6 replies to this topic

[Vendayn]

They were nesting in a rotting part of the plumeria mom was trying to grow.

 

There is size variation amongst the workers, the largest being 3.2 MM. They are noticeably larger (though not to an extreme difference) than the Hypoponera opacior I've been finding all over around here in the complex. Some of the abdomens are also translucent on some of the workers, but not enlarged with food just have different looking abdomens for some reason. Quite a large number of them actually have translucent abdomens. Which I have never seen in the H. opacior around here.

As for color, well not my pic...but here you go this is what they look like to me, even with that kinda different looking abdomen included

 

https://bugguide.net/node/view/1324849

 

Sadly to get really exact details that would differentiate the species better, I'd need to get much closer AND with better quality than I even got with the Pheidole flavens I got IDed. So, I don't think the quality of pictures I take would help at all. And maybe there are really similar looking ones that are native, that also look like that bugguide link and I got one of those instead. But from reading up, Hypoponera are mostly IDed by minute details that I just can't do with what I have on hand.

 

But literally only one of 2-3 colonies I've found of them in the entire complex. Each colony being on our porch and nowhere else. The one colony I got was on top of a shelf. The other I haven't actually found, but I see workers underneath the pots on the ground and they didn't come from the same colony I got tonight. For the wild colonies, I've been to almost every tree, and never once seen them. I've been around the outside of the complex, up and down the river and the single only Hypoponera around is the brownish looking Hypoponera opacior. They are actually pretty common here.

 

Unlike Hypoponera opacior, they don't come to the surface at all as far as I can tell. H. opacior come out a lot to the surface at night and actually explore from what I've seen...these just stay strictly underground.

Edited by Vendayn, September 23 2018 - 7:01 PM.

[Vendayn]

And yeah I didn't put this in the ID section cause I can't take an actual picture for a proper ID. And honestly I already know I don't have the proper equipment to get the minute details needed to ID them so not gonna try. I can't even take a picture of the petioles on ants like Pogonomyrmex. So I didn't want to put a junk ID post over there that wouldn't do much good lol.

 

But considering Hypoponera puntatissima have been found in California (at least in Greenhouses), maybe the plumeria we got had a colony or maybe it came from one of our other plants. I haven't actually seen them anywhere except on our porch, and like I said, I've been here years and only ever find Hypoponera opacior if I find a Hypoponera species.

Edited by Vendayn, September 23 2018 - 7:06 PM.

[Vendayn]

I dunno if I found the queen or not or if she escaped when I was digging through the plant pot. 

 

Is there an easy way to tell Hypoponera queens apart from workers? They've always looked pretty similar to me. There is few that are noticeably larger than the other workers (but maybe that is just the variance in sizes?), and I think they look like queens (a bit more extended thorax area than the others, and I guess look a little "beefier" in the middle. But my eyes are so poor these days I can't really 100% tell).

 

I know if they are Hypoponera puntatissima they can have ergatoid queens. I'm actually not sure if they'd just look like normal queens or not though or if they'd be smaller than usual. And some Hypoponera can have a lot of queens, so maybe I got multiple? I dunno. Too bad don't have a microscope and too poor to get new glasses.

[Vendayn]

I definitely got one queen. Her thorax is thicker than the other workers, and also she is a little bit bigger than they are by a tiny bit.

 

So, officially got a colony.

[Patp3]

Woooo! How exciting!! I hope she is good to you

[DaveJay]

I dunno if I found the queen or not or if she escaped when I was digging through the plant pot.

Is there an easy way to tell Hypoponera queens apart from workers? They've always looked pretty similar to me. There is few that are noticeably larger than the other workers (but maybe that is just the variance in sizes?), and I think they look like queens (a bit more extended thorax area than the others, and I guess look a little "beefier" in the middle. But my eyes are so poor these days I can't really 100% tell).

I know if they are Hypoponera puntatissima they can have ergatoid queens. I'm actually not sure if they'd just look like normal queens or not though or if they'd be smaller than usual. And some Hypoponera can have a lot of queens, so maybe I got multiple? I dunno. Too bad don't have a microscope and too poor to get new glasses.

I use my camera to check things like that, I take photos then zoom in to see details.

[ponerinecat]

Is this colony dead? The transparent workers may have been ergatoid males. You also got an ergatoid queen.