Pennsylvania Ants
Location: Near Reinhold, PA
May 15, 2012 8:56 am
Hi Daniel, hope all is going well! Have you pinned down your date and location for National Moth Week yet? As soon as you do let us know and we can spotlight WTB and the event on the NMW website. So, I found this cluster of ants on the side of a tussock sedge in a freshwater wetland near Reinhold, PA last week. I was hoping that you can help with the ID and what behavior they are exhibiting. They are pretty cool looking! Thanks, Dave
Signature: Dave Moskowitz
Ants
Hi Dave,
We believe these are Wood Ants or Field Ants in the genus Formica. According to BugGuide: “Known as wood (or forest) ants, field ants or mound ants, depending on habitat preference and nesting habits of the various species. Most prefer non-flooded, open woodlands, openings in temperate forest, or grasslands. A few (mostly northern) species are more or less specialists in openings in boreal forests, fens or bogs, riparian areas, and a small number of species live in the full shade of closed canopy deciduous or mixed forests. Nests are built in soil or less often in rotten wood on the ground. The nest may be elevated above the surface as a mound constructed of earth and/or plant fragments.” They could possibly be Allegany Mound Ants, Formica exsectoides, though BugGuide does not list fens or bogs as the habitat. We are not certain what they are doing.
Because of Julian’s schedule, we are doing our national moth week event on Saturday July 21. I have had this posted on WTB? for months. I will do a new posting soon.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2012/02/01/wtb-sponsors-national-moth-week-event-saturday-21-july-2012/
Ants
Thanks on both fronts. The ants were very cool. I tried to go back last week and collect a few but they were gone. Hope you can figure out what they are and we’re doing! As for your NMW event, if you can send me a little writers about WTB and your event we will post it on the blog and hopefully help promote both. Wish I was closer to actually meet you guys and grab a beer, Dave
David Moskowitz
¶ Posted 16 May 2012 § ‡ ° Insect on high rise window
Location: Chicago, IL
May 4, 2012 3:57 pm
This insect was on my window 20 floors up in downtown chicago. The picture was taken in early May. Some sort of wasp I presume…
Signature: Chicago window
Flying Carpenter Ant
Dear Chicago window,
Since Ants are closely related to wasps, your identification is not too far afield. This is a flying Eastern Carpenter Ant, Camponotus pennsylvanicus, and you can compare your photo to this image on BugGuide. Flying Ants are the reproductive members of the colony and they are known as alates. They swarm when conditions are right and after mating, a fertile queen will begin a new colony.
¶ Posted 05 May 2012 § ‡ ° Butterfly and Ants on Oak Gall
Location: Iowa, United States
April 21, 2012 4:53 pm
Hello,
I thought you might like this interesting picture of a painted lady butterfly on an Oak gall along with many ants. Whenever an ant left, its abdomen was a lot bigger than when it got there! You can’t see in the first picture, but in the second one you can see how some of the ant’s abdomens are full of sap (the ant on the tree branch to the right of the gall).
Signature: Michelle Lynn
Red Admiral and Ants
Hi Michelle,
Your photo is quite fascinating, but a few corrections are in order. The butterfly is in the “Lady” genus Vanessa, however it is actually the Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta. You can compare the under side of the wings to this photo from BugGuide. Many butterflies and indeed other insects are known to feed on oozing sap. We don’t believe this is the result of a gall. We don’t know what is causing the formation in the photo, but is doesn’t appear to be an insect gall to us.
¶ Posted 21 April 2012 § ‡ ° Circle of Life
Location: Contra Costa County, CA
October 13, 2011 9:17 pm
Saw this guy flipping around on a leaf while hiking along the edge of a marsh. Didn’t even see the ant until I looked at the picture on my camera. I wasn’t able to stick around to see who won, but I know those ants aggressively defend their eucalyptus.
Signature: Fel
MIdge and Ant relationship
Dear Fel,
We cannot imagine what the Ant is doing to the Midge. You actually witnessed it, so you think it looked like a battle. We sense that this is some symbiotic relationship or possibly a one sided relationship. Perhaps this became Phoresy after the camera stopped running.
The midge was flipping around like he was trying to get away but the ant had a good grip on him. Those eucalyptus have some sort of psyllid insect, tortoise beetles (fast little buggers), and those ants. If you touch the leaves, the ants come running so I assumed the ant was defending his territory.
¶ Posted 14 October 2011 § Midges ‡ ° Are these Lasius Flavus?
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
October 11, 2011 1:27 am
My wife noticed these ants flying around (not particularly well) in our basement. We pulled stuff away from the hole that’d been cut in the wall some time previously for access to find these ant coming out from under the pavement around these pipes. The photos were taken Oct 10, 2011. It was fairly cold but then record warm on the weekend, I wonder whether that has something to do with their emergence? We think tree roots are coming up under the house, we believe that we can actually see some around the pipe, would that be why they ended up where they were? The ones with wings were about 1cm in length and had an abdomen the same colour as the ones without wings.
Signature: Mark
Swarming Citronella Ants
Hi Mark,
We just posted a photo that we believe to be swarming Citronella Ants and they look very much like your ants. When ants swarm, they will often do so over a great portion of their range simultaneously, which lends credence to the possibility that you also have Citronella Ants. From our brief research, Citronella Ants are in the genus Lasius and the subgenus Acanthomyops according to BugGuide. According to BugGuide, Lasius flavus is in the subgenus Cautolasius. We don’t feel comfortable taking this to the species level, but we do believe the genus is correct. Perhaps someone with more knowledge on Ants can clarify the identification.
Citronella Ant Alate
¶ Posted 11 October 2011 § ‡ ° Backyard swarm
Location: North New Jersey
October 10, 2011 8:49 am
Hi. I found these bugs pouring out of a hole in my backyard. There are at least two types. I think they are both ants, but could also be termites. (My next step is to see if I need to treat my house.) Thanks in advance.
Signature: Jim
Citronella Ant Swarm
Hi Jim,
This is a beautiful photo, but we haven’t the necessary skills to identify the ant species. Your photo contains both the winged reproductive alates and workers of the same species. They are not carpenter ants, so we don’t believe it is necessary to treat your house.
Thank you for the reply. I also sent the picture to Viking Pest Control who said they appear to be citronella ants, a “nuisance” and treatment not necessary unless inside the house. Whew!
jim padykula
Hi again Jim,
There are many questions about Citronella Ants on BugGuide, and all those appear to be in the genus Lasius and subgenus Acanthomyops. The common name refers to the smell the ants give off when smashed. The yellow color is also indicative of the genus Lasius according to BugGuide. Thanks for writing back with that information.
¶ Posted 11 October 2011 § ‡ ° What species of ant Genus Atta
Location: Coto Brus, Costa Rica
October 8, 2011 6:24 pm
Hi! I loved your book. But living in Costa Rica in rain forest, it’s impossible to save all the spiders. We have thousands every day and every night in the house of all sizes. But that is off subject.
I’m attaching two photos of a very large leaf-cutter ant that I found in my garden. It was alone and I’ve never seen one like it before. The leaf-cutters we have here are all smaller and the heads of the soldiers are smaller than this thing. The white streak on the face may be a scar. It seems to have some sort of fungus growing on its head. I’ve looked at every site available online and can’t be sure of what I have. Can you help?
Signature: Mary B. Thorman
Leafcutter Ant
Dear Mary,
Thanks for the compliment on the book. We agree that your ant is a Leafcutter Ant, though we do not have the necessary skills to pin down a species for you. The large head and mandibles are indicative of the Leafcutter Ants. We located a nice page on the Critter Images website that is devoted to Leafcutter Ants of Costa Rica. That site directs folks to The Lurker’s Guide to Leaf Cutter Ants authored by A Sunjian for additional information.
Leafcutter Ant
¶ Posted 09 October 2011 § ‡ ° Bug horror story
Location: Stuttgart, Arkansas
August 9, 2011 1:52 pm
I was grocery shopping one night with my two daughters. The youngest saw raisins, and wanted them, so I bought a 6 pack of individual serving boxes.
We got to the car, loaded the groceries, and dug out the package of raisins. I stripped off the cellophane and handed her a box, and drove on home. Within 3 minutes, she wanted more, so I gave her another box. I decided to munch on one myself.
I opened my box, and tumped a few into my mouth. By the second bite, I noticed they didn’t taste quite right. My older daughter turned on the light, and poured the raisins into her hand. Imagine my utter disgust when I saw her hand was full of half-eaten raisins, and living maggots.
I have not been able to eat raisins since…
Since this form requires me to attach a photo, even though I don’t have one relevant to the story, please enjoy my image of ants devouring a pecan.
Signature: Grossed out in Arkansas
Ants Eat Pecan
Hi Grossed out in Arkansas,
We sympathize with your trauma. We hope your individual box was the only one infested with maggots. Your letter is definitely worthy of tagging as Worst Bug Stories Ever!!! It is worth noting that maggots are consumed in some cultures, and we doubt that there will be any negative health ramification other than the psychological trauma. Your ant photo, though not related to the raisin story, could in itself provide the narrative element for another Worst Bug Story Ever.
ALL of the boxes had maggots….. Ants are my phobia, but even I thought the ants devouring the pecan was pretty cool. But I won’t be eating any pecans from my yard anytime soon since I know I have ants that like them!
Hi again Grossed out in Arkansas,
Perhaps you are raising an entomophage, a person who likes to eat insects. If it is any consolation, we suspect what you mistook for maggots was more likely the grubs of a beetle like a Drugstore Beetle or other species of beetle that commonly infests stored food products. Maggots are fly larvae and they would be more likely to be found in garbage that contains putrefying flesh or rotting vegetable matter.
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