1. Location of collection: Ambler, Pennsylvania (Suburb of Philly)
2. Date of collection: May 9th, 2017
3. Habitat of collection: Front yard, under a chunk of dead ash wood I had placed there, in the hopes that a nearby C. cerasi colony would move in. The dirt they were living in was cold and wet; it was 61° F outside.
4. Length (from head to gaster): Almost exactly 3 mm.
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture: Reddish brown, lighter feet & very round gaster. Seems to be covered in tiny hairs.
6. Distinguishing characteristics: Post-petiole present.
7. Distinguishing behavior: Curls up into a ball as a defense mechanism if disturbed.
8. Nest description: *See habitat, dirt under dead chunk of wood. This specimen, and a couple other workers seemed to have built a nest (or satelite nest) directly adjacent to Ponera pennsylvanica, Selonopsis molesta and Lasius flavus-group species inhabiting the space under the log.
Note: I'm hoping this is Myrmecina americana (hence my recent reply Michigan Ant's ID thread), but it could just be an unsuspecting Tetramorium worker that I really freaked out.
Here are some pictures. I tried to get a shot of her under 4x magnification, but it was nearly impossible to do so without killing her.
Edited by VoidElecent, May 9 2017 - 5:46 PM.
