proceratium
awild | September 13, 2009
Proceratium silaceum, alate queen.
Last week at the Vermillion River Observatory I collected this alate queen of Proceratium silaceum, an odd and highly specialized subterranean predator of spider eggs. Once I finished photographing the ant I pickled it in 100% ethanol. The specimen should be in good shape for DNA work.
As Proceratium is both relatively uncommon and phylogenetically interesting, I thought I'd offer the specimen to any lab that might have use for it. Contact me if you're interested.
awild | April 22, 2008
Proceratium californicum
San Mateo Co., California
From Antweb:
This rarely collected ant is known from valley oak (Quercus lobata) riparian woodland in the Central Valley and from adjacent foothill localities (oak woodland; chaparral; grassland). It is presumed to be a specialist, subterranean predator on spider eggs. Alates have been collected in April and May.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon D60
f/13, 1/200 sec, ISO 100, twin flash diffused through tracing paper