Anthony HortonLadies, I generally don't mind having a few ants around the house, but I really don't think a shelf in our laundry press is a good place to keep your brood.
Peter Drake
@futurebird The board game designers have your back.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/416079/march-of-the-ants-evolved-edition
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/446699/ants
(I have not played either of these games ... yet.)
neville parkAnyway here's the ant nuptial flights I found. The workers are tiny, like, 1mm or something. I think they are the same species? They resemble citronella ants, but much smaller and not as yellow. *Lasius*? *Brachymyrmex*?
I did also see another kind of alate so multiple species are likely having mating flights right now.
_Lasius_ nuptial flight day!!! _L. neoniger_, I'm pretty sure. These are some of the most common ants I see, but I'd never seen a nuptial flight till now.
I found an alate the moment after she detached her wings!
#bugstodon #antstodon #insects #ants • #Hymenoptera #Formicidae #Lasius
zungi
inwitHi, @futurebird! What do you think of the cutest flatmates I ever had? They are around 1.5mm long and help me clean the kitchen every day... could you help in determining their species?
David EpithetPilifera-group big-headed ant (Complex Pheidole pilifera). Lakeview Mountains, yesterday.
#nature #NaturePhotography #bugs #insects #ants #antstodon #hymenoptera #bugstodon #SouthernCalifornia #insektenSamstag
_Lasius_ nuptial flight in High Park the other day! The small bright yellow workers solicitously coax the winged reproductives out of the nest so they can take flight, mate, and found nests of their own.
These yellow ants have always creeped me out a bit. Their holes are very large, big enough to put your finger into, but the ants never seem to go in and out; they sit clustered just inside the entrance.
Apparently many _Lasius_ species live entirely underground tending root-feeding aphids and are only seen at the surface for nuptial flights. Maybe that's what I've been seeing—the workers waiting to escort the alates out.
#bugstodon #antstodon #insects #ants #Hymenoptera #Formicidae #macro 🐜
Ant nuptial flight time! Golden-brown female alates and darker males about half the size, on my windowsill and a few getting into the apartment. No time for a photoshoot sadly.