Take 4, Day 11 – What is a Tetramorium queen doing in August?

This is my new Tetramorium queen ant. I really wanted a Tetramorium for ages because they are great starter ants, but it was too late in the season for them, or so I thought. On August eleventh, I went queen hunting. Suddenly, out of the blue I saw a large gaster reflecting light, so I had a look, and I identified it as a queen ant. I caught the queen, and sure enough, it was my first Tetramorium Queen. I think it is a Tetramorium immigrans queen.

Tetramorium ants are commonly known as pavement ants because they normally nest under sidewalk blocks and pavements.

When I photographed this queen on day one, I noticed she had mites on her head. These mites are Phoretic, which means that they ride a host and then disperse to a new area. Good news, this type of mite does not have mouths or anuses at this life stage, so they will not kill this queen. They will not develop mouths and anuses until after they detach from their host. This Phoretic stage is called the Deutonymph stage. The mites at this stage are just hitching a ride to better conditions.

In the right conditions, the ants and these mites can coexist. In this ideal state, the mites actually eat the ants garbage and leftovers which reduces mold outbreaks.

Name Votes

On another note, it is time to vote on names for this tetramorium immigrans queen.