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Sifolinia's AntBlog: November 2009
http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
Monday, 23 November 2009. Thanks to John Pontin for pointing out the Rickia. In one of this years Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. I had the portfolio at home, but hadn't noticed the fungus on the ant. It's a bit hard to tell from the online image, but is really quite clear when it's a bit bigger. I'm thinking that the ant is probably Myrmica rubra. As far as I know, R. wasmannii. I'm starting to think that R. wasmannii. Links to this post. Subscribe to: Posts (Atom). Ants of The Gambia.
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Sifolinia's AntBlog: June 2010
http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html
Sunday, 13 June 2010. Last week I was on a canal boat holiday. The highlight of the whole trip (in my mind) was this beetle, Agapanthia villosoviridescens. On Claire's finger. It wasn't so much that it is pretty (though it evidently is), it was that when handled it made a very audible squeak. Closer observation showed that when it squeaked it also moved its pronotum relative to its elytra, suggesting that it produces the sound by flexing the hinge between pronotum and elytra. According to the NBN Gateway.
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Sifolinia's AntBlog: August 2009
http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html
Sunday, 2 August 2009. Found in the UK. According to a BBC News report. Released yesterday the invasive species Lasius neglectus. Has been found in Gloucestershire in the UK. For those who are unaware of L. neglectus. It is a relatively newly discovered invasive ant species. It has been marching across Europe and, because it does not seem to be too bothered by cold conditions, a number of myrmecologists have been predicting that it will become or was already. Links to this post. Subscribe to: Posts (Atom).
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Sifolinia's AntBlog: November 2008
http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html
Saturday, 8 November 2008. Another picture from Cromhall. I was concentrating on the sawfly at the time, but I think it is the fly that draws the eye in this photograph. I don't think I realised how attractive it was at the time - it's just a fly after all. I think the sawfly is a species of. See comment). At one point it would have been easy to identify it as A. rosae. But it appears that there may have been some revisions to the genus. My best guess is that this common Athalia. Links to this post.
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Sifolinia's AntBlog: April 2013
http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/2013_04_01_archive.html
Sunday, 14 April 2013. This is further evidence that my large backlog of ant specimens really needs dealing with! This specimen is clearly Myrmica slovaca. Due to the narrow frons, scape and petiole shape. It was previously erroneously regarded as M. salina. In Europe, but this was recently resolved by Radchenko and Elmes (2010). Who found that it is quite different from true M. salina. Even so, the name may still be subject to some change, as Seifert (2011). Suggests that M. curvithorax. Notes the speci...
antbase.org
antbase.org
http://www.antbase.org/antLinks.htm
Specimens picture database at the California Academy of Sciences. The ants of Cachoeira Nature Reserve, Brazil. FoCol - Ant Types in Germany. Manfred Verhaagh und Christiana Klingenberg. Taxonomic literature, mapping and specimen data at Ohio State University. The ants of (subsaharan) Africa. An extensive, illustrated catalogue, including keys by Brian Taylor. Formicidae at the Tree of Life web project. Ant diversity, phylogeny and characteristics. Ants of Costa Rica. Brian Taylor and Mostafa Sharaf.
sifolinia.blogspot.com
Sifolinia's AntBlog: June 2013
http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/2013_06_01_archive.html
Thursday, 6 June 2013. On peony flower buds. This is a new behaviour for me, so perhaps others can fill me in. We have two different peonies in our garden planted right next to each other; either different species or varieties. The flower buds on one of them is currently covered in black garden ants Lasius niger. Which are clearly attending them for some reason. The other peony has no ants - not one - on the flower buds. On garden peony © M. J. Lush, 2013. Is this familiar to anyone? Links to this post.
sifolinia.blogspot.com
Sifolinia's AntBlog: Rickia wasmannii everywhere
http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/2009/11/rickia-wasmannii-everywhere.html
Monday, 23 November 2009. Thanks to John Pontin for pointing out the Rickia. In one of this years Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. I had the portfolio at home, but hadn't noticed the fungus on the ant. It's a bit hard to tell from the online image, but is really quite clear when it's a bit bigger. I'm thinking that the ant is probably Myrmica rubra. As far as I know, R. wasmannii. I'm starting to think that R. wasmannii. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. Ants of the UK.
sifolinia.blogspot.com
Sifolinia's AntBlog: August 2013
http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/2013_08_01_archive.html
Wednesday, 28 August 2013. Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve, Northern Territory, Australia. This is either Lyell's swift Pelopidas lyelli. Or a dingy swift P. agna. Both referred to as the common swift. Or it's a rice swift Borbo cinnara. But it seems a bit unlikely. As you can tell, I know nothing about Australian butterflies, other than what I've been able to glean so far from Michael Braby's Butterflies of Australia. Links to this post. Location: Middle Point NT, Australia. Tuesday, 27 August 2013. The A...
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Sifolinia's AntBlog: January 2009
http://sifolinia.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
Sunday, 4 January 2009. New year, new home, new job, new species. One rather important event that took place over the last month was that my recent paper was published, describing a new species, Monomorium. It may not be much, but it is my first new species. (I don't have the time or resources to conduct large scale taxonomic reviews. At the time I did the M. subcomae. Work I was working off of a table in my kitchen - at least now I have a dedicated office/lab.). The type material for M. subcomae. Perhap...
