10 replies to this topic

[miwu]

I caught five of these girls but they have different colors to them. This is the darkest of them all. I think they're all the same species but will post another lighter female in the reply section just to confirm. Thanks everyone!

 

1. Location of collection: 29 Palms, California

2. Date of collection: 7/19/2017

3. Habitat of collection: Desert with shrubs

4. Length (from head to gaster): 9-10mm

5. Color, hue, pattern and texture: Varying colors on different specimens. Some are redder, some darker.

6. Distinguishing characteristics: N/A

7. Distinguishing behavior: Caught these flying around 10pm then wandering afterwards.

8. Nest description: N/A

 

 

 

Edited by miwu, July 28 2017 - 3:35 AM.

[miwu]

Here is the lighter female.

 

[LC3]

They're all Crematogaster. 

[miwu]

They're all Crematogaster.

Perfect! I've been wanting to find them. Thanks!

[dspdrew]

Definitely Crematogaster. I find those a LOT in the desert on my black light.

[nurbs]

Yeah, same. Also on gas station pumps!

[nurbs]

Also, they are easy to rear, and quite resilient. Two years ago, the one I found (which looks just like yours) grew to over 300 workers by last year. Then last Winter, I forgot to care for them and they all died except for the queen and two workers. I started caring for her again and they have now bounced back quite nicely. About 5 workers now and tons and tons of brood. 

[Antking117]

Also, they are easy to rear, and quite resilient. Two years ago, the one I found (which looks just like yours) grew to over 300 workers by last year. Then last Winter, I forgot to care for them and they all died except for the queen and two workers. I started caring for her again and they have now bounced back quite nicely. About 5 workers now and tons and tons of brood. 

Sad that they died in the first place, but the turn around! Very nice

[nurbs]

Two shots from when they had hundreds of workers.

 

Once they got over 50 or so workers, their appetite became ravenous and needed constant feeding.

 

 

[VoidElecent]

Wow, what beautiful ants. I wish Crematogaster flew earlier in PA.

[miwu]

Two shots from when they had hundreds of workers.

 

Once they got over 50 or so workers, their appetite became ravenous and needed constant feeding.

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing! Awesome pictures. Can't wait til mine get workers. So I hit up the areas around the Mojave Preserve this week and was bombarded by number of these queens. I didn't bother collecting any because there were just so many of them everywhere. So many flew into my car that I still ended up with ten queens (at least, I'm still randomly finding them) despite my best effort at leaving them at the desert. So yeah, I think I might understand why you'd "forget to care for them."