Ants Of Daley Ranch 4

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San Diego County Ants:
  Owens Peak  
  
  Merriam Mtns  
  
  Palomar Mtn  
    
  Daley Ranch  
Daley Ranch Ants:  
  Part 1  
  
  Part 2  
  
  Part 3  
  
  Part 4  
  
  Part 5  
  
  Part 6  
  
  Part 7  
  
  Part 8  
  
  Part 9  
Ants Of Daley Ranch, San Diego County Part 4 (of 9)

Field Ant (Formica moki) at Daley Ranch

This species also occurs on Owens Peak & the nearby Merriam Mtns. According to James Trager (personal communication, 2015), Formica francoeuri has bristly hairs on all body parts and appendages. Although F. francoeuri has been reported from southern California, the species in Daley Ranch does not have abundant bristly hairs like F. francoeuri and is clearly F. moki.

Formica moki is mostly without erect, bristly hairs.

Formica francoeuri From Nearby Julian

Two different species of Formica in mortal combat. They apparently "smell" differently to each other (i.e. they give off different chemical scents). F. francoeuri (right) has been reported from inland mountain areas to the north and south of Daley Ranch. It has abundant, erect (bristly) hairs on all body parts. F. moki (left) is mostly glabrous on thorax, head and legs.

The gray field ant nests in coastal hills of southern California, including Owens Peak and Daley Ranch. Its range extends south to Mexico and north to the northwestern corner of Arizona, southern Nevada, northern California and Oregon. Although it is a medium-sized, aggressive ant, its nest is sometimes invaded by slave-making ants (Polyergus vinosus). The slave-maker ants have sickle-shaped jaws for killing and carrying prey, but useless for tasks that worker slave ants must perform.

  See Formica moki On Owens Peak In San Marcos  

Orange Desert Ant (Forelius pruinosus)

To get an idea of how small the worker of Forelius pruinosus really is I have compared it with grains of ordinary table salt (NaCl). An average cubical grain is about 1.0 mm on a side. For their small size, these minute ants run very fast. Using macro mode on this Sony T-10 you must use high speed flash, otherwise all you would get is an orange blur!

  See Forelius pruinosus Workers On Owens Peak In San Marcos  
See Forelius mccooki Workers In Twin Oaks Valley, San Marcos

A Tiny Orange Spider That Looks Like A Forelius Ant!

This fast-running spider really fooled me. Its color, speed, and small size resembled nearby Forelius worker ants. Even under magnification it reminded me of a headless Forelius. Close examination revealed that the head and thorax were fused into a cephalothorax typical of spiders. At the front end were 2 rows each with four eyes, another spider characteristic. It is clearly an ant mimic of the spider family Corinnidae.

A minute orange ant mimic spider (Family Corinnidae) that resembles the tiny orange desert ant (Forelius pruinosus) at Daley Ranch.

  More Ant Mimic Spiders On Owens Peak & Twin Oaks Valley  

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