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
1
¶ 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.
1
¶ 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
1
¶ 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.
2
red bug
Location: Anza, California
June 30, 2011 6:32 am
Hi,
Photographed this fast little thingy on our property last year. I’ve seen a couple of them before, but they always seem to escape the frame before I can capture more than their tail-end leaving the picture. Any ideas please?
Signature: Karen
Velvet Ant and California Harvester Ants
Hi Karen,
The big gal is a Velvet Ant, a flightless female wasp that packs quite a painful sting. We believe the red ants are California Harvester Ants, Pogonomyrmex californicus, which also sting.
Thanks Daniel,
Love the site, by the way.
3
Argentine Ants were swarming the wisteria.
Ikebana with Black Walnut, Wisteria and Fuschia
What caused this branch to turn yellow? Might this endangered California Black Walnut Tree have 1000 Cankers Disease?
Ikebana with Black Walnut, Wisteria and Fuschia
This Ikebana looks much prettier with natural light. We spent quite some time today indulging ourselves and working in the garden.
1
Unidentified ant
Location: Napa, CA, USA
April 6, 2011 9:36 pm
Hello,
These little buggers live (I think) in a dying Oak tree in the front of my yard and are very busy along their trails into my house. I live in Napa, California and it is early spring. Any idea what type of ant they are?
Signature: J. A. Reif
possibly Carpenter Ants
Dear J.A.,
We believe, because of their large size and their location in the tree that these are most likely Carpenter Ants in the genus Camponotus, though we do not have the necessary skills to identify them based on their anatomy. They somewhat resemble this photo of Camponotus clarithorax from California posted on BugGuide. General information on Carpenter Ants can be found on the information page for the genus on BugGuide.
Carpenter Ants, we believe
1
¶ Posted 07 April 2011 § ‡ ° 
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