Crappy Photo of Subject 2

These little ladies were hiding under a chunk of cement that was laying next to the water fountain at the trail head next to the Stough Cyn Nature Center.  I was caught off guard when I raised the chunk actually.  I was expecting a smaller colony and was surprised by a large group that scattered quickly and moved to relocate the brood that had been exposed.  I had collection containers with me, but nothing for a whole colony and the queen quickly disappeared.  So, I put the block back and let them get back to their business without too much distress I hope.

This ant is pretty small and commonly found in the California household looking for sweets.  You may have seen them, though they won’t look like the picture below which is pretty crappy.  I’m still looking for a good macro photography solution and will post on that later.  This ant is pretty dark color, basically black. It’s called the Odorous House Ant because they frequent homes and stink when squished; not something I can speak to firsthand cause I’m not into squishing ants.    There’s a simple article about this species here if you’ve seen one and want to know more:

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/ANTKEY/odorous.html

SUBJECT 2

Date:	4/20/2008
Location:	Stough Canyon, CA
Habitat:	Chaparral in foothills
Capture:	Midday under paver near water fountain
Size:	3mm
Color:	black
images:full body,
Species:	Tapinoma sessile
Photo:	Intel Play Qx3 Microscope, 60x magnification

Return to Stough Canyon: Subject 1

Stough Canyon in located in the Verdugo Mountain range in Southern California.  These mountains are located about 10 miles north of downtown Los Angeles and separate the San Fernando Valley from La Canada/Flintridge and the much  larger San Gabriel Mountains beyond.   They are foothills basically and abut the cities of Burbank and Glendale.

I’ve lived near them since about 1999.  In that time, I’ve hardly had much opportunity to frequent in search of ants, but I do get up there every Spring and have a look around, hoping to catch a queen and start a colony in captivity.  This year my oldest son of 9 has expressed some interest in joining me on these excursions and that gives me hope that we’ll be up there more regularly.

My son and I made a trip this weekend, actually after I dropped the idea early in the morning and then decided not to go since it was windy, we made it up there upon his insistence and enthusiasm.  I was skeptical we’d find much given the conditions and that fact that it was only 65F.  But we did in fact capture a total of 6 specimens, 5 of which we were able to retain and catalogue.  One escaped.  And two are of the same species.

Here is the first we caught on the main trail leading up from the Stough Canyon Nature Center.

SUBJECT 1

Date	4/20/2008
Location	Stough Canyon, CA
Habitat	Chaparral in foothills
Capture	Midday at nest opening
Size	4mm
Color	Orange/Red Head & Thorax w/ darker ferruginous gaster
images: 10 segment antenna, petiole & gaster, mandibles, petiole, full body
species:	Some kind of Myrmecocystus, but I am not sure which; Colei, Mimicus, Romaini, or Wheeleri (not sure color is right for Wheerleri which seems pretty uniform where as ours has darker gaster).
photos:	Intel Play Qx3 Microscope, 60x magnification; last shot with makeshift digital zoom microscope (Logitech pro 9000 HD webcam and ??X loop taped on w/ QX3 stage!)