Posted by Alex Wild on May 18, 2010 Who was that dashing ant of mystery and intrigue?
Tetramorium simillimum is a small myrmicine that has tramped around the globe with human commerce, quietly inserting itself into native ecosystems. Like most insect species, little is known about its behavior or its interactions with other species.
JasonC gets a clean sweep: ten points for correctly guessing the genus and species.
Just curious… how did you know it was T. simillimum and not T. caldarium?
http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/PIAkey/Fact_Sheets/Tetramorium_simillimum.html
An excellent question, Jason. If you look at Chart2 on this page you’ll see some differences in head shape and petiole shape.
Of course, it’s hard to tell from my photos which of the two it is- I was able to compare specimens under a microscope to confirm the ID. In that respect, this was something of a trick question- you had a 50/50 chance of getting it right.
May 19, 2010
May 20, 2010