2124 replies to this topic

[noebl1]

Well that was fast, that Myrmica queen I found yesterday evening foraging I believe is an M. americana, and she laid an egg already.  Time to get started on an outworld for her.

 

Starting to see more Monomorium on the property, interesting as haven't noticed them before. 

[Aquaexploder]

Going camping this weekend! Hopefully I will be able to find a few Camponotus dealates. Also I remember their was a thriving pheidole colony next to the campsite so I wonder how they are doing.

Edited by Aquaexploder, May 18 2018 - 2:56 PM.

[noebl1]

Going camping this weekend! Hopefully I will be able to find a few Camponotus dealates. Also I remember their was a thriving pheidole colony next to the campsite so I wonder how they are doing.

 

Good luck!!!

[akaant]

Yesterday I found C. americanus, chromaiodes, pennsylvanicus, and possibly a Nylanderia queen. I went out at 5pm and experienced what Connectimyrmex  described queens trying to lift off in grassy areas. Good chance the 2 I found never mated but ill hold on to them.

I came back to that spot around 9PM and found many dealated queens. I mostly captured Camponotus americanus  along a 30 yard stretch that was grassy on one side and forest on the other side. Seems I got lucky with the queens since they were nowhere else in the area.

Nylanderia?

https://imgur.com/rFXwHRm

https://imgur.com/vYc8S4R

I will have spare queens if you guys don't get lucky 

https://imgur.com/1qebFar

Edited by akaant, May 18 2018 - 3:31 PM.

[noebl1]

WOW!  Really nice!  This season is really weird, I don't get the Camponotus flight patterns at all.  I adjusted my work schedule, so I'm home a lot earlier now to miss traffic.  I haven't seen any large flights yet, and yet we're finding tons of Camponotus (except few C. Mrymentoma).  I wonder if C. americanus this year are flying earlier than previous years.  Last year as I mentioned before was a mess from the 2016 drought, so who knows...  they did fly in small numbers in 2016 but I thought was later in the year compared to C. pennsylvanicus.  I noticed someone else in W. NY posted about flights last night as well.  Even before I collected ants, I was pretty tuned into the Camponotus flights for years as they invade houses, and I have yet to see a large flight of them this year. I'm so confused.  

 

OR... it's still early and this could be a precursor for a really good year for collecting queens. 

 

I did notice all my C. americanus were clustered too, none of them too far from where I see large numbers of C. americanus foraging during the night.  None of of them had wings on them, but still not sure if they mated or not.

 

EDIT: In case you couldn't tell, it really bothers me not finding patterns...

Edited by noebl1, May 18 2018 - 3:51 PM.

[Myrmidon]

Wow! Great finds, akaant!    With the way things are going, I might be getting my queens from everyone else. I'm shocked I haven't even been able to get a C. pennsylvanicus at this point. They were going crazy around this time last year here.

[akaant]

Thanks.

I current temperature fluctuations might be messing with the nuptial flight patterns. 

[noebl1]

I think you're right about the temp fluctuations as this year has been all over.

I did notice Sunday is looking more and more perfect as around 80F, a thunderstorm late afternoon, and then clearing; ideal flight conditions.

[mallonje]

It was 61 at 5pm and 55 at 6pm. I didn't see anything at all today. 

On a related note - Anyone have a score card of Massachusetts "native" species? Hearing everyone rattle off a new name every other post has me curious about what's out there to find/ play with. And I understand the hunt is half the fun but I'm a little type A. 

[akaant]

It was 61 at 5pm and 55 at 6pm. I didn't see anything at all today. 

On a related note - Anyone have a score card of Massachusetts "native" species? Hearing everyone rattle off a new name every other post has me curious about what's out there to find/ play with. And I understand the hunt is half the fun but I'm a little type A. 

http://antmaps.org/?click on our state.

List of recorded flight throughout the country.

http://www.formicult...nt-mating-chart

Make sure to go over the first 30+ pages of this thread  to get an Idea of when  and what flew in 2017. 

[mallonje]

Holy crap - this is awesome! How is it that google did not find this for me! 

[noebl1]

@malloneje  This is also a REALLY good reference and can be had for cheap at times used; A Field Guide to New England Ants It's amazing how many species we have here in our area.  

Edited by noebl1, May 19 2018 - 5:44 AM.

[ctantkeeper]

@malloneje  This is also a REALLY good reference and can be had for cheap at times used; A Field Guide to New England Ants It's amazing how many species we have here in our area.  

I couldn't recommend it more either. It's an amazing book!

[noebl1]

I found two Camponotus nearcticus earlier today.  Someone out near 128 has found a couple of them as well in the last few minutes.  Keep an eye out!

[Connectimyrmex]

Due to a supreme lack of test tubes, I stuffed four C. chromaiodes queens in the same tube. They are actually getting along great! I saw them feeding and grooming each other today.

[Connectimyrmex]

Plus, I think I saw a Dolichovespula queen grab a C. pennsylvanicus-or-maybe-chromaiodes male alate out of the air about an hour ago.

[mallonje]

It is perfect weather and I am seeing nothing. I've walked about 2.25 miles. Took the kids to the playground. And to the near by elementary school and haven't found a thing.

All the colonies I found at the school appear inactive - to the point where I'm wondering if they sprayed.

[Aquaexploder]

Unfortunately all I found was a couple Camponotus pennsylvanicus drones this weekend, but will be going out shortly to check for queens again since it is ideal conditions.

[noebl1]

Today was cruel and a tease. In the AM conditions were perfect and we found a couple Camponotus, then nothing. After the storms went thru, it dried off so betting that didn't help. It's a lot like fishing sometimes unfortunately.

I saw the NWS tweeted out tomorrow will be warm, but dry. This season has been tough to predict, so I have no clue is anything will fly tomorrow...

[noebl1]

I feel like Camponotus may be flying in the AM this year based on what myself and others are seeing (seeing numbers of dealates, but not seeing any really flying.)  Has anyone observed any flights early?  Could be before sunrise, I'm unsure.  If they are, that would be a big shift from normal.

 

Yesterday I finished the outworld for the Myrmica americana (?) queen I found on Thursday.  Added her test tube to it with some sand/coconut fibers.  Put in a freshly defrosted mosquito, and within an hour of adding her to the outworld, she had carried the mosquito back and was feeding on it.  She also went to the Sunburst nectar I added and saw her feed from that as well.  Looks like she's up to 2-3 eggs.  I have a better feeling this time around I'm more prepared to care for these than previous years where I used the test tube portals, and it was a failure with them.