Queen Ants from Yesterday

As I quickly posted yesterday I found some ants but was put off from saying much thanks to a short thunderstorm passing by. My apologies to everyone who is not a scientific reader, because despite being common ants they actually lack common names.


While taking pictures of a colony of Aphaenogaster flight I stumbled upon a queen who had mated earlier in the day. Pictured above is a Monomorium minimum queen which I didn't even know had nuptial flights, but there she is. Monomorium are very tiny ants (2mm long workers!) that normally nest in sand. Despite making a small mound or two they're almost completely unnoticed by the average person. When digging into the nest you normally find dozens of queens with hundreds of workers that are just inches into the earth's surface. They are easily one of the easiest ants to catch. In captivity however, they don't fair as well. Colonies slowly dwindle down to nothing. I actually caught this queen and have her in a test tube setup. We'll see how far this gets.


A bit after 6:00pm I found in the not so lush area of the yard a colony of Aphaenogaster with alates all gathered at the entrance. Pictured above are dozens of winged male ants that are monitoring the sky for favorable conditions. If such conditions hold out they will soon begin taking off one by one and filling the sky with pheromones that encourage not only queens to get out of the nest, but for every other colony of this species to start their nuptial flight. But because ants can't hear they didn't realize the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance.


The males are only there to mate with queens during the nuptial flight. During the down time when they're in the nest they're a drag on the colony resources. Something you may notice about the males is how dumbed down they are compared to the workers. As far as development goes they are stripped of everything but he bare essentials for what nature intended. Their mandates are so underdeveloped that the workers are their only source of food.

What males have going for them though is excellent vision. Their eyes are gigantic compared to that of the workers . If I were able to do a close up I would have taken a shot of the three extra eyes/light sensors that make a triangle on the male four head area. This gives the ant heat vision which makes finding a queen all the more easier to do in the air.


Here you can see a worker carrying a male out of the nest. When in complete darkness alates don't do very much. But once they're put out in the light suddenly they get an amazing urge to spread their wings and fly around.


I actually have no idea what species of Aphaenogaster this is, but when it comes to ants a good profile shot is essential. This is the best I could do. One can very clearly make out the head, length of antenna, possibly count the antenna segments; you can see the thorax area and make out how the various parts fold over one another as well where humps, bumps, and spines are if present; you can clearly see the ant has two waist segments before the abdomen. And you can even make out where the hairs are on the body. The color and length of the legs compared with that of the body. Color is usually not very useful along but sometimes certain uniforms are more apparent in some species. And lastly shininess, dullness, and over all texture of the body parts, (head, thorax, and abdomen).


A queen finally emerges. She's actually more developed than the workers. For this particular group of ants queens have fully functioning reproductive organs. Their abdomen is a lot bigger in size and full of food stores for her to start a colony of her own. After mating I normally find these queens in damp leaf litter or dead wood. I actually have a colony probably of the same species right now. Though in captivity I have the issue of alates inbreeding in the nest.

However, there was no nuptial flight on that day. It started raining pretty hard and thundering close by. I admired their persistence though. Even with rain falling on them they maintained their cluster at the entrance. My tolerance of the rain wared out before they went inside.


The storm wasn't that bad though and it stopped raining with in an hour. The thunder also stopped. Pictured above is the ants attempting to fly again. They ran out of day light though. Better luck tomorrow I guess.

Nuptial Flight 07/13/09

This was for the hour of 6:00pm. I caught a Monomorium minimum queen of all things just moments ago. While poking my nose that low to the ground I also caught sight of an Aphaenogaster colony setting out alates for a nuptial flight. They didn't get very far as it's currently thundering outside. I admire their persistence though, becasue they were tolerating the rain far more than I could. I left them there. I'll have pictures later but now I have to turn off he computer. Bye.

This is one of the best pictures I've taken. Normally I'm bored out of my mind to take picture of honey bees. Hover flies I growing tired of too. Flower in general I always try to get pictures of when they're in use. Otherwise it's like looking at a box of fireworks rather than fireworks exploding in the air.

I'm not particularly partial to the color pink, but I have to marvel at the sheer amount of color in this shot. The saturation in incredible and that can be very hard to capture. Ask someone to make a color with lots of saturation. If they start mix colors then they're doing something wrong. You can do all you want to a color but it will never be as saturated as it was when you first opened the tube of paint. Adding white will make it paler, adding black will make it darker, adding any other color will only remove saturation.

The book "Bringing Nature Home" works!

In 2007 an absolute joy was published. "Bringing Nature Home" by Doug Tallamy is an easy to read book that shows why we're facing a mass extinction the world over. As the title may suggest though a detailed method of saving nature is spelled out, and I'm happy to say it works!

Basically what it boils down to is grow native plants, and favor them as much as possible. This attracts and hopefully creates more insects. These in turn consume inedible plants such as the Oak Tree. Ever eat an Oak leaf? Don't bother they taste awful! Ever eat the caterpillar that eats oak leaves? They taste awful too! But have you ever eaten a bird that eats the caterpillars that easts the oak leaf? Some of those actually taste pretty good! So it is mind baffling that we protect endangered species and by only preserving a fraction of their habitat and expect them to rebound. This is the equivalent of Indian reservations.

So his book makes sense, sounds good in theory, and I have to say my native plant garden does not disappoint! I have so many caterpillars, and other insects, and I'm seeing so much diversity. Most of these I don't know the name of.


Earlier in the year Gypsy Moths were on my Nectarine Tree. Not native but the chemical structure in the leaves is similar enough to apples that they can use it. They barely did any damage to my tree also. All of them were eaten by Wasps and Ants.


The Milkweed for the past two years has gotten me Monarch Caterpillars. I'm expecting them again this August. And I've had a few Monarchs hatch out from it.


This caterpillar/worm I actually wasn't happy to find. It was eating our corn.


A Brown-Hooded Owlet which was on an Aster I planted. They will also use Goldenrod and occur in the fall when both plants bloom. They consume the flower petals, of which both plants have plenty of.


The Woolly Bear caterpillar. These I always found even when I didn't have the garden. Apparently they can eat virtually any plant. For unknown reasons though they wonder great distances.


Outside currently I can find Woolly Bear caterpillars. They're not wondering around yet but they're out there.


Some unknown inchworm I found eating parts to a Purple Coneflower. I see a bunch of these on the plants but not consistantly.


Not sure if this is a caterpillar but I found a cocoon on the Liatris.


Another inchworm of some sort. This one has a death wish though. This must have been what a lucky day looks like for a bird. A berry and a caterpillar all in one. I haven't seen it in a week though. Bird or Ant food.


Another master of disguise. I found this on Stoke's Aster. I have no idea what it is though. I actually can't find anything using Stoke's Aster as a host plant. Still out on the flower but it's turned more red in color.


The Giant Leopard Caterpillar. In the fall they're the same size as the Woolly Bear but when you find them wondering in the spring they've grown to be 4 inches or greater.


I found this on our rose bush. No idea what it could be. Bird or Ant food.


This one was on our Blueberry bush. It vanished a day later. Bird or Ant food.


Yet another unknown caterpillar. I found it on our Pear tree which is not native. It vanished later that day. Bird or Ant Food.


And lastly I found a caterpillar eating a window in one of our sunflower leaves. It also vanished later that day. Bird or Ant food.

What's Flying Now?

Assorted Formica species have started flying. Something interesting people have been telling me though is they've seen them flying at night. I used to think they were strictly flying in the morning. And it figures the unidentified species pictured above I found around my front door in the afternoon. I'm rolling my eyes at how inconsistent their nuptial flights are so just be on the look out.


Lasius alanius was also flying today. Thankfully their flights are a little more consistent. They happen in the afternoon. Colonies, however, are not always concentrated. Because L. alanius nest in dead wood ideal nesting spaces are hard to find, and colonies can be broken up some. The colony in my yard takes up the side flower bed where I have varieties of sunflowers planted, and only sent up a hand full of queens.


Here an L. alanius attempted to take off on our neighbor's fence. She's actually in the act of falling off.

Both are easy to start in Test Tube Setups and don't require any special care. The only issue is both genera contain social parasites that will require either, a host colony from that genus, or boosting (with brood) to get started. Parasitic species often look diminished in size compared with their hosts.

Colors of Milkweed

I was delighted to find the cultivar of Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly Weed, we sold at the state beekeeper's meeting turned out so pretty. I can't wait for this to turn into a bush.


A. tuberosa starts out as a tiny stalk with very few flowers on it.


On the following year though it turns into a small bush.


A three year old plant actuall is a slightly bigger bush but is covered in flowers.


A. tuberosa also comes in solid yellow.


As you can see bees love it.







Asclepias incarnata, doesn't get as bushy. What it lacks in flowers, it makes up for in height. I've also notice Monarch butterflies on it slightly more. When mixed milkweeds are planted near one another though it's hard to tell.



A. incarnata is also available in white.

Beetles in the Garden

Having a native plant garden sure doesn't disappoint. Just as caterpillars need to feed on certain host plants a few beetles are also restricted in their diet. For the most part though it is not well studied, or at least not as well as with Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies.) So here are a few beetles I've noticed around the garden. Bare in mind that I know almost nothing about most of them.


This was on a Coreopsis, a.k.a. tickseed, and it's antenna are twice as long as it's body.


What I think is Rhodobaenus tredecimpunctatus. I found it on our crabapple tree, but apparently it either feeds on, or mates around, Ironweed, Joe Pye Weed, Ragweed, and whatever cocklebur is. Three of these I have planted in the yard.


No not a lady bug but most likely Endomychus biguttatus thanks to the folks at BugGuide.net and apparently they feed on fungi. And sure enough I found this beetle around some rotting wood I keep out in the yard. I actually have quite a lot of it.


This was on a grass I have in the garden. Lots of hyssop, coneflowers, and milkweed around. I think it's a stink bug or related to them. Nothing ferther to say about it.


Another unknown beetle. This was on the yarrow we have by our pond. It reminds me of something that might be aquatic.

Breeding Ant Colonies

Probably close to 90% of ants reproduce through nuptial flight. That is the action of winged reproductive leaving the colony, usually in mass, and taking to the sky for the act of mating. Mating grounds tend to be in or around the area the species would normally be found. For example the forest dwelling Lasius alienus is often found in the forests where the majority of their queens and males tend to fly around. Lasius neoniger on the other hand tends to nest out in open fields and is single handedly ruining the sport of golf in Florida. L. neoniger is referred as the Labor Day Ant because of it's nuptial flights known for ruining Labor Day picknicks nationwide.

Considering that the ants are already in the environment one wonders why they bother taking to the skies at all. Well some species actually don't fly or do so pretty low to the ground. Mating can even be seen taking place on the ground. Some Myrmica species, I believe (I could be wrong), actually don't fly very far at all. The queens will climb tall blades of grass and simply fan pheromones with their wings to attract males down. Once mating the queens remove their wings and simply wonder around looking for a nest. They're usually not messed with either because many Myrmica species are armed with a violent sting. It's nothing compared with Fire Ants or our Western Harvester Ants but it works!

I had herd once that Myrmica tend to be more common at higher elevations. I believe this on the ground mating might have something to do with it. Heavy winds would surely blow most other ants away, but here on the ground mating seems to be a success.

Breeding inside the colony itself isn't uncommon. I've seen many Tetramorium caespitum and Crematogaster cerasi queens leaving the colonies already mated with. Dig up a colony of Monomorium minimum and you'll likely find dozens of queens. The invasive Pharaoh Ant, Monomorium pharaonis, actually divides it's colonies instead of even bother with a nuptial flight. This makes them a very troublesome pest.

Recently it was found that the fungus growing ant Mycocepurus smithii simply clones itself. There is no male caste at all.

So the question is, how to exploite breeding in captivity. As it turns out it may not be as hard as it sounds.


Over the spring I caught a colony of Aphaenogaster out in the yard. Along with workers, and queen, was the over wintered brood. This brood for this particular ant is the only type that can develope into alates. The colony went on to produce 3 new queens, a few males, and are now producing workers regularly. The odd thing I noticed one day though was that the queen's had removed their wings, and some of the males had died. Apparently they'd bred in captivity within their nest.


Breeding in the colony is usually not allowed by the workers but the colony had been stressed some and workers weren't in abundance. The problem is I didn't witness the act of mating and can't say that they're mated with at all. Removing their wings might have simply been a responce captivity. If the colony starts producing a number of males throughout the summer I'll know.


Currently I'm having trouble telling which queen is the original to the colony, but I can't help but wonder if this captive mating was done on purpose. The colony had less than 100 workers. Many had died from the usual complications of getting a nest: workers attacking one another in confusion, accidential damage, old age.

Had the colony been bigger when this happened I can't say that the alates would have mated. But if they did and the colony was healthy I probably could have split it one or more ways. That aspecit is intreging.

A few days ago I witnessed a miniture nuptial flight in action. The left over males in the colony were attempting to fly off. This suggests that breeding in the colony and holding nuptial flights can both happen in a single species. I can't help but wonder that allowing the queens to breed may have been done in responce to the low number of workers. 4 queens are better than 1. The actual cause is still unknown of coures, it could just be the expansive space of the plaster setup they've yet to fill.

Assuming this colony can be maintained and goes on to produce queens next year I can't wait to see if they do it again. I'll have more room to experement some that is.

In Europe Ant Stores are possable because the some of the people have perfected methods of artificial insimination. Methods originally devised for Honey Bees are now taken to a much smaller scale and carefully queen ants are selectively bread. This is clearly a better method but a large humber of queens would be needed to perfect what they were doing. And of course not all species of ants produce reproductives in captivity.

To conclude captive breeding is still in need of work, but there are methods and situations that allow it to happen.

Bees on Flowers

One of my pictures has been featured on the front page of Wildlife Gardeners, which is a forum I recently joined. It will be up there for the entire month of July (2009) I believe.

Here you see a honey bee landed oddly on a purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea. Compared with other prairie plants these usually don't get as much attention by bees. That all changes when you have a few healthy plants growing a fair number of flowers, meaning more than just 4. Here are some more recent pictures I took out in the garden.


A sweat bee, which I'm not familiar with on the waxy flowers of a young Milkweed plant. Asclepias tuberosa has some of the showiest colored flowers of all the milkweeds. This one has been growing in the blueberry patch I planted last year. I should probably move it but the garden is otherwise full at the moment.


Another sweat bee, this time a metallic green one, working an unknown Hyssop I planted two years ago. It's taller than the Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum, that all the other beekeepers prize, and it doesn't get as much attention. The metallic green sweat bees have always fasinated me. Sweat bees are semi social, meaning they may nest in colonies but new queens and males are produced all year long. So it's possable to find them living as solitary bees and social bees.


A Bumblebee working the Coreopsis I planted this year. I'm enjoying Coreopsis a lot as I think they bloom earlier than most other plants out in the garden. I've been in a real need to plug a hole or two with what's in bloom over the year. For mid to late spring there is almost nothing outside blooming. Hopefully the Coreopsis will help.


Honey Bee working Stoke's Aster. This plant is an example of a misleading common name. Though in the Aster family it is not in the Aster genus. It's actually in it's own genus called Stokesia, species name laevis. It's native to the south east united states but is heardy to grow up here in NJ.