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!)