An unidentified yellow ant and a strange thing with wings and pincers!

[shardman]

I've came across these yellow ants last week but can't find a good ID for them, does anyone have any ideas? I've tried to get as detailed photos as I can pointing a camera down a microscope, it sort of works!


I also found this strange flying insect with pincers on the back, it's clear from the pictures but it has four wings, the hind wings appear to be covered in very fine hairs. Any help will be much appreciated!


Thanks,
Sam

[Jason Green]

Morning Sam,

I'd go for Myrmica on account of the short last 3 segments of the antennae. To go for species you need to look at various features such as the hind-surface of the propodeum and whether it's shiny or not as I suspect this is the usual rubra/ruginodis scenario.

Personally these are best carded-up - as I do with all my Formicids. A drop of water-soluble gum about the size of the insect is placed on thick acid-free card then spread to about twice the insect's area. Then simply drop it down with the bottom-surface to make contact with the glue, then arrange the appendages - the jaws can be teased open with a micro-pin (size A3 with a downward motion around the base of the teeth that touch) then supported as such by the glue. This procedure gets a lot quicker with practice. For later ventral examination simply apply a few drop of water to the glue then carefully lift the insect off.

The second is another Psyllid. Do you know the catch information for these - place inc. grid-reference, plant it was on and specific dates?

Take care,

Jason

[shardman]

Thanks Jason,

I'd considered Myrmica rubra/ruginodis too but the guide I have shows them as being covered in bristles everything else seems right though, if it's one of those two then I suspect rubra on account of the pedicel shape.

I'd considered Psyllids for the secone insect too but the pincers threw me, it looks like a cross between a psyllid and an earwig! Do you know if this is an adult stage?

I'm keeping a very dtailed record of where everthing was caught from, I have three transects with 5 traps in each, I've recorded the locations of each trap witha GPS so I have a grid reference. It's a good job too, it's hard enough finding the traps again witha GPS, it would be a nightmare without! I also have dates although I haven't recorded nearby plants, that's a good idea though, I may go back and do that.

I'm recording everything on a spreadsheet, so far I have 40 species and 11 orders identified. The most difficult are the wasps ome of which are incredibly small, I need a microscope at 100x to get a good view. I'm just recording these according to group e.g. chalcid wasp 001, they're just too difficult to get a species ID on.

Yours,
Sam

[Jason Green]

I think the pincers are the genitals extruded.

So, you're using traps. Would this be the yellow-dish idea filled with isopropyl? If so or similar then of course host-plants will be difficult and so maybe not essential so-long as suitable emphasis is made as to the method if catching.

As for Chalcids - these are a real expert area, and good literature is probably difficult to come across.

Originally Posted by shardman

I'd considered Myrmica rubra/ruginodis too but the guide I have shows them as being covered in bristles everything else seems right though, if it's one of those two then I suspect rubra on account of the pedicel shape.

Bristles - seta (pl. setae). These I think would be difficult to see in an alconhol-preserved specimen, probably laying across the body rather than erect when dry.

[shardman]

I see what you mean about the pincers, it makes sense considering how battered the specimen is.

I thought as much, I've already identified 5 different species of chalcids and I expect to find a lot more! I'm keeping a photographic record of everything unidentified to refer back to later, I can compare new specimens to the record to make sure I don't record two of the same species as seperate species.

I'm setting traps yes, I have 15 in all at three sites, they're the pitfall type, simple but they work. I'm using a deep plastic pots 8cm across buried so they're level with the ground, I put 30ml of alcohol in the bottom, cover them with a few twigs and come back in 24hrs to collect whatevers there. They're a very effective method of collecting ground insects although they have obvious limitations when it comes to flying insects. They are particularly good for collecting very tiny insects that could easily be missed by other methods.

Do you use a net for collecting?

[Jason Green]

How did you do your Chalcids? They're very difficult to identify.

Yes, pit-falling is very restrictive. I'm currently beating various tree foliage and taking about 10-12 specimens a day. I'm starting to, I hope, develop good field-intuition - having seen those I have in my collection so frequently without visual-aids I can tell when I have a new dark-type Apionid weevil for example when they land in the tray.

Next year I hope to begin sweeping; I currently have a small catch-net type thing for taking things off flowers.

[shardman]

With the chalcids I'm simply cataloging by number (e.g. chalcid 001) and keeping a photographic record so I know which wasp each number refers to. I'm finding a lot of these, I've sorted 10 traps so far and already have 8 chalcids, 2 gall wasps (cynipidae) and 2 ichneumons. As I have photos I may attempt to classify them with a bit more detail, but like you say they're difficult!

How would you go about preserving chalcids? I assume because they're so small it has to be in alcohol...

You must have an extremely interesting collection, do you ever come across anything particularly rare?

[Jason Green]

Rare... well, this week I took a ladybird called Rhyzobius chrysomeloides confirmed on genitalia - very few records since it was first added to the British list in 1999. Then a Chalcid which I think is Brachymeria tibialis - about 6 records since 1930 which I may need to send to an expert in Scotland and a few Nationally-Notable individuals such as Magdalis cerasi and Orsodacne humeralis tentatively ID'd from reliable internet references - but I won't write-out a determination label until I've run them through the relevant keys.

Preserving chalcids - yes, I suppose alcohol unless they're 4mm+ (micro-staging is then an option).

Where does your username stem from?

[shardman]

Yes, I saw your post about the ladybird, is that now confirmed? It's a fantastic find if it is. I'm sure you already know this but the Natural History Museum are really good when it comes to identifying tricky species, they've helped me in the past.

My username is my name, Sam Hardman. Not very original but there you go!

[tia sinclair]

yes they look like queen yellow meddow ant