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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2012 18:42:57 GMT 1
You're close, but it's not Tetramroium.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2012 19:22:01 GMT 1
Is it possible to have another image, as I need to see more parts of the ants body, to use a good identification key...
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2012 19:31:55 GMT 1
Don't worry! It is "Strongylognathus testaceus", I did some research into parasites of the genus Tetramorium and this came up, the picture of the species on "antweb" looks much like the same ant here!
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2012 19:34:47 GMT 1
Here yah go.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2012 19:35:49 GMT 1
Don't worry! It is "Strongylognathus testaceus", I did some research into parasites of the genus Tetramorium and this came up, the picture of the species on "antweb" looks much like the same ant here! I am not sure if you saw this... ;D
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2012 19:36:33 GMT 1
Haha! I am so fast to respond! You've won! Honorable mention goes to ColoradoAnts, who recognized this queen and answered in a PM. I'll give some information on this species a little later. I am kind of out of it right now.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2012 19:37:17 GMT 1
kk
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2012 20:32:14 GMT 1
Alright! Strongylognathus testaceus. www.acideformik.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13172This species is a social parasite of the genus Tetramorium. An inquiline, they depend on their host species for the duration of the colony's life. Their resemblance to Polyergus isn't coincidental; some species of the Strongylognathus genus are slave raiders, however it would seem that this genus is making a transition from a raider into a regular inquiline (and perhaps, eventually, a workerless species.) The workers of some species do make a serious effort to steal pupae from neighboring nests, but unlike Polyergus, S. testaceus is actually smaller and weaker than their host species. They seem to emit the same fear-inducing chemicals as their behaviorally similar Formica and Polyergus cousins, but their heads now lack the strength for combat; even with those scythe-like mandibles, they cannot pierce Tetramorium chitin. Strongylognathus workers (yellow) with Tetramorium sp. host workers. myrmecologie.canalblog.com/tag/Strongylognathus%20testaceusCurrently, Strongylognathus makes due as a simply inquiline parasite. Workers of S.testaceus have very limited capacity for the chores of the nest, and so rely heavily on their host. Even in large colonies, there are few workers of this species to be found; instead of a presence through workers, the parasite manipulates the host colony so that Strognylognathus reproductives are raised in place of Tetramorium, much like the workerless inquiline, Anergates. For those of you who dream about having two coexisting colonies in the same nest, Strognylognathus and Tetramorium are two such species. I'm unsure about when S. testaceus does fly, but we can expect that it is at the same time as Tetramorium. Unlike most conventional social parasites, S. testaceus requires a Tetramorium colony with a living queen. Some people have had success with first introducing pupae to the social parasite, then introducing that colony to a recently-mated Tetramroium queen (apparently S. testaceus does not try to usurp a colony, but spends her life being inconspicuous.)
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2012 20:44:40 GMT 1
Alright, Jon; If you would like to start your own ID game at this time, you are free to do so. ColoradoAnts is also in line to post a game, so it basically first-come-first-serve.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2012 20:49:39 GMT 1
Ok, thanks BSF, I will give it some thought as to what I will do...
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