Any good with ants?

[Gerel]

Hi all,

couple of ants, I think two different Myrmica sp., but I really struggle with these.

No. 1.

Nest under a rock. The head and abdomen were noticably darker than the thorax, even to the naked eye.



No. 2

A solitary individual, larger than the other and with much longer epinotal spines.



regards

Steve

[Jason Green]

Afternoon Steve,

I've been through a few keys recently, and collected a couple of vouchers for microscopic IDs, so I'll try...

How big was the first? Leptothorax and Myrmica seem to be quite alike, but size is a good differenciation factor. My gut instinct says Leptothorax, but if it's bigger than 3.5mm it's Myrmica most likely.

The second... any other shots? I seem to have keyed it out as Myrmica rubra, but would prefer to re-try with another shot focussing on the antennae.

Take care,

Jason

[Gerel]

Hi Jason,

I'll have to have another look at the first species to get its length (the nest is only in the garden)

This crop is the clearest shot I got of the antenna for the second, hope it helps.



Thanks for trying to key them out.

Steve

[Jason Green]

Thanks - and my pleasure. Do you have a lower viewpoint still of the petiole? From what I can see, it comes up as Myrmica rubra, but I may of course be interpreting angles incorrectly. If I have, then Myrmica scabrinodis is a possibility.

Take it as Myrmica cf. rubra, which is pretty common - but keying-out is easier with specimens in my limited experience.

If you see it again, go for a top-down, head-on and side shot focusing on the petiole area from as low a viewpoint to the level ground as you can