7 replies to this topic

[BMM]

1. Caught a little south of St. Louis in a suburban backyard.

2. 4/13/17
3. One was stuck in a bowl of water and the other was dead on my patio.
4. One is 11mm long and the other is 10mm.
5. They're both a black or very dark brown color, a little lighter at the gasters. No hair or other clear features.

 

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure these are male ants. From what I know, the petiole isn't usually this distinct in wasps and the antennae are also in the L shape. The only two ant species I'm aware of in my backyard are Tetramorium tsushimae and Tapinoma sessile, and these definitely aren't from either of those.

 

Edited by BMM, April 14 2017 - 4:35 AM.

[Batspiderfish]

Can you clarify which measurement belongs to which ant?

[BMM]

The one in the first picture is 10mm long and the one in the second picture is 11mm long.

[Bracchymyrmex]

The antennae and legs look as if they belong to a wasp.

[Nathant2131]

The antennae and legs look as if they belong to a wasp.

Males often have very short antennal scapes, which is why it may look this way. Also, the petiole is present. This is an ant.

[VoidElecent]

It's a male ant, there's no doubt about that. This definitely looks very much like a Camponotus pennsylvanicus alate, but the slightly lighter coloration may point to Camponotus chromaiodes.

[Nathant2131]

It's a male ant, there's no doubt about that. This definitely looks very much like a Camponotus pennsylvanicus alate, but the slightly lighter coloration may point to Camponotus chromaiodes.

It is difficult enough to identify males to genus-level. Males are very unstudied and not many keys are available for species-level, many times there is no way because of their reject in study, or they really are that similar looking.

[BMM]

Camponotus makes sense. They could very well be either or both species. I caught two wingless queens within feet of where I found these guys. I'm fairly certain one of those queens is C. chromaiodes and the other is C. pennsylvanicus.