18 replies to this topic

[VoidElecent]

Hello everyone,

 

I am planning a trip to Florida, likely around May-July this year; I hope to stay in the area for as long as possible, probably a couple of weeks.

 

I plan on anting as much as I possibly can.

 

Before y'all give me a hard time: I do NOT plan on transporting live ants across state lines without a permit, regardless of intent. I, likely, WILL be catching queens— what I do with them in Florida is my choice, but I'll probably hand 'em off to any interested Floridian anter. I am primarily interested in photography and documentation— for the sake of the myrmecological and ant keeping communities as a whole.

 

So, now for the research part. I would like help predicting what species I'll find in the area I'll be staying at, where my grandparents live. They live in Tavarez, FL; near Orlando: GOOGLE MAPS

 

I've tried to do some research on Antweb.org, but seems like most of the myrmecologists near Tavarez are primarily interested in Aphaenogaster carolinensis: ANTWEB.

 

So, I'd like you all to come up with a list of genera, perhaps down to the species level, of ants I may find near the area. I'd be happy with anything I can't find in Philly, really, but I would love to find the following:

• Pogonomyrmex badius
• Dorymyrmex spp.
• Pheidole spp.
• Ochetellus glaber
• Cardiocondyla spp.
• Xenomyrmex spp.

Thank you, kindly. I will update this thread frequently with any potentially useful information. My brother and I are back from the land of college applications and are looking forward to a very nerdy senior spring; hopefully, that means we'll be more active on the forums. 

 

Some pictures (via Google Maps street view) of the location:

 

Edited by VoidElecent, January 1 2018 - 5:51 PM.

[Ants_Texas]

Be looking up in the trees. Live Oak trees to be exact, scientific name: Quercus virginiana. Twig ants love to live in Oak Galls, which are commonly constructed on these trees.

[Connectimyrmex]

Pseudomyrmex also inhabits seeds hollowed out by borers, abandoned wood-nesting termite nests, and, as Ants_Texas stated above, tree galls. Those fences look very promising, my old P. gracilis haunts were places with old wooden fences (they nest in insect galleries and gaps in the wood).

Oh, and Ochetellus glaber nests under stones near human habitation. Queens are easy to find, just check (lower) walls for winged queens during daylight.

I'm also planning to go to Florida

Edited by Connectimyrmex, January 1 2018 - 6:01 PM.

[Martialis]

That last photo looks like an excellent place to find some Pheidole megacephala.

[Martialis]

Hello everyone,

 

I am planning a trip to Florida, likely around May-July this year; I hope to stay in the area for as long as possible, probably a couple of weeks.

 

I plan on anting as much as I possibly can.

 

Before y'all give me a hard time: I do NOT plan on transporting live ants across state lines without a permit, regardless of intent. I, likely, WILL be catching queens— what I do with them in Florida is my choice, but I'll probably hand 'em off to any interested Floridian anter. I am primarily interested in photography and documentation— for the sake of the myrmecological and ant keeping communities as a whole.

 

So, now for the research part. I would like help predicting what species I'll find in the area I'll be staying at, where my grandparents live. They live in Tavarez, FL; near Orlando: GOOGLE MAPS

 

I've tried to do some research on Antweb.org, but seems like most of the myrmecologists near Tavarez are primarily interested in Aphaenogaster carolinensis: ANTWEB.

 

So, I'd like you all to come up with a list of genera, perhaps down to the species level, of ants I may find near the area. I'd be happy with anything I can't find in Philly, really, but I would love to find the following:

• Pogonomyrmex badius
• Dorymyrmex spp.
• Pheidole spp.
• Ochetellus glaber
• Cardiocondyla spp.
• Xenomyrmex spp.

Thank you, kindly. I will update this thread frequently with any potentially useful information. My brother and I are back from the land of college applications and are looking forward to a very nerdy senior spring; hopefully, that means we'll be more active on the forums. 

 

Some pictures (via Google Maps street view) of the location:

 

These photos look like an excellent place to find some Pheidole megacephala

[Connectimyrmex]

P. megacephala queens are difficult to find, but colonies are extremely common under logs and rocks (plus the queens like to nest near the surface). 

[VoidElecent]

Ph. megacephala, huh? Well, I'll definitely be on the lookout for them.

 

Thank you all for the information, I appreciate it.

[Martialis]

P. megacephala queens are difficult to find, but colonies are extremely common under logs and rocks (plus the queens like to nest near the surface). 

 

I actually found a colony of them with several queens in Philadelphia. It didn't seem too difficult to locate them. (Of course, they may have been alates.)

[Aaron567]

May-July would be the flight times for many Camponotus species, including the most common, Camponotus floridanus. C. floridanus have massive flights so it is hard to miss them when their nuptial flights come. Camponotus sexguttatus is a recent invasive species becoming increasingly common throughout eastern Florida but I am not sure if they've made it to central FL yet..

[VoidElecent]

May-July would be the flight times for many Camponotus species, including the most common, Camponotus floridanus. C. floridanus have massive flights so it is hard to miss them when their nuptial flights come. Camponotus sexguttatus is a recent invasive species becoming increasingly common throughout eastern Florida but I am not sure if they've made it to central FL yet..

 

I'll definitely be on the lookout for Camponotus, particularly C. tortuganus, C. sexguttatus, C. planatus, and C. novogranadensis. Can I assume Floridian Camponotus tend to fly at night like temperate species?

 

Marti said something about leafcutters— do you think it's possible I may find Trachymyrmex sp. and Cyphomyrmex sp.?

 

Thanks for the help, guys. Are there any other cool ants I should keep an eye out for?

[Aaron567]

Trachymyrmex and Cyphomyrmex are quite likely.

You may also see Solenopsis geminata and Dorymyrmex sp. will most likely be all over the place. Pheidole obscurithorax are also around there too so you might see them. You could also look for Tetramorium queens like T. bicarinatum or T. simillimum.

[WeatherAnt]

Oh neat, I've actually stayed near there in that part of Florida before (Brooksville and Orlando)...I wrote an old blog post a while back about what I found, let me see if I can find it ... 

 

Bam, here it is: 

 

https://bugsnwx.word...31/hello-world/

 

Hope it helps! 

 

Edit: I didn't spend much time anting, so these species were all found with relative ease, or luck. I searched in both wooded and open areas, and near where human development occurred. It was middle of winter too, so even though it wasn't terribly warm the ants were still very active. 

Edited by WeatherAnt, January 7 2018 - 9:38 PM.

[VoidElecent]

Oh neat, I've actually stayed near there in that part of Florida before (Brooksville and Orlando)...I wrote an old blog post a while back about what I found, let me see if I can find it ... 

 

Bam, here it is: 

 

https://bugsnwx.word...31/hello-world/

 

Hope it helps! 

 

Edit: I didn't spend much time anting, so these species were all found with relative ease, or luck. I searched in both wooded and open areas, and near where human development occurred. It was middle of winter too, so even though it wasn't terribly warm the ants were still very active. 

 

Wow, this is... Exactly what I needed!

 

Do you remember what the general aesthetic of the area was? Sandy? Wooded?

[WeatherAnt]

 

Oh neat, I've actually stayed near there in that part of Florida before (Brooksville and Orlando)...I wrote an old blog post a while back about what I found, let me see if I can find it ... 

 

Bam, here it is: 

 

https://bugsnwx.word...31/hello-world/

 

Hope it helps! 

 

Edit: I didn't spend much time anting, so these species were all found with relative ease, or luck. I searched in both wooded and open areas, and near where human development occurred. It was middle of winter too, so even though it wasn't terribly warm the ants were still very active. 

 

Wow, this is... Exactly what I needed!

 

Do you remember what the general aesthetic of the area was? Sandy? Wooded?

 

 

Awesome! Yeah if I recall correctly it was pretty sandy for the most part, but it was more soil / dirt-like in the wooded areas. 

[Jamie_Garrison]

If you are driving through and coming down I-95 swing by my place I have 900 Acres of ant grounds to do some collecting 

[Spamdy]

If you are driving through and coming down I-95 swing by my place I have 900 Acres of ant grounds to do some collecting 

Bring me with you.

[VoidElecent]

If you are driving through and coming down I-95 swing by my place I have 900 Acres of ant grounds to do some collecting 

 

Definitely. I'll let you know when we go!

[AntsAreUs]

Be on the lookout for Stigmatomma pallipes for me!

[kalimant]

Ph. megacephala, huh? Well, I'll definitely be on the lookout for them.

 

There are supposedly around 17 species of Pheidole in the state, so you might see.at least one Pheidole species, but Orlando might be too far north for P. megacephala. I believe Tampa Bay and Sarasota do have that species, and in fact there was a specimen collected in Marie Selby Botanical Garden in the late 1980s.

If you do find a Pheidole, this can help you ID it as P. megacephala.:

 

How to identify P. megacephala

Edited by kalimant, February 23 2018 - 7:38 PM.