Of the Solenopsis genus Solenopsis sp is one of the smallest at 2 mm long. Like many small ants including some species of Monomorium and of course one of the tiniest of ants Oligomyrmex, these ants are considered by many experts to be thief ants even as they are not any more "thieving" than any other ants. They got a bad rap just on account of their being so tiny. Generally thief ants do not protect them food finds against other ants which most (but not all) non thief ants generally do. This is because food finds are hard to come by, but when food finds are in large quantity many ants do not fiercely fight off other ants and other insects and arthropods taking a share.
This is possibly not Solenopsis molesta, but I had provisionally tagged it as such based on a paper by a local entomologist.
Queen and workers of Solenopsis sp.
Queen and workers of Solenopsis sp.
Queen and workers of Solenopsis sp.
Queen and workers of Solenopsis sp.
Queen and workers of Solenopsis sp.
Queen and workers of Solenopsis sp.
Workers of Solenopsis sp.
Workers of Solenopsis sp.
Workers of Solenopsis sp.
Workers of Solenopsis sp.
(click on video then click on play to watch)
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Infraorder: Aculeata
Superfamily: Vespoide
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Genus: Solenopsis
Updated: 2022 01 03
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You're in the right genus and group (thief ants) but I don't think this is Solenopsis molesta. Their queens are usually redish-orange like the workers but have darker patches on their head, mesosoma, and gaster.
ReplyDeletehttp://bugguide.net/node/view/248530/bgimage
You are fright in that, especially since Solenopsis molesta is not native to this part. But some mislabeling has identified this as such.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like the Foridian S. nickersoni to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, James.
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