14 replies to this topic

[kellakk]

After the last rainstorm we had here in southern California, I noticed some ant colonies moving dirt around on the surface.  I assumed they were doing so to aerate their nest. Anyway, I took a scoop of the dirt on top and found a whole bunch of winged alates!  Is this a common occurrence? I was under the assumption that this time of year was too cold for nuptial flights.

[DesertAntz]

I don't think the weather in this part of the country is a guaranteed lockdown of ant activity. It is severely less likely for ants to fly but I wouldn't count against some flights taking place under special circumstances. 

[Chromerust]

Ants definitely come up to the surface to dry out after heavy rain

[Gregory2455]

I would love images for an ID. Probably Dorymyrmex insanus as mentioned just a little while ago, but I am still curious.

[drtrmiller]

I thought I posted this, but it seems to have disappeared.

 

Some ants do overwinter alates, which may fly in warmer climates, year round.

 

Alates that do not fly in winter, but are simply overwintered, have stronger, more developed ovaries compared to those that eclose during the same season in which they fly.  

 

Solenopsis invicta, for example, occasionally overwinters alates, who can go on to become queen to a colony whose queen died the previous winter.  The same queen would be executed if she had just recently eclosed, and her ovaries were not as fully developed as those of the overwintered one.

Edited by drtrmiller, December 11 2014 - 4:08 PM.

[kellakk]

Wow, that's pretty interesting.  What I saw must have been a case of overwintering alates.  I collected some of them to ID, I guess I'll take a look under the microscope when I get home.

[Foogoo]

Am I correct in assuming that these alates would no be mated and therefore no use in collecting until they fly?

[Gregory2455]

Yes.

[kellakk]

They seem to have Argentine ants. Go figure. They were found relatively close to an urban area.

[drtrmiller]

They seem to have Argentine ants. Go figure. They were found relatively close to an urban area.

 

Argentine ants do not fly, but rather mate with their brothers inside the nest.  I've witnessed this with my own colony.

[Gregory2455]

They seem to have Argentine ants. Go figure. They were found relatively close to an urban area.

Dorymyrmex insanus look a lot like argentine ants.

[kellakk]

Dorymyrmex insanus look a lot like argentine ants.

Could be then. I don't have a good camera to take pictures of them, but I do have a microscope that I looked at a queen under. My IDing skills are almost nonexistant so I could definitely be wrong. 

 

Argentine ants do not fly, but rather mate with their brothers inside the nest.  I've witnessed this with my own colony.

 

The alates I saw weren't flying, they were just roaming around in the upper portions of the nest.

[Gregory2455]

Here is a Dorymyrmex insanus female.

 

Here is a Linepithema humile female.

 

If you found lots of winged ones then they are Dorymyrmex insanus, because Linepithema humile usually have their wings trimmed immediately after eclosing.

[kellakk]

If you found lots of winged ones then they are Dorymyrmex insanus, because Linepithema humile usually have their wings trimmed immediately after eclosing.

 

I didn't know that, thanks for the interesting fact.  The nest was in an area that consistently gets moisture, which is one of the reasons why I was leaning toward Linepithema humile.

[Gregory2455]

As you can tell by the images above, it can be confusing which is which. The sure way to tell is that a Linepithema humile queen will not survive for long without the care of workers, while Dorymyrmex insanus are fully clausteral.