So I found 3 different species of ants tonight as I was out and about. It rained last night and I saw the alates poking their heads out of their nests this afternoon. Caught all of these as the sun was going down.
All of the ants were found were found in/around the same location:
1. Location of collection: Provo Utah, USA
2. Date of collection: 8-31-17
3. Habitat of collection: Found them on a sidewalk between a Cemetery and some undeveloped lots. See attached google maps street view for a pic.
[Images of habitat]
https://www.google.c...!7i13312!8i6656
For the first set queens:
I caught 2 of these and a 3rd one beat me to the gap between the sidewalk and the grass.
4. Length: 9-11 mm
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture:
Red, and pretty fuzzy if you look close enough.
6. Distinguishing characteristics:
This ant queen looks more "powerful" than most queen ants I have seen. Her legs almost remind me of spider legs.
7. Distinguishing behavior:
She has trouble righting herself if she ends up on her back.
8. Nest description:
if these came from the nest I thought they did the nest was rocky but fairly flush to the ground. 2cm^2 opening with lots of ants foraging all day. The opening is adjacent to a sidewalk. Some ants seemed to bringing back seeds from wild grain that grows nearby.
[Images of ant]
For the second set of queens:
I caught 3 of these the 3rd still had her wings.
4. Length: The biggest one was 10 mm, while the smallest one was more like 8-9mm
5. Color, hue, pattern and texture:
Brownish yellow. Gaster appears shiny gold/yellow in direct light. I was unable to get a good photo of this. The gaster looks striped. It has 3 or 4 distinct bands.
6. Distinguishing characteristics:
More than anything the shininess of the queens. She also seemed to have little to no waist.
7. Distinguishing behavior:
Good climbers and lots of energy. So much so that getting a picture of her was almost impossible. Pulls at the cotton more than most queens I have
8. Nest description:
Again, if I have the right nest these nested in a sandy area underneath a large tree. The entrance to their nest was obviously raised with the hole in the center of the raised crater. The mound looked a bit like the rounded crater of a volcano.
[Images of ant]
For the third species of queen:
I'm not going to upload any pictures of this one as I'm pretty sure that its tetramorium sp. e. I was quite surprised to find this one as I caught a bunch of these in June. Seems pretty late for tetramorium but she is identical to 6 tetramorium queens that I have that already have nanitics.
Answered
