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Acanthostichus
Photo#1635650
Copyright © 2019
Salvador Vitanza
Male ant? -
Acanthostichus
-
Canoa Ranch Rest Area (southbound) Hwy 19, Santa Cruz County, Arizona, USA
September 22, 2018
Size: 4 mm
Coordinates: 31.771392, -111.033978
Attracted to mercury vapor and ultraviolet lights
Greater resolution image
here
Images of this individual:
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Contributed by
Salvador Vitanza
on 14 February, 2019 - 5:46pm
Last updated 18 March, 2023 - 10:42am
Moved
Lovely photos! This is a male of the rarely seen subterranean army ant Acanthostichus. Workers are nomadic and at least a few species seem to be termite predators.
…
Steven Wang
, 14 February, 2019 - 9:23pm
Thank you Steven!
If I had known that this was a seldom-encountered ant, I would have taken other views before removing his wing. Hopefully there will be a next time so I can offer other angles.
…
Salvador Vitanza
, 14 February, 2019 - 9:33pm
Good luck
There are four species of Acanthostichus in the state of Arizona, all distributed mostly in the southern half of the state. The similar
Syscia augustae
is also found in the area. Finding males would require combing blacklight sheets for tiny waspy things for a long time, but for workers you would have to flip a bunch of rocks/termite food(dried cow dung) and have an incredible amount of luck, as they don't ever come aboveground.
It is a good thing that you took the wing off for better shots, the wing venation of ants is often not too well known and there are not that many good pictures online of them.
…
Steven Wang
, 15 February, 2019 - 9:57am
Moved
Moved from
Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies
.
…
John S. Ascher
, 14 February, 2019 - 7:24pm