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[AnthonyP163]

12/26/20

 

This is the beginning of my Myrmica journal. 

 

Myrmica spatulata

 

The main attraction of this journal right now is Myrmica spatulata complex. I caught a lot of these queens on September 6th, 2020 in a sand prairie in the west of Wisconsin. Myrmica spatulata form large colonies in prairies, are bright red, have medium-large sized queens for Myrmica, and grow relatively quickly. 

 

At the start, I had a two queen group that I focused on. These two queens were a bit different in size and color, but both spatulata. This will be the main colony of spatulata.

 

9/10/20

Just days after catching

 

11/14/20

My Myrmica from the sand prairie all began getting workers around this time.

 

11/19/20

The colony began growing pretty decently at this time, still 2 queens and ~4 workers.

 

12/26/20

I don't have current photos, but as of today, the queens have fought. The larger, brighter queen killed the smaller, darker queen. The colony has around 10 workers and a good amount of brood. The next update should hold current photos.

 

Myrmica cf. discontinua

 

I caught quite a few of these queens in the summer out in sandy areas. I am unsure about the identity of these ants, because discontinua isn't documented here, but so far it's the only species which matches.

 

11/14/20

This is when the colony was a decent size, but much smaller than the size it is now.

 

12/26/20

I don't have any photos of them from today, but right now they have about 40 workers and a lot of brood. 

 

Myrmica latifrons, Myrmica spatulata, Myrmica cf. discontinua, Myrmica sp.

 

All of the colonies were in a video I made on December 1st. Obviously, they've all grown since then. 

 

 

This genus is very good at being successful. I have a few queens of multiple species who wanted to hibernate, but the majority are able to skip hibernation without any harm. Next post will have photos.