7 replies to this topic

[goonius]

My 10-year old daughter rescued this ant from a swimming pool on June 29th. She laid eggs in a petri dish, and volutarily moved herself and her eggs and nymphs into a Tarheel Ants Hearth formicarium just a few days ago. Today, the first worker reached maturity and began to move about, but was smaller than we had anticipated for a Florida Harvester minor worker, compared to those we've seen around the nests in our area. So we were hoping a more seasoned enthusiast could confirm our ID so we know what kinds of offerings to leave in the foraging area (we currently have seeds and honey-water in there). This is our first experience caring for ants. We've unexpectedly lost a queen who had quite mature eggs/nymphs, and don't want to lose this one. 

The queen was found in an area that is mostly sandy soil and pines. She is the largest queen we have found though I'm not certain of her specific size. She is much larger than an imported fire ant queen and has large mandibles. 

Since I am having trouble uploading files, I'm going to try linking to them on google drive. 

[Nare]

She's definitly Pogonomyrmex, although I'm not super familiar with any other harvester ants in Florida. I'd assume your first worker is small because it's a nanitic. This species is polymorphic, so perhaps you've been seeing major workers, and expect all workers to be that size? Either way, pretty sure you were correct with your initial ID - you're lucky, I'd love to keep this species.

[goonius]

Thank you! We feel pretty lucky to have found her. My daughter became interested in ants after spending hours watching harvester nests near to our house. She was actually checking nearby to those nests daily this past spring in the hopes of finding a queen, but wasn't having any luck, although we seemed to be finding tons of queens of other species -- especially imported fire ants. Then we went swimming at a friends house and her pool was literally full of them. We couldn't believe our good fortune and rescued as many as we could, bringing two home in the hopes of starting a colony. The first one died just a couple weeks ago. She had made it so far, had the best accommodations in the hearth formicarium, and we just don't know what happened. The 2nd queen had laid eggs in a petri dish we had her in before we had a chance to move her to a more suitable location, so we were surprised when she ended up being our survivor.

I appreciate the confirmation, and I know my daughter will too.

Do you have any wisdom to share on feeding or the like? We put a selection of seeds in the foraging area -- everything from chia, sesame, and poppy to grass seeds from the yard, and a bit of honey-water soaked cotton. Will this be a sufficient diet to keep the colony healthy?

[Nare]

Thank you! We feel pretty lucky to have found her. My daughter became interested in ants after spending hours watching harvester nests near to our house. She was actually checking nearby to those nests daily this past spring in the hopes of finding a queen, but wasn't having any luck, although we seemed to be finding tons of queens of other species -- especially imported fire ants. Then we went swimming at a friends house and her pool was literally full of them. We couldn't believe our good fortune and rescued as many as we could, bringing two home in the hopes of starting a colony. The first one died just a couple weeks ago. She had made it so far, had the best accommodations in the hearth formicarium, and we just don't know what happened. The 2nd queen had laid eggs in a petri dish we had her in before we had a chance to move her to a more suitable location, so we were surprised when she ended up being our survivor.

I appreciate the confirmation, and I know my daughter will too.

Do you have any wisdom to share on feeding or the like? We put a selection of seeds in the foraging area -- everything from chia, sesame, and poppy to grass seeds from the yard, and a bit of honey-water soaked cotton. Will this be a sufficient diet to keep the colony healthy?

It should be. I've never kept Pogonomyrmex, but being harvesters, I know seeds will be a staple of their diet - so much so that they may not even accept honey. Be sure to provide lots of insect protein, when they've got their first workers. Also, be careful - I think that this species has a painful sting.

[goonius]

Thanks. I'll probably just take the honey out and stick with the seeds. 

As for the sting, my daughter has actually experienced it. She picked one up a few years back, and by her reaction I think it must have been a bit like a wasp. Fortunately, I do think you really have to provoke them to make them sting, but I can tell you my daughter is much more cautious now.

[Benchmvrk]

First generation workers are considered "nanitics" and are noticeably smaller to their future sisters. The only Pogonomyrmex species further East are the Badius and they have a large pool of polymorphism. 

[Zeiss]

Make sure for your next ID request, you follow the posting format for them.  It isn't hard to miss, as it is at the top of the Ant ID Request section.  

[goonius]

Zeiss, I did read it, but missed the cut and paste portion at the bottom. While it is in bright red, you have to scroll to see it -- at least on my small screen, and I mistakenly thought the photos marked the end of the post. Perhaps the necessity of the numbered cut and paste list should be the lead-in to the post if it is of integral importance.