what kind of huge ant is this?

[crashergs]

i was out searching for centipedes, when i came across this monster ant, it was a lone ant, i couldnt find one 30 feet radius from it, but darkling beetles. this ant averages about 3/4 of an inch, its huge! it has some sort of liquid in its abdomen too.

 

[KennyGee]

thats tiny up here in washington we got ants over and 1inch long but there not were i live they live near mountains. I saw some when i was camping they were huge, i didnt even wanna touch them they were so big

 

[crashergs]

this image cannot justify how large this specimen is,

its about the same size of a velvet ant, but about 1cm larger!

 

[crashergs]

over an inch long? thats huge!

 

[Tleilaxu]

If thats a queen I will buy it from ya...;P

 

[crashergs]

i sent photos to an entomologist that studies ant species in california at USC. I hope ill get a response from him quickly before it dies from me not knowing howto care for it, and sure

if it is a queen, ill sell it to ya, 50.00 $

 

[kraken]

THAT IS HUGE!!! Wow!!! Imagine keeping a colony of those!!

 

[zinto]

It's not a queen...sorry! There are no ocelli on the head, and there aren't any remains of wings either. I don't know the species though. If your friend at USC can't figure it out, I'll send it to a friend of mine at UofA who studies ants. Good luck!

 

[beetleman]

man! a colony of those they would pick up a freakin house and walk away with it

 

[bugmankeith]

That's exactly what I have around my house, I see them once in a while. So when you find out what species please tell me too. Here is a picture of one from my backyard taken by me.

 

[crashergs]

ZINTO... i just got an automatic response from the guy at USC, can you forward those pics to your friend that you know of can identify this species?.

if he asks you these questions, i have answers.


Where did he find it?
A: desert region with alot of rocks and shrubs.

How many were there?
A: only found one within a 30 ft radius est. didnt bother to search more as this
might of been the only one in several hundred feet.

Carnivorous?
A: i tested and verified that it was not, it just attacked a cricket, held on to it for about 2 hours and eventually let it go out of its mandibles.

This ant has some sort of fluid in its abdomen, and has a huge dark brown head

 

[bugmankeith]

You can add mine in too.


Where did he find it?
A: Green area with alot of grass,bushes,and wooden fences.

How many were there?
A: found two within 10 feet of eachother, both same size.

Carnivorous?
A:In bushes filled with aphids, possibly collecting sweet secretions from them.

 

[Tleilaxu]

i sent photos to an entomologist that studies ant species in california at USC. I hope ill get a response from him quickly before it dies from me not knowing howto care for it, and sure

if it is a queen, ill sell it to ya, 50.00 $

Ants like to eat liquids in fact they cannot eat solids feed it honey and sugar water. As I dont think its a queen *sigh*

 

[crashergs]

lol no its not a queen, some sort of huge independant ant... ill do that though, feed it liquid

 

[dtknow]

That is around average size for carpenter ants we have in CA(Campotonus sp.)

 

[AR-Tarantula]

Definitely looks like a Camponotus worker.

 

[zinto]

I contacted my friend at UofA. He says "The ant is in the genus camponotus. I think it is Camponotus ocreatus but I am not 100% sure about the species." Well done AR-Tarantula!!

 

[crashergs]

man...

you guys are truely awesome!!!! i still have it, its made a lil burrow and protects it with all its might its great.

your right though looks like a "Camponotus ocreatus" im researching that species on google,

again AWESOME researching from all of you guys :clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[Ant Worker]

Just a worker Camponotus ocreatus as your friend said, if I woulda been here in the last 2 weeks I woulda responded faster instead of letting these people who know little about ants respond lol.
God I love that ant very beautiful, always wanted a queen ;*( .

Lol, and whoever it was (dont feel like re reading topic) who said it was solitary is wrong lol, no ants are solitary. It just wondered off or is outside of the colony while the rest are hiding away.
-_-;;

I am this forums leading ant expert stop trying to take my job!!!

 

[Tleilaxu]

Just a worker Camponotus ocreatus as your friend said, if I woulda been here in the last 2 weeks I woulda responded faster instead of letting these people who know little about ants respond lol.
God I love that ant very beautiful, always wanted a queen ;*( .

Lol, and whoever it was (dont feel like re reading topic) who said it was solitary is wrong lol, no ants are solitary. It just wondered off or is outside of the colony while the rest are hiding away.
-_-;;

I am this forums leading ant expert stop trying to take my job!!!

aren't some in SA solitary? I have heard of a few species being anti social... even saw one on the discovery channel.