5 replies to this topic

[yoman503]

Location: Canada, Quebec

Length: 12mm

Color: Brown

 

I just wonder why does she have these stripes on her abdomen which she didn't have when I caught her

 

http://imgur.com/a/Ssdm3

[Aquaexploder]

The stripes mean that her social stomach is full (thanks batspiderfish for teaching me this).

[Cameron C. Thomas]

The 'stripes' you're seeing aren't really stripes at all, but spaces in between the tergites (the sclerotized segments on the dorsal side of the insect's abdomen).

 

Arthropod exoskeletons aren't completely solid structures; otherwise, arthropods wouldn't be able to move at all. Think of it like plate armor on a Medieval knight. There are spaces in between the plates which allow movement in the exoskeleton, and when parts of the arthropod are swollen or manually stretched, you can observe the soft spaces in between. In ants, when the queen's abdomen becomes swollen, you can see the intertergite space, which is lighter in color and sort of looks like stripes. You can also see this easily in the workers of species which gorge themselves with nectar. There's a popular image online of worker ants drinking from droplets of various colors, and the ants' abdomens turn that color after drinking. The reason you can see the color is because you're observing the intertergite space.

[T.C.]

I'd go with L. Alienus.

[Nathant2131]

The measurements seem a tad off but this early in the year, any niger-group Lasius is probably Lasius alienus.

[LC3]

There's a possibility it's a Formica sp. but no clue.