8 replies to this topic

[JohnTX]

Hi all, just starting out.

 

Heavy rains here last night so went out in my yard looking and ran across this.  (see picture).  

It looks like 8+ queens all climbing over each other; I can't see what is underneath them. The location is a brick porch.  

I watched for a while and none of them took off.  My guess was a pre-flight gathering and that it was too early to collect.  

Can anyone enlighten me?

Thanks!

 

 

Edited by JohnTX, July 6 2017 - 7:42 AM.

[ctantkeeper]

They seem to either be digging a claustral chamber or engaging in a "mating spiral", which 

I highly doubt. Where was this found?

[JohnTX]

Location:  North Texas.

On my front porch, which is made of bricks .  The white you see is grout, the red is brick.

I live in a golf course community, so lots of open space around.

There are others scattered around the porch, and some caught in spiderwebs up higher.

 

Weather:  84 degrees 72% humidity.  Heavy rains last night.  

Time:  10am

 

 

Here is a picture 3 feet directly above that location that shows a number of them caught in webs. 

 

Edited by JohnTX, July 6 2017 - 8:18 AM.

[sgheaton]

Hahahahahaha..... 

[JohnTX]

As a follow up to my original post, the clump of queens stayed in that same area until the evening.  There were smaller winged versions (I assume males, skinny with tiny heads) moving in an out of the group.  As the sun went down, they started dispersing so I scooped up 6 and put them in a container with the intention of putting them in tubes in the morning.  

 

Overnight a couple took off their wings, and at least one seems to have have put out some eggs.

 

I'm  not sure what to do now.  I have no idea which queen the eggs belong to, so I guess I just let them ride it out in the single container?  

 

So I seem to have gotten my first eggs, but don't know who the mother is.  

 

[sgheaton]

So not to hijack your post but totally to hijack your post because it is another "what's going on in this picture" scenario.

 

So Colorado is having Tetramorium fly again right now. I come across at least one queen on my walk from the car into work. I also see a lot of.. this. What is this?

 

It appears to be a queen in the death curl with a bunch of workers around her.  Then not 2 feet away from them there is a wingless queen just power-truckin' ..... somewhere. (Tried coaxing her into the dirt but she was havin' her own adventure). 

Edited by sgheaton, July 10 2017 - 5:24 AM.

[Kevin]

So not to hijack your post but totally to hijack your post because it is another "what's going on in this picture" scenario.

 

So Colorado is having Tetramorium fly again right now. I come across at least one queen on my walk from the car into work. I also see a lot of.. this. What is this?

 

It appears to be a queen in the death curl with a bunch of workers around her.  Then not 2 feet away from them there is a wingless queen just power-truckin' ..... somewhere. (Tried coaxing her into the dirt but she was havin' her own adventure). 

 

This is Tetramorium workers killing delate queens, my theory is for territorial reason. Happens very often.

 

OP, those could be some queens just grouped up to start a colony. I've heard of Solenopsis invicta doing that from other members, possibly your species is polygenous. Separate the queens and give the eggs to one without wings. They will relay.

[Serafine]

The biggest enemy of pavement ants are pavement ants (this applies to all pavement ants, like Lasius niger, Tetramorium, Iridomyrmex, etc.). Once the queen has left the nest she's essentially a free meal for any ant colony, including the one she originated from.

[sgheaton]

So...... defer back to, "Tetramoriums are jerk ants." Ok! Thanks guys. 

 

I do see it a lot of times and am curious what's goin' on. Just a good ole fashion ant bbq on the hot summer sidewalk. Gotcha.