Ant colony

Gordon C. Snelling · Post by **Gordon C. Snelling** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 7:42 pm

Two years ago after a decent rainy winter in the Mojave I was out flipping rocks looking for ants when I found this mass of ants and brood. They are Forelius mcCooki a very common small arid habitat ant.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:31 am

Indeed they are small there Gordon. The larvae/pupae(?) resemble pollen grains.

Gordon C. Snelling · Post by **Gordon C. Snelling** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 8:24 am

When I first saw them I was amazed at the bright yellow color, the yellow are the pupae as you guessed. Note the queen on the center of the pile.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 12:08 pm

So that is the queen

, I never would have know had you not pointed her out. I wonder how many more of these offspring she will produce before she eventually expires?

Mike B in OKlahoma · Post by **Mike B in OKlahoma** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 11:08 pm

Any ant shot is a good shot (sort of like snakes). Good job getting a queen in a natural setting, and the coloration is very cool, as noted.

Gordon knows this, but for the benefit of anyone who tries to replicate this shot, I'll strongly encourage you to CAREFULLY put the rock back where you found it after this sort of exploration. Lots of things live in the small relatively hospitable (for them) environment created by rock coverings, and many will die if the rock doesn't go back. But putting the rock back haphazardly can be almost as bad as not putting it back when there are nest chambers like this one involved. I'm confident Gordon did this, hopefully anyone who is inspired by this will also.

Okay, now deactivating "Know-it-all-Mother-Hen" mode....Maybe I'm being lecturish because I didn't get out and do any ant photography in 2006.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:01 am

I have looked under many rocks looking for snakes (or anything else under there) from when I was a kid to an adult and I always try to place the rock in the same position as it was. Great advice Mike. Very nice photo Gordon. Was this a fairly new colony, usually the queen would not be near the surface like that I would guess.

Gordon C. Snelling · Post by **Gordon C. Snelling** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:32 am

That is actually a fairly established colony, during the early spring it is not at all unusual for the queens to be up under rocks, or in very close proximity to the surface. Yup i put the rock back.