8 replies to this topic

[Yubyop]

She was collected on my computer screen at night on 6/24/17

Habitat: N/A - Found inside so I am not sure

Length is 2-3mm, she is tiny!

Coloration : She appears to be a reddish yellow or maybe a reddish brown its hard to say my pictures don't do the colors justice

 

Here is the link to the small picture gallery I took, excuse the poor pictures I did my best with her being as small as she was https://imgur.com/gallery/7h3VW

Let me know what you guys think, I haven't found or seen a queen like this so I don't even know where to start with this one...

 

 

 

[NikolaBale]

Wow i gotta say I've never seen a queen like that I'm jealous she's a beauty.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Don't know for sure but by the size alone it could be a plegiolepis or monomorium?

Sr just not sure enough.

[Batspiderfish]

Wasmannia auropunctata, an invasive tramp species.

[Cameron C. Thomas]

Wasmannia auropunctata, an invasive tramp species.

 

In Virginia?

[Batspiderfish]

 

Wasmannia auropunctata, an invasive tramp species.

 

In Virginia?

 

 

There doesn't seem to be any particular distribution pattern in the US. I imagine it exists inconspicuously in lots of areas. She's not any of the documented myrmicine genera.

Edited by Batspiderfish, June 30 2017 - 6:03 PM.

[Cameron C. Thomas]

 

 

Wasmannia auropunctata, an invasive tramp species.

 

In Virginia?

 

 

There doesn't seem to be any particular distribution pattern in the US. I imagine it exists inconspicuously in lots of areas. She's not any of the documented myrmicine genera.

 

 

I agree, it just doesn't feel right. If @Yubyop is finding mated alates of W. auropunctata outside of Richmond, it means that there's a colony that's not only established, but thriving, and unless it's held up in his house or some other structure to escape the cold, I just don't see this species being able to make it there.

 

@Yubyop, you mentioned you couldn't get better pictures, but maybe you have some way of getting a closer look, like with a loupe or other magnifying glass? 

 

For W. auropunctata, look for the following combination of characteristics:

1. Antennae are 11 segmented, with the last two (not three) forming a distinct club. There is an obvious club in your pictures, but it's too blurry to tell if the club is two or three segmented.

2. There are prominent (and I mean prominent) frontal carinae extending the length of the head.

3. The petiole from the side view is distinctly square.

4. There are propodeal spines present. (And while you're looking over it, are there obvious ocelli? Those should also be present.)

 

If you have this combination of characteristics, W. auropunctata is what you have, which, again, I'd find surprising for that climate. 

 

You should also take a look at the queen pictures on the AntWiki page for that species to familiarize yourself with the morphology you should be seeing.

 

Wasmannia auropunctata: http://www.antwiki.o...ia_auropunctata

[Yubyop]

Yea, I have a small magnifying glass, so I should be able to see some of these finer details and I will take a look with the information you guys have given me. My question at this point is if it does have these features should I post it somewhere since it isn't listed as a Virginia species? Also, over the last few years Virginia has been staying relative warm (75+) with a decent amount of humidity, so I would that that it might be possible to support this species here despite not being apart of its geographic range.

Edited by Yubyop, July 1 2017 - 5:10 AM.

[Cameron C. Thomas]

Certainly. I only know a couple entomologists in your area, but they're butterfly people. There may be an interested myrmecologist around there, but you'd have to do some poking around yourself. I think it would be worth noting if that's what you have.

 

Otherwise, I wouldn't mind recording this collection on your behalf. If you can't find anyone local to you who'd be interested, I can give you some instructions for getting some workers into alcohol and shipping them to my university; I'd then verify the ID and add the specimens to Washington State's collection. If the queen dies before she is able to get her colony going, you could send her in alcohol as well.

[Yubyop]

I know an entomologist myself that I can go to at my University, but I would be willing to send you a sample if it ends up with workers. Thanks guys for the help.