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Tunisian Ants

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Dr Braddock	Tunisian Ants		Lead	[-]
Posts: 246 10/01/2001 1:22 PM	I have just returned from North Africa after a longer than expected stay and would like to attempt to describe some of the ants I saw. 1/ tree ant, 4mm long, black body, red head - any ideas? 2/ Floor ant, predominantly in the desert areas, brown/black, 8mm long, running with gasters high - any ideas? The Pharaoh ants got everywhere, they were easy to identify as well as several other species, some of which had painful stings! Anyway, it's good to be back and nest time I will have photos (if my camera doesn't get nicked again!) Regards George Braddock Regards, George Braddock www.watery.co.uk
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dgphelps	Re: Tunisian Ants	#1	[url]	[-]
Major Worker Ant Posts: 400 10/01/2001 1:27 PM	Welcome back! For "1/ tree ant, 4mm long, black body, red head" I would make the guess of Crematogaster scutellaris? They are all over here in France and live on Pine trees a majority of the time although I have seen them on other trees. For #2 I do not have any idea. Sorry.
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Dr Braddock	Re: Tunisian Ants	#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 246 10/01/2001 1:39 PM	Could be, these ants were all over eucalyptus trees; does that help? Regards, George Braddock www.watery.co.uk
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dgphelps	Re: Tunisian Ants	#3	[url]	[-]
Major Worker Ant Posts: 400 10/01/2001 1:53 PM	Nope, there are no Eucalyptus here so I wouldn't know for sure. Do they look like this? Taken from a French insect guide And for the second species... These are Myrmecocystus mimicus (honeypot ants from the US) They live in the desert. (this image from Journey to the Ants by Holldobler & Wilson)
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Dr Ant	ant with raised gaster	#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 5364 10/01/2001 6:34 PM Doc.	Welcome back, Dr. Braddock! #2 is one of the Cataglyphis species. There are several of these in North Africa, and they have behavior somewhat like that of the Myrmecocystus in DG's second picture. As for ants living on eucalypt trees, any North African ant doing so would have to have recently developed that habit, since those trees were only introduced there from Australia during the last century.
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Dr Braddock	Re: ant with raised gaster	#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 246 10/02/2001 12:47 PM	Both photos are spot on... Thank you very much! I can rest now ;o) Regards, George Braddock www.watery.co.uk
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dgphelps	Re: ant with raised gaster	#6	[url]	[-]
Major Worker Ant Posts: 400 10/02/2001 2:18 PM	No problem! I am glad I was able to help.
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messor	Messor arenarius	#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 42 12/05/2001 8:47 PM	I went two times to Tunisia ( Djerba island ) to observe the large Messor arenarius ( workers : 4 - 15 mm ; queen : 17 mm ). This species mate in October - November, I could see a queen in the beginning of November 2000. I saw also the nocturnal Camponotus thoracicus ( major workers : 17 mm ) and some large Cataglyphis with red heads ( 13 mm ).
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Joachim	Re	#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 106 12/10/2001 3:47 PM	I have been there for four times, mainly to observe the Cataglyphis species. There are masses of different species of Catahlyphis there, black-colored with red heads with 17mm for a worker were the most impressive, then there were silver ones or black-brown species but all were beetween 6-10mm. I could also observe a very big Messor species much larger as the one mentioned, even larger than the largest Cataglyphis species, which was quite impressive. I am not a hero in identifying species, but the species I could identify with the help of literature (which isnt always exactly) were C.albicans, C.fortis, C.viaticus and in the west some colonies of C.bombycinus and C.savignyi. But I didnt see C.hannae, an endangered species
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messor	Messor arenarius	#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 42 12/10/2001 8:08 PM	Messor arenarius is the largest North African Messor ( the only larger one is Messor cephalotes of East Africa ), but I don't know exactly the maximum total length of the workers, I just know that Messor arenarius var. ratus which lives in Isral ( Negev Desert ) is 6.6 - 17.4 mm long , but the variety of Tunisia seems smaller ( according to Emery and Santschi it is 4 - 15 mm, Andr said 16 mm... ). The Cataglyphis of 13 mm I saw is Cataglyphis bicolor, but I didn't see any one of 17 mm in Djerba, it is an island, there are more species on the mainland, as Cataglyphis bombycina with its soldiers I would like to observe.
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Joachim	Messor	#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 106 12/11/2001 12:26 AM	Thats really strange, the other Messor sp. was 2.65cm for a queen, I only found that species near Monastir. In February I am going to be there again so maybe I can find the species again there. Maybe then thats getting more clear.
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messor	Messor	#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 42 12/11/2001 10:32 PM	A Messor queen of 26,5 mm ! Joachim are you sure it was a Messor, I study this genus since a long time, I don't know any Messor of this length, especially in Tunisia ! The queen of Messor regalis is 19 mm long (West tropical Africa, I had look for this ant without success in 1979 during a journey in Ivory Coast ), and the queen of Messor cephalotes is 18 - 18.7 mm ( according to Menozzi, 1939 ). The major workers of Messor cephalotes are 18 mm long ( Bolton ) but F. Bernard said 23 mm ( in an article of 1985 and 26 mm in a personnal letter of 1989 ! ), also I will go to Kenya next April to see this giant harvester ant and may be some queens ( April-May is the mating date of this species ). Perhaps Joachim have you found a new species of Messor( as Messor carthaginensis only described from two major workers of 13.1 mm collected near Tunis by Bernard ), I am very interested by large Messor with broad heads.
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Joachim	Messor	#12	[url]	[-]
Posts: 106 12/12/2001 9:26 AM	I didnt find a new species, thats for sure. I dont have any Book to identify Messor species, but the ants had a nearly similar body like smaller Messor (ok that doesnt say anything, compare Myrmica and Leptothorax or some Lasius and Tapinoma species). Workers brought plant material to the nest entrances, which is a second thing. For sure the species wasnt any Camponotus or Cataglyphis species, and other genus I know living in Tunesia are very small, excluding Messor. And out of the size, I only know one Camponotus species there that could reach same size. And how said the species was only near Monastir and I only had a few hours to oberve them, and I would guess that Messor isnt the only species there to collect plant material but I dont know. In February I hope that will be more clear, then Ill take the right literature with me, lets see
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messor	messor	#13	[url]	[-]
Posts: 42 12/12/2001 8:16 PM	My e-mail is jmkt@libertysurf.fr, can you contact me Joachim, Monastir is only one hour of plane from Nice, I can easily go there after my Kenya's travel, I am very interesting by your story.
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Joachim	Re	#14	[url]	[-]
Posts: 106 12/13/2001 8:01 AM	Wow Kenya is also a great place to find ant species, I were there when I was 11, so I only remember the driver ants (driver ants?) and very large black ones from there I hope to find them again there, how said I am not a hero in identifying Messor, if the colony still lives I know where to find them there, maybe I will be able to conservate a few workers and, maybe, a dead queen from the nuptial flight. But there are many "maybe"s If you also went there later it would be a greater chance, but one has to go a little bit outside, also for finding more Cataglyphis colonies...and scorpions of course
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messor	Messor	#15	[url]	[-]
Posts: 42 12/13/2001 11:31 AM	I was 17 years old when I went to Ivory Coast ( West Africa ) and I remember also driver ants ( Dorylus nigricans ), very impressive, and large Ponerinae as the black "stink ant" Paltothyreus tarsatus and Megaponera foetens hunter of termites. I dream to go to Kenya since 12 years to see Messor cephalotes, I hope I will succeed to find it around Lake Naivasha in the Rift Valley... Good luck Joachim for your next Tunisian trip and give us some news of this large (new ?) Messor.
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Joachim	Re	#16	[url]	[-]
Posts: 106 12/13/2001 3:12 PM	Thanks Also good luck to you in Kenia, there were masses of poison snake species so you couldnt get into the forests as easily as on the West coast in Gambia for example, so I only saw large ants and driver ants while beeing on Safari Do you visit the lake in private? That will sure be much better than in a large group of tourists, especially to observe and seek special species, I hope you will be succesfull in finding M.cephalotes! Good luck!
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messor	Kenya	#17	[url]	[-]
Posts: 42 12/14/2001 12:23 AM	I will go to Lake Naivasha in a hotel located on the shores of the lake, alone and during the rain season (low season: not many tourists !) to have a chance to observe the mating of this Messor; I choosed this place because it is possible there to walk without danger with wild animals ( I don't want to meet a lion or a buffalo ! ) and also because Dr. Barry Bolton sent me 6 specimens in alcohol of this ant in 1994 ( but the larger worker was "only" 13 mm ) collected in a Naivasha's farm. This species is very common in grasslands and savannahs from Ethiopia to Tanzania, a researcher told me that when you arrive to Nairobi during the dry season, you can see their circular nests from the jumbojet ( they cut the grass on several meters around its ). I want to film them with a camescope, as I did last year with Messor arenarius, may be if you want I can make a copy, so you can compare with the large ant you saw in Monastir to know if it isn't M. arenarius ( I have also some specimens ).
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Zanti Agent	Re: Safari	#18	[url]	[-]
TAFAMF Addict Posts: 3369 12/15/2001 10:15 AM Dead Ant Rest in Peace (RIP). http://antfarm.yuku.com/reply/42297/Zanti-Agent-passed-away-on-11292003-508-AM-PST for the details. :(	Joaquim: You mention seeing Army Ants on your safari. Do you have any interesting stories or observations about this? Most of our members have never seen Army Ants up close. Thanks. The Omega Ant
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Joachim	Re	#19	[url]	[-]
Posts: 106 12/15/2001 7:17 PM	How said I was not very old, and I am glad I was that young, today I would have been walking by the street of them, searching for the queen. Near the camp there was a small river, and nearby not very high grass. I walked down with my father to search for animals, and there was a strange looking dark line in the grass, probalbly 15-20 cm not in length but in...dont know in English sorry. I didnt study the length of it, when standing 1m near the street you could see masses of ants, you could get very near to it because the street went direct forward, no side arms. When looking on the street there were brown ants, a little bit brighter brown ants and a little bit darker brown ants, I didnt care for the size differ, also I didnt seek a nest or a place to store the insects, and also not the queen because I didnt know that things to exist at that time. It was a short moment and I would give much to enjoy that moment now. My father knew them already but I then ran back to call my mother and sister to watch them. When I returned several minutes later they were away, sure, they were only some meters away but I didnt knew all that things I know today, so I just returned without any minds to search for them or to think about what I have just seen, I knew that they were driver ants but at that time ants were ants for me, so I didnt take them for something special at that time
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Zanti Agent	Re: Army Ants	#20	[url]	[-]
TAFAMF Addict Posts: 3369 12/15/2001 8:15 PM Dead Ant Rest in Peace (RIP). http://antfarm.yuku.com/reply/42297/Zanti-Agent-passed-away-on-11292003-508-AM-PST for the details. :(	That's very interesting. Too bad you weren't older when it happened. Thanks for telling the story. The word you wanted instead of length is width. The Omega Ant
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