Ant Question

[clever...@gmail.com]

Today I noticed numerous ant mounds in sandy/gravelly soil along the side of a gravel road north of Isabella.

 

 

They were low “mounds,” sunken in the middle where the entrance was, measuring about 3 to 6 inches across. I wasn’t able to observe any ants coming or going. I don’t recall ever seeing these before in this area. The remind me of the “sidewalk ant” mounds so common in the Twin Cities when I lived there. The nearest thing I could find in the generic ant information on the web were pyramid ants. They are common in southern US, but not so much up here, apparently.

 

Have others seen these types of mounds locally, and know the species responsible?

 

Steve Wilson

[Carl Karasti]

This University of Minnesota Extension page is helpful for learning about ants in MN.  The link is directed to cornfield ants.  Although you were not in a cornfield, it seems most likely that you observed some cornfield ant mounds.   I've seen a lot of these tiny mounds with a single hole/tunnel that can occur alone or in a closely spaced group, usually in sandy/gravelly areas but also in gardens, with all the openings leading down to interconnected chambers.  It seems that it is also common (based on my experiences) to see no surface ant activity, suggesting that they are abandoned, although there are often signs of recent activity, such as the freshness of the tiny mounds, rather than them being filled with debris or slumped or eroded, suggesting that the ants are just keeping out of sight, whether down below or off on adventures.  This is quite different from the large ant hills with multiple entries that are often teeming with activity or that at least have several ants running around doing whatever ants do.

https://extension.umn.edu/insects-infest-homes/ants#cornfield-ant-42361

Carl Karasti

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ely Field Naturalists" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to elyfieldnatural...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/011001d99d88%244c8d9300%24e5a8b900%24%40gmail.com.

[Roger Powell]

Dear Naturalists,

I wonder if the mound is that of an ant lion.

    peace , , , , ,

        rog . . . . .

Roger A Powell
Department of Applied Ecology
North Carolina State University
PO Box 918, Ely, Minnesota 55731

tel. - 218-235-8808
https://cals.ncsu.edu/applied-ecology/people/rpowell-2/

   Husk at leve
      mens du gør det.
   Husk at elske
      mens du tør det.
              Piet Hein

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/CAEYZvGz6bAdUJhiuSWc7PApOaeCU1a6JyEHtxvEG%3DokhwZxgOw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Carl Karasti]

Yes, Roger, that's a definite possibility.  I was having trouble discerning that exact shape of the mound in Steve's photo because it was taken looking straight down.  I assumed it was, as he described, a "mound" which would have a hole at the top.  If it is instead actually a "V" shaped funnel going downward towards the hole, with just  a ring of sand around it, then it would most likely be a fierce ant lion.

Carl

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/c8f0ab7b-8331-aaf8-bbf0-5bb214775ea3%40ncsu.edu.

[clever...@gmail.com]

Yes, using “mound” was a bit of a misnomer to describe these structures. They were more like a pancake with a sunken middle centered by a hole. So too gradual an incline for antlion. Do they even occur in the Arrowhead? I’ve not noticed them before.

 

Clinton Dexter-Nienhaus, a naturalist and bit of an ant hobbyist, weighed in with the following:

“Those mounds (and mounds similar) are made by ants in the genus Lasius! There are a number of species in our area, so without a specimen it would be hard to say who. But. If you see more like this, I would imagine the ants coming in and out are orange, and so probably one of four or so species.”

Steve

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/CAEYZvGztK9TkWMERsiEcPpW_v5%3D1koHeXjSS%3DVM5FQvhp%2B5-vA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Steve J Engel]

If it is an ant lion, I wonder how successful it might be. I typically see ant lion funnels in sand that is uniformly very fine grained, which makes it difficult to impossible for the victim to gain any purchase with its feet and climb out, especially as the ant lion continues to disturb the sloping surface from below. The sand in the photo is coarse and not uniform in size, which might make it easier to get out of there.

steve in babbitt

35 Hemlock Circle

Babbitt, MN  55706
www.mywildtracks.com
503-640-1123

On Tue, Jun 13, 2023 at 12:25 PM 'Roger Powell' via Ely Field Naturalists <elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/c8f0ab7b-8331-aaf8-bbf0-5bb214775ea3%40ncsu.edu.

[clever...@gmail.com]

Has anyone seen actual ant lion traps in this area? I couldn’t find whether they were native to here or not when I looked online. I haven’t seen them in the Isabella-Tower area, but neither has much in the way of the very fine-grained soils that Steve talks about.

 

Steve Wilson

 

From: elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com <elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Steve J Engel
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2023 10:42 AM
To: Roger Powell <rpo...@ncsu.edu>
Cc: elyfieldn...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: {Ely Field Naturalists} Ant Question

 

If it is an ant lion, I wonder how successful it might be. I typically see ant lion funnels in sand that is uniformly very fine grained, which makes it difficult to impossible for the victim to gain any purchase with its feet and climb out, especially as the ant lion continues to disturb the sloping surface from below. The sand in the photo is coarse and not uniform in size, which might make it easier to get out of there.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/CALZULw3dC7hukH5ZfmoCVpR5S%3DXCRgtkZ5F%3DYXKZs5tOokzY1A%40mail.gmail.com.

[Roger Powell]

Dear Steve,

I do not remember seeing any ant lion traps up here.  I saw them occasionally at our house in the North Carolina Piedmont.  But, I really do not think that I have seen them here.  I looked them up in 2 field guides to North American insects.  One stated vaguely "found throughout North America" and the other stated "most common in the South and Southwest".  So, I suppose that we might be within the range of one of the species but it is rare.

    peace , , , , ,

        rog . . . . . .

Roger A Powell
Department of Applied Ecology
North Carolina State University
PO Box 918, Ely, Minnesota 55731

tel. - 218-235-8808
https://cals.ncsu.edu/applied-ecology/people/rpowell-2/

   Husk at leve
      mens du gør det.
   Husk at elske
      mens du tør det.
              Piet Hein

[clever...@gmail.com]

Roger,

 

I found the same two inconclusive descriptions of their range when I looked online. I asked Clinton Dexter-Nienhaus, and here is his reply:

 

“Ant lions do occur in the NE part of the state, but seemingly at very low densities. On iNaturalist, there is only 1 record of any ant lion species/genus for the entire NE Part of the state, as far south as Brainerd. But many more observations near the Twin Cities and of course south, as well as a few records from the prairies out in Western and NW MN! 

 

I suspect there are not many folks looking for them. I have only seen adults in a couple of places, with many traps in the sandier parts of the state. I think, if you find lots of sand in the NE you should probably find them.

 

Just a hunch though!”

 

So it would seem this is a good puzzler for EFN folks to solve. When EFN hosts Ely’s first nature-themed scavenger hunt (Bill Tefft, are you listening?), that can be one of the items on the list.

 

Steve

[Carl Karasti]

I have seen antlions in the Ely area.  It's been a long time since I did, though, because it was back when I was a kid, diligently collecting insects.  And my nose was a lot closer to the ground back in those days!  And I never have found more than a few.  I've seen antlion-like holes in the sand, but often didn't know for sure if it was an antlion trap rather than a hole made by ants.  But seeing open jaws (mandibles) – which are quite tiny and easy to miss – at the bottom definitely reveals that there's an antlion waiting there for a meal.

They do, indeed, need fine, sugary sand in order to be successful, and our area doesn't have many areas with enough such sand to sustain a large, viable population of antlions.  But pockets of very fine sand can be found in most of our local gravel pits, so sometimes antlion cone traps can be found in amongst coarser sand and gravel, but in these pockets of very fine sand.

Carl Karasti

A fairly typical antlion trap.  The nymph lies in wait at the bottom, usually with its large mandibles open and waiting.  Some of them will actually "throw" sand up at a victim that is struggling to escape from the trap, which helps make it lose its precarious footing and slide down to its doom.

Another antlion trap in fine sand mixed with coarser sand.

Antlion nymph which is the source of the name, even though it doesn't look or behave much like a lion, but they are fierce in their behavior towards potential meals.  And they don't only eat ants, any little insect that falls in is likely to get eaten.

Adult antlions probably often go unnoticed or misidentified.  Various species can be, at a quick glance, easily confused as small dragonflies, damselflies, lacewings or caddisflies.  Some are quite tiny, but some species are very large, like a large dragonfly, although we don't have any like that in MN.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/0eef01d9a3aa%24b2a55dd0%2417f01970%24%40gmail.com.

[chaff...@comcast.net]

What type of small red ants build this kind of nest? The nests range in size from a couple of inches in diameter to over 8 inches. We have these all over our yard and in the driveway. It is hard to tell from the picture but there is a mound and a hole in the middle. Mike

 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/0eef01d9a3aa%24b2a55dd0%2417f01970%24%40gmail.com.

[clever...@gmail.com]

Here is Clinton Dexter-Nienhaus’ take:

 

“It would be interesting to see the ants going in and out. But. I believe this should be the beginnings of a Formica sp mound! Not all thatch ants (genus Formica) build mounds from plant tissues, some do dig in soils and start their mounds with a soil component (at least from what I have seen from the species around here)! If they were red, there are a couple of different species groups of red Formica ants so it would be hard to tell who without collecting them.”

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/elyfieldnaturalists/1955331199.450060.1687372707215%40connect.xfinity.com.