For all you ant lovers...

[brandi]

I'm not an "ant person," but I saw these at a property out side of Fountain Hills, AZ, and thought somebody on here might find the photos interesting. The snake hook in the fore-ground is a standard 40" hook. There were about 6 of the "cones" in about a 20 yard area.

In this one you can see the ants themselves carrying bis of leaves.

 

[james41777]

hey, nice pics. thanks for sharing.
now that cone thing.. is that where the ants live? or is that the thing where the antkiller (wut's the name) lives..?

 

[brandi]

Well there were about 6 of those cones spread over about 20 yards, and ants going in and out of some, but not others. :?

 

[kahoy]

antlion....

those holes are tunnel entrance of ants, some may vary form a few feet deep up to the height of a 10 story building... any close up pics of the ants so we can give you some ID?

 

[brandi]

Thanks... all the cones were about the same shape and size. This is the best picture I could get with my little camera... no macro feature on it. :-(

 

[Ant Worker]

Hi! Those look to be Harvester ants of the species Pogonomyrmex, try google searching it and seeing if they look alike
-Lee

 

[nepenthes]

Yea they do look like harvester ants, but if you looked and saw lots of spines it COULD be a colony of Fungus growing ants acromyrmex (I think thats the way you spell it), but I cant be sure cause I don't know you're location like southern. But like ant worker said, they are probably Pogonomyrmex sp's.

http://www.antweb.org is a great web site for ID'ing

 

[Ant Worker]

Yea they do look like harvester ants, but if you looked and saw lots of spines it COULD be a colony of Fungus growing ants acromyrmex (I think thats the way you spell it), but I cant be sure cause I don't know you're location like southern. But like ant worker said, they are probably Pogonomyrmex sp's.

http://www.antweb.org is a great web site for ID'ing

I really doubt they could be acromyrmex, I can tell a Pogo from a mile away =)

 

[Galapoheros]

Those are leaf cutter ants. Probably Acromyrmex versicolor based on some Googling I did. I'm not a big ant person either but I'm personally familiar with Harvesters and Leaf cutters in E. tx. Been stung by both. Tried to find a leafcutter queen digging with a shovel but no luck. The cutters have the spines. Cutters look like Harvesters with spines. I have access to property with harvesters and cutters. Cutters are much less aggressive (not need to chase down fungus) and can have HUGE mounds really close to each other. The sp in E tx can move enough dirt to fill in a walk-in closet. No doubt in my mind they are Leafcutters.

 

[Ant Worker]

The bottom ant in the last picture is most definetly a Pogonomyrmex. However, the top ant (which I missed) Looks more like Acromyrmex based on its posture. I think both are present in the photo. The nest is not something I've seen from any Pogo's here, so I'm guessing it belongs to the Acromyrmex.

Good thing I saw the second ant, I was wondering where you were getting Acromyrmex.

 

[nepenthes]

galpoheros-

you probably have seen some Atta texana? Similar to Acromyrmex, but they are related too "leaf cutters" you would encounter in more tropical climates, say tropical Mexico.

 

[Galapoheros]

galpoheros-

you probably have seen some Atta texana? Similar to Acromyrmex, but they are related too "leaf cutters" you would encounter in more tropical climates, say tropical Mexico.

OK, thanks. Yea, I just looked up Atta texana. That's the leafcutter I see allot. I know where a bunch of mounds are right now. Some have been there for 30+ years. No telling how old some of the nests are. Well, I found a good site for Acromyrmex versicolor.

http://www.tightloop.com/ants/acrver.htm

 

[nepenthes]

I would love to get Majors and Minors of these Species!

Do you have any rubbing alchohol? Ill send you the vials and pay for postage! PM me if you are interested!

 

[brandi]

Ok guys, the extent of my knowledge about ants would fit comfortably inside your average thimble, but... after looking a pics of all the ants suggested so far, I'm thinking Pogonomyrmex (sp?) - no spikes on these guys like on the Acromyrmex versicolor pic I saw.

I don't know when I'll be out at the site again, but if/when I do I'll see if I can take some samples or at least better pictures for yall. :-D

 

[Ant Worker]

My thoughts are confirmed, as I suspected pogonomyrmex, just the angle of the one worker that seems to have thrown me off..

 

[Galapoheros]

Ok guys, the extent of my knowledge about ants would fit comfortably inside your average thimble, but... after looking a pics of all the ants suggested so far, I'm thinking Pogonomyrmex (sp?) - no spikes on these guys like on the Acromyrmex versicolor pic I saw.

I don't know when I'll be out at the site again, but if/when I do I'll see if I can take some samples or at least better pictures for yall. :-D

Yea if you can get better pics, that'd be great! Really zoom in. I didn't notice the spikes until after I'd seen the E. tx species of cutters at least 5 times. I'm still guessing that they are cutters mostly from the shape of the mounds, the plant litter along their trail and the amount of material they are carrying. I've seen that with Harvesters but nothing near that amount. Also, that ant at the bottom looks to have a head/abdomen ratio more like a cutter than a harvester. The head looks just a liiiiiitttle oversized for a Harvester. Just going by hunches but that's still my guess...until you get a much better pic. The closeness of the 6 cones is a cutter thing too, not something Harvesters would usually do but it's possible. Looking foreward to pics!!!!

 

[Ant Worker]

I'm positive the bottom ant is a Pogonomyrmex species.

 

[brandi]

You know, the ants that I've always known as "harvesters" around here (Sonoran Desert) never had cones like that either... Usually just holes in the ground as a burrow entrance. Also, I always thought their color was darker than these ants.

If it helps at all, there was a considerable amount of leaf debris being carried, with everyone maching in line. The cones themselves were in an area between two slopes... not really a wash but sort of. (If you know the desert area just South, South east of Four Peaks you'll be pretty close)

...Gosh, I never would have immagined there were so many people around here that knew anything about ants! You have opened my eyes to a whole new realm of bug.

 

[Galapoheros]

You know, the ants that I've always known as "harvesters" around here (Sonoran Desert) never had cones like that either... Usually just holes in the ground as a burrow entrance. Also, I always thought their color was darker than these ants.

If it helps at all, there was a considerable amount of leaf debris being carried, with everyone maching in line. The cones themselves were in an area between two slopes... not really a wash but sort of. (If you know the desert area just South, South east of Four Peaks you'll be pretty close)

...Gosh, I never would have immagined there were so many people around here that knew anything about ants! You have opened my eyes to a whole new realm of bug.

Haha, so many diff people out there and so many hobbies. Yea, Harvester mounds tend to be very spread out barely noticeble and isolated from other mounds. Also, the amount of leaf debris is much more typical of Cutters than Harvesters. Harvesters won't pass up a little, dead grasshopper on the trail but a Cutter probably would. Seems like I tried that years ago but I can't remember. You might want to try that and see what happens.

 

[Ant Worker]

Haha, so many diff people out there and so many hobbies. Yea, Harvester mounds tend to be very spread out barely noticeble and isolated from other mounds. Also, the amount of leaf debris is much more typical of Cutters than Harvesters. Harvesters won't pass up a little, dead grasshopper on the trail but a Cutter probably would. Seems like I tried that years ago but I can't remember. You might want to try that and see what happens.

Harvester ants create mounds. I have several outside my house and down the street that are a foot or more in height. Pogonomyrmex species carry leaf litter to, and you can't assume that just because of the leaf litter it would be an acromyrmex species. Based on all things described, its Pogonomyrmex.