Not a proper ID of course. Sadly, most ways to tell Hypoponera apart are minute details which I 100% can't even come close to taking pictures or video of. Can't take pictures of even Pogonomyrmex petiole lol. In any case, the closest Hypoponera I found to what I got is Hypoponera punctatissima. They have also been found in California (probably greenhouses) and considering I see them nowhere else except in my mom's plant pots...probably came from one of those. The colony I got was pretty decent sized (around 50 ants) and was nesting inside my mom's rotting plumeria plant. I have seen the same Hypoponera on the ground underneath various plant pots, so there is probably 1-2 more colonies on the porch. Otherwise, the only Hypoponera I ever found in the years I've been here is Hypoponera opacior. Which are also smaller (though not to an extreme) than the Hypoponera I got tonight.
As for ant farm. I'm using Drew's dirt box. Previously there was Pheidole flavens in there, but they escaped when their ant farm got knocked over a few nights ago. Their ant farm got invaded by mites, so I put them outside so the mites wouldn't infect everything I have. I cleaned it with bleach (must been hordes of mites still in there) and washed really thoroughly before putting the Hypoponera in.
One interesting trait with the Hypoponera I have is many of the ants (but not all) have translucent abdomens for some reason. The Hypoponera opacior around here don't have anything like that at all. The abdomens aren't enlarged with food or anything, they are just translucent a bit. Kinda neat looking.
Edited by Vendayn, September 23 2018 - 7:39 PM.
