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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2012 17:49:51 GMT 1
I found this in my garden, which is in kent England. It is a little bit smaller than Lasius Niger and BRIGHT ORANGE. It was above ground so I rule out Flavus... There was also no hostility between it and Lasius Niger workers of which came into contact with it... Thanks Attachments:
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2012 17:51:39 GMT 1
might be Myrmica sp.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2012 19:01:31 GMT 1
Can you get a measurement of this ant if you can find it again? Do you have more pictures?
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2012 19:35:57 GMT 1
I highly doubt I will find 1 like that again... It is about 4 or 5mm, and all my pictures are from the same angle... I do not think it is Myrmica as it is nothing like mine... To orangy and just to small.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2012 23:13:08 GMT 1
Lopking at the pic again, I guess it could be Myrmica.. It was just so orangey that I hoped it was something else....
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 0:07:54 GMT 1
It resembles Tetramorium, but I have no idea what species it could be. Probably Myrmica due to your location.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 3:09:58 GMT 1
I was speculating on Tetramorium bicarinatum earlier, but I'm not sure if it achieves those colors. I can't be sure that it even is Tetramorium without more camera angles. You should check this area more often; there's obviously a nest of this ant somewhere nearby, and if you are baiting them, it's likely that this won't be the last time you run into them.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 3:42:39 GMT 1
Yeah, I'm thinking this is Tetramorium. Whatever species it is, I don't think it's native. I'm considering Tetramorium simillimum/caldarium, but I'd like to be thorough about this. If/when you do find this ant again, do you think you could look at your camera settings and see if you can turn off "noise reduction"? It's taking away detail that might be essential for this ID. Did you actually measure them, or was that a guess? Never just guess a length when it comes to an ID.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 6:35:58 GMT 1
Haha! I just noticed the fisheye-esque reflection of you in the honey drop. Pretty artsy. ;D
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 18:20:19 GMT 1
Alright, sorry if I have gotten you excited about a nonnative species, but I have asked some of the experts about your ant, and the answer is resoundingly Myrmica. Member Cantiacus suggests that it may be Myrmica scabrinodus/sabuleti, native to Britain. The small size is explained as this worked might be a nanitic.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 19:58:12 GMT 1
Thanks BSF, exalt for the positive ID! And yeah I was hoping for a non native lol!
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 20:52:18 GMT 1
Keep looking! There are many more species of ant in Britain than a lot of people think, including many which you either won't find in the stores, or which are prohibitively expensive. ;D There are apparently 26 different species in Kent.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 21:00:00 GMT 1
Yes but every year litteraly 1000s of queens are produced in my garden! All Lasius Niger which kill everything else. :'-(
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 21:16:37 GMT 1
I take it then that your garden is a good L. niger habitat. Maybe look in other places? Also, you might try looking for queens at different times than the L. niger flights. Tetramorium fly earlier than July, and many interesting social parasites fly later. They basically have a flight schedule. I know that with all the nuptial flights I've seen, different species swarm in the thousands at different times.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2012 21:19:40 GMT 1
26 species in Kent? Wohoo! I live in kent to, but I have a few species around me so Im happy, I still need to walk through the woods and see if theirs some there.
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