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Post by UKantz on Jul 8, 2018 16:08:46 GMT
I tried looking around to see what kind of species of ants reside in the Feldberg (Schwarzwald) municipality in Germany, in the hopes that I may be able to catch a nuptial flight there (since I'm likely to miss the flight here). I wasn't able to find all too much information, so was hoping any members here have any experience?
From past experience being there, I've always noticed a lot of camponotus sp, but thats about it.
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Post by jeoff82 on Jul 8, 2018 16:31:49 GMT
There are lots of species in Germany and it will be likely you will find something as all different ants are flying there right now. All types of Lasius species mainly.
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Post by tatufmetuf on Jul 8, 2018 18:39:58 GMT
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Post by tatufmetuf on Jul 8, 2018 18:50:45 GMT
I'm assumming it will be almost same ants as here as Germany is less than 100 km away from me, and have same climat  If you want real scientific counting check the link |
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Post by jeoff82 on Jul 8, 2018 19:25:00 GMT
I'm assumming it will be almost same ants as here as Germany is less than 100 km away from me, and have same climat If you want real scientific counting check the link Yes I would believe it is probably the same story in Belgium. |
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Post by tatufmetuf on Jul 8, 2018 19:44:54 GMT
I can tell you here, I see lots of Lasius niger queen, especially morning and evening. for the rest I can't really tell you it's my first time I look for them I mean first year so I don't know what species we might see. I can tell you for sure I've been seeing Lasius, Formica and Solenopsis for now but I'm sure there are lots of other ants, on the website they say 99 species in Belgium. And the guy said in a video that we didn't discover 50% of the ants so you will maybe find a new species  |
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Post by UKantz on Jul 13, 2018 8:02:29 GMT
Just a little update:
I've found Formica fusca, rufa (a lot) and Lasius niger wondering around these parts so far. I caught a winged Lasius niger queen though I believe she is unfertilised.
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Post by UKantz on Jul 24, 2018 18:10:02 GMT
Figured I'd do a final update after getting back. In the end I found Formica rufa, fusca (persumably), Mymrica sp., Lasius niger and flavus. Though I was a little disappointed not to find anything too exciting I did get to see something quite amazing. In a nearby pine forest I witnessed the largest continuous trail of wood ants I've ever seen. I was biking at the time, and had a gadget telling me how many km I had travelled, I managed 2km on the reading before I couldn't see the trail anymore. I also noticed what I thought at first to be very small nests scattered along the trail - though now I believe they were a form of outpost? Me and my two friends were so intrigued about the length of this trail that we wanted to find the main nest. Around 1km we noticed the trail of ants diverging from the edge of the man made path into the forest, and so we followed around 20m before we found it. This wood ant nest was the largest I've ever seen. Around the nest was spectacular "roads" where the wood ants had taken pine needles and formed little roads around the foliage - it was something you see out of National Geographic with marauder ants It was actually hard getting to the main nest, as there was a radius of a good 5 meters no matter the route we took, we would be wondering through angry wood ants. It's hard to estimate the size of the main nest, as we didnt stick around too long among the mass of angry ants biting us, but it was maybe just a little shorter than I was at 1.85m, and was around probably 2.50m in width. I also caught a couple Lasius niger and Formica queens and brought them back with me. |
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Post by jeoff82 on Jul 24, 2018 21:19:05 GMT
Sounds cool, did you not get any photos of it? Which Formica queens did you bring back?
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Post by UKantz on Jul 25, 2018 8:53:36 GMT
Unfortunately not; it was early morning so I left my phone at home. I brought back 2 Formcia fusca queens |
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