14 replies to this topic

[ultraex2]

Location:

- Caught in Rockford, Illinois on the first day of the year 80+ .  Found in pool in large backyard with a small wooded area.

 

Date/time:

- Collected afternoon of 5/13/17, around 5 PM CST

Habitat:

- In between grass/lawn and small woods.

Length:

- 5-7 mm

Description:

- Dark red/brown, 2 petiole nodes, small hairs on gaster, shiny gaster. (See pictures)

Notable features:

- 2 petiole nodes and 1 small spine towards end of thorax.

 

edit:

If you know if it's fully claustral, semi claustral, or parasitic please let me know.  Thanks!

 

- vertical side view

- side view

- top/side view

- top/front view

- top view

- side view
 

Edited by ultraex2, May 15 2017 - 7:20 PM.

[AntswerMe]

I don't live in Illinois or keep either, but just from looking at it I can tell it's a Myrmica or Tetramorium.

[Batspiderfish]

Can you please provide accurate measurements (do not include wings or antennae)?

Edited by Batspiderfish, May 15 2017 - 7:43 PM.

[GXF]

I think it's a Myrmica.

[Martialis]

One thing that hasn't been considered (and is often overlooked) is the genus Myrmecina, 

[Batspiderfish]

She's not Myrmica, Tetramorium, nor Myrmecina if you look at the petiole. It's an odd time of the year to see Stenamma alates is all I'm saying.

Edited by Batspiderfish, May 16 2017 - 6:15 AM.

[ultraex2]

Can you please provide accurate measurements (do not include wings or antennae)?

Sure, I can get them tonight - do you want the head/thorax/gaster measurements?

Edited by ultraex2, May 16 2017 - 6:43 AM.

[ultraex2]

She's not Myrmica, Tetramorium, nor Myrmecina if you look at the petiole. It's an odd time of the year to see Stenamma alates is all I'm saying.

 

Do you think it could be tetramorium tsushimae?

[Martialis]

No, Tetramorium look vastly different than this.

[ultraex2]

No, Tetramorium look vastly different than this.

Darn, okay - yeah, I'm at a total loss as far as to what these are and for a lot of the things it could potentially be it seems like it's too early for them to fly.

 

EDIT:

After looking it up more, I'm starting to think it's Stenamma... found this picture on bugguide:

http://bugguide.net/.../1243929/bgpageof  Stenamma brevicorne and on the wiki page it showed someone had observed a flight May 2nd.  I really need to double check the size.

Edited by ultraex2, May 16 2017 - 7:46 AM.

[ultraex2]

Okay, got some measurements:

It's right at 5 mm from head to tip of the gaster.

The gaster is right at 1 mm.

The thorax is just about 2 mm.

I'm 99% sure that it's Stenamma brevicorne.

 

As far as raising them, does anyone know if they're claustral, semi-claustral, or parasitic?  I'm guessing semi claustral but don't know for sure.

[Martialis]

I think claustral, but don't take my word for it.

[ultraex2]

I put them in some semi-claustral set-ups with a dot of honey and a dead fruit fly, so we'll see what happens.  I'll probably start a journal for them soon, too.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Edited by ultraex2, May 17 2017 - 7:14 AM.

[Canadian anter]

These are semi claustral

[ultraex2]

Okay, thanks for the info.