11 replies to this topic

[skocko76]

Hi all.
How do you identify your ants?
What knowledgebase do you use to differentiate?
I find it difficult to find images and descriptions of species.
I help myself with this great site, even though it is for French ants only: http://keyants.free.fr

I'd like to get better at it, as currently I am not good at all...

[gcsnelling]

It takes practice, simple as that. You need a good microscope. Antweb it a good resource.

[Mettcollsuss]

Once I’ve pinned down what genus it is, I use both antmaps.org and antweb.org. I use antmaps to find all species of that genus in my area, and then I use antweb to look through each of those species. Sometimes, if I find two or more species that look like it, I have to use a microscope. This method takes patience, as you may have to wait for workers to arrive if antweb doesn’t have a queen specimen, or you may have to wait for a worker to die so you can examine it more closely.

[AntsAreUs]

It's more or less figuring out what Genus the ant is in which is quite easy in most northern countries. As for IDing down to the species it would have to be a really common species (Tetramorium immigrans for example) or a decently different species from the rest of them in your area such as comparing Camponotus castaneus to the rest of the species in North America. If the ant is in a Genus that has many, many species and most look the same color (Formica for example) then you will need a microscope or really good macro lens/camera to take pics. Once you have taken those pics you can use a species identifying key which can be found most of the time on antwiki.org. Becoming familiar with the ants in your area helps a ton with knowing how to ID.

Edited by AntsAreUs, June 24 2018 - 12:01 PM.

[skocko76]

Thank you for your replies. Extremely helpful!
Do you have a recommendation on which microscopes would be good to get?
I do have a Canon EF 100mm f2.8 macro usm lens, though.

[AntsAreUs]

I used a $40 USB microscope on Amazon at it seems to work great. Combined with image stacking I can take the following pics:

 

 

Pheidole pilifera

 

Strumigenys pergandei and Strumigenys pilinasis

 

This is an example of using macro lens:

 

 

Hopefully that helps.

[skocko76]

Thanks for the very helpful replies.

What magnification microscope is best? 500X, 1000X? I have no idea.

[AntsAreUs]

Thanks for the very helpful replies.

What magnification microscope is best? 500X, 1000X? I have no idea.

The one I used is 20x-200x.

[Mettcollsuss]

I used a $40 USB microscope on Amazon at it seems to work great.

Can you post the link to it?

[AntsAreUs]

 

I used a $40 USB microscope on Amazon at it seems to work great.

Can you post the link to it?

 

https://www.amazon.c...scope endoscope

[skocko76]

 

Thanks for the very helpful replies.

What magnification microscope is best? 500X, 1000X? I have no idea.

The one I used is 20x-200x.

 

Crap! I ordered 200x-1000x by mistake.  Can you tell what magnification you used for mugshots? Can I make do with the one I ordered?

[AntsAreUs]

 

 

Thanks for the very helpful replies.

What magnification microscope is best? 500X, 1000X? I have no idea.

The one I used is 20x-200x.

 

Crap! I ordered 200x-1000x by mistake.  Can you tell what magnification you used for mugshots? Can I make do with the one I ordered?

 

It depends on how big your ant is for sure. You will probably be able to use it. Larger ants such as Formica might be harder to setup for good pictures.