive to me. I noticed that all the nests I've found so far (2) are under logs/wood and have lots of debris under them like leaves and pine needles. Interesting, becuase usually I find no ants with that kind of stuff under rocks and logs.

 

The (presumed) colony after I uncovered it, and their habitat:

 

You can see the wood they were under on the bottom right of the third picture.

 

 

 

 

Formica (fusca-group)- These are one of the if not the hardest foragers around. Their nest entrances are very widespread (probably becuase they have big colonies), and the mounds are relatively large and sandy. They are very low to the ground so it is tough to find the entrances. One of the nests I found was in a driveway crack, which I have never seen before with this species-group.

 

One of the colonies (edge of the sand/forest):

 

 

 

 

Lasius cf. neoniger- Without a doubt the most common species around. they nest almost exclusively in the sand, as far away from the nearest tree as possible. 

 

Monomorium cf. emarginatum- The only colony I've seen of this genus in Freedom is in a sandy area in a mound somewhat similar to Lasius neoniger, except the substrate used for the moudn is finer, and the mound is low. It is still easy to spot however since it was brown. A Lasius cf. neoniger colony lives very close to the colony, only a few inches away if that. They seemingly live in peace.

 

Heres the entrance to the colony:

 

See the worker? They are so tiny!

 

 

Tapinoma sessile- I found one foraging worker in the same location as I saw the foraging Crematogaster worker.

 

Tetramorium cf. caespitum- While still very abundant up here, they are not as common as in Massachusetts. I find most nest to be mounds in sand, but I found one colony under a piece of log in sand.

-----

 

I was looking under logs and stuff today and yesterday in freedom, and no queens. I haven't even seen a single Camponotus worker at all up here, which I found very strange. I'm pretty sure I would have found something by now if they flew. The last of the ants still appear to be waking up, as the areas with a lot of snow look wet still from it melting.

 

 

[Nathant2131]

I took some shots a few days ago of these suspected Formica subsericea workers heavily feeding off of some Strawberry blooms in my backyard. (Dracut, MA)

 

 

ID thread for them: http://www.formicult...417/?hl=dracut,

Edited by Nathant2131, May 27 2017 - 11:44 AM.

[Nathant2131]

Tons of Lasius umbratus queens wandering around today in Freedom NH, as temps in the seventies.

[noebl1]

Tons of Lasius umbratus queens wandering around today in Freedom NH, as temps in the seventies.

 

I was outside most of today and didn't see a single one compare do the last couple weeks of warm days.  Wondering if they are trailing off here.

[akaant]

I been watching local C americanus colonies for signs of flight. All the colonies still have alates sitting and waiting.

[noebl1]

I've been seeing more and more C. americanus workers foraging in late afternoons, so wondering if they are prepping for flights soon.  One of the majors had a gaster so large yesterday, thought I found a queen.

 

I can tell temps have been lower as no queen activity.  Looking at the weather forecast, no 80s in immediate future either.

 

I've been checking on my Lasius neoniger sp daily now as expecting first nanitics from last season's captures to eclose.  KIlling me as this and the P. imparis are my two most wanted ants

[Nathant2131]

Dracut, MA

 

Found a Camponotus novaeboracensis dealate under a piece of wooden fence today. Also a HUGE trail of Crematogaster workers on a stone wall. I think they might have been carrying brood, so maybe moving or a satellite nest. I can't imagine a trail so big and long to lead to just a food item. Thousands of them. The trail laster for about 100 feet, no lie.

 

My advice for Crematogaster is to look along jagged, short stone walls. They love them. This was also a pretty open area, on the edge of a field.

Edited by Nathant2131, June 3 2017 - 2:46 PM.

[Nathant2131]

I forgot to add there were also a few Lasius umbratus queens walking around on 6/1.

 

Today I was at the plum island beach where there is lots of vegetation. It was more of a highly vegetated area with lots of sand, rather than a forest. Lasius neoniger, Tetramorium cf. caespitum, Prenolepis imparis, Tapinoma sessile, Solenopsis molesta was what I found, and also a queen walking around that I think was Aphaenogaster; Which wouldn't make sense as it is early and they are fully-claustral. I'll get an ID on her soon.

[Nathant2131]

The unidentified queen (that I originally thought was Aphaenogaster) ended up being Myrmica cf. rubra.

[Nathant2131]

It looks a lot like Myrmica rubra, but won't be able to confirm this as Myrmica are tough to ID.

 

Also, looking really warm in the 10-day forecast. I wonder if it is too late now for Camponotus?

Edited by Nathant2131, June 4 2017 - 1:17 PM.

[noebl1]

It looks a lot like Myrmica rubra, but won't be able to confirm this as Myrmica are tough to ID.

 

Also, looking really warm in the 10-day forecast. I wonder if it is too late now for Camponotus?

 

I don't think so, they usually have a few flights in past experience so we could see more.   I just can't tell (due to last years drought) if we've had the "big" flight yet of the Camponotus or not.