These can be anything, no help searching web, closest I find might be Monomorium minimum. They are probably a totally different ant so. Anyways here is the info.
1. Very hard exoskeleton. I tried squishing one so I can try to see the nodes and it took many tries to get it.
2. All Black and shiny, legs/antenna a red/brownish color. About 3.0-3.5 MM long for workers and for the larger majors they are 4.0-4.5 MM long.
3. The place I found them was next to a bunch of low ground cover plants and was pretty barren of any plant. Really hard wood was near them and the wood goes down easily more than two feet and stretches along underground on the trail. The place gets watered by sprinklers every morning.
4. Found them in USA, California, Del Mar (San Diego)
5. Active only in the morning and night.
6. Different sized workers, I thought they were Pheidole ants because the minors looked similar and the majors are somewhat larger than minors but the heads aren't enlarged like they should be if they were Pheidole ants.
7. I dug down about a foot, a foot and a half long and half a foot. I didn't see a single queen, egg or any sign of brood. Just workers and the larger workers.
8. They have a small dome shaped mound that is more tall than wide.
9. With my bad magnifying glass I believe they have two nodes, but I can hardly tell. So this could be wrong.
10. The larger workers appear blacker in color and have square heads. I can't see the heads on the minors but probably the same.
I tried capturing them and dug a whole bunch but didn't see a single queen or brood, not many ants either. I am going to try again tomorrow morning when it is wetter.
(Additional information)
The nest outside also was barely active all I saw were ants bringing up dirt to the mound. They didn't forage much at all, might be why they have lasted several months against the Argentine ants. Some argentine ants went to attack them but when I went out this evening they were being left alone, probably because the argentine ants flood out after the sprinklers come on. At first I was highly confused these ants for Pheidole ants, the workers looked similar to another species of Pheidole I saw.
Also, they dont come in two sizes it appears but I see a variety of sizes...can't say how many, maybe 3-5 different sizes? Its a variety, but I can definitely see the largest workers in the colony. The sizes look like mini Fire ant sizes. Although I can't tell the sizes apart, my eye sight isn't good but it looks like different sizes of all types...they are too small to see clearly.
Could they be Pavement ants? Or Monomorium minimum? Or another ant?
1. Very hard exoskeleton. I tried squishing one so I can try to see the nodes and it took many tries to get it.
2. All Black and shiny, legs/antenna a red/brownish color. About 3.0-3.5 MM long for workers and for the larger majors they are 4.0-4.5 MM long.
3. The place I found them was next to a bunch of low ground cover plants and was pretty barren of any plant. Really hard wood was near them and the wood goes down easily more than two feet and stretches along underground on the trail. The place gets watered by sprinklers every morning.
4. Found them in USA, California, Del Mar (San Diego)
5. Active only in the morning and night.
6. Different sized workers, I thought they were Pheidole ants because the minors looked similar and the majors are somewhat larger than minors but the heads aren't enlarged like they should be if they were Pheidole ants.
7. I dug down about a foot, a foot and a half long and half a foot. I didn't see a single queen, egg or any sign of brood. Just workers and the larger workers.
8. They have a small dome shaped mound that is more tall than wide.
9. With my bad magnifying glass I believe they have two nodes, but I can hardly tell. So this could be wrong.
10. The larger workers appear blacker in color and have square heads. I can't see the heads on the minors but probably the same.
I tried capturing them and dug a whole bunch but didn't see a single queen or brood, not many ants either. I am going to try again tomorrow morning when it is wetter.
(Additional information)
The nest outside also was barely active all I saw were ants bringing up dirt to the mound. They didn't forage much at all, might be why they have lasted several months against the Argentine ants. Some argentine ants went to attack them but when I went out this evening they were being left alone, probably because the argentine ants flood out after the sprinklers come on. At first I was highly confused these ants for Pheidole ants, the workers looked similar to another species of Pheidole I saw.
Also, they dont come in two sizes it appears but I see a variety of sizes...can't say how many, maybe 3-5 different sizes? Its a variety, but I can definitely see the largest workers in the colony. The sizes look like mini Fire ant sizes. Although I can't tell the sizes apart, my eye sight isn't good but it looks like different sizes of all types...they are too small to see clearly.
Could they be Pavement ants? Or Monomorium minimum? Or another ant?
