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Need help identifying ants please.

adnedarn

I'm growing CPs in the Desert of Tucson, Az
Admin
Hello all! We recently purchased our first house and have been in here about a month. One morning nice and early after a few days of rain I noticed an amazing site of these flying ants out in the yard by a bush/cactus. Later that day, I saw wingless ants all over, digging a hole all by themselves all over the place. The next morning the same flight patterns and even more ants digging! I did my best to take a picture of these digging ants, and even moved one on the cool deck since catching them outside the hole their digging was so hard. I turned a couple winged ones into a pest inspector, and sent him the following pics and he said they determined they were a wasp. I think he's crazy! What do you think? I've never seen single ants dig their own holes all over so I'm confused and interested in getting rid of them :p Best bet is harvester ants... the end video has the flying ones and shows all the holes all over the front yard. The flying ones are hard to see but watch for the column going up and down, it really was pretty amazing.
Thanks!
Andrew

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<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K-DWyNy0MIg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
100% sure it is an ant based on the antenna. Most PCO are not entomologists so they wont know squat. Will swarm this time of year and at that point the males and females will have wings. Males do not look that much like females... I need to find an ant key for your area. They large spines on the dorsal posterior of the thorax should work well as a identification characteristic.....


let me look. Monkey might have a better handle with insect fauna in your neck of the wood

---------- Post added at 04:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:15 PM ----------

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?name=myrmicinae&rank=subfamily&project=arizonaants

suspecting:
http://www.antweb.org/description.d...ame=acromyrmex&rank=genus&project=arizonaants

or

http://www.antweb.org/description.do?subfamily=myrmicinae&name=atta&rank=genus&project=arizonaants
 
Yup that looks like a Pogo to me! Harvester ants are really common throughout the SW. It's also their swarming season, so breeding flights are showing up (although late this year).

They're nothing to be worried about. They don't cause structural damage as far as I know, gather seeds (so unlikely to tear up plants) and generally avoid fighting. They can sting which, I won't lie...hurts like hell, but they generally keep to themselves.
 
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Thanks for the help guys, much appriciated!
Andrew
 
congrats on the new house, i too am a new home owner best of luck
 
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