Salton Sea Part 7
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Salton Sea January 2015 Part 7
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Keys View (Salton Sea Overlook): Joshua Tree National Park

    Wildflowers Of Joshua Tree National Monument     

  1. Joshua Tree Wildflowers #1 (Red Butte Wash)
  2. Joshua Tree Wildflowers #2 (Red Butte Wash )
  3. Joshua Tree Wildflowers #3 (Red Butte Wash)
  4. Joshua Tree Wildflowers #4 (Cottonwood Springs Road)     
  5. Joshua Tree Wildflowers #5 (Cottonwood Springs Road)

Views From Keys View (Salton Sea Overlook): Elevation 5,185 ft.

View of Coachella Valley & Mt. San Jacinto in distance.

View of Mt. San Gorgonio (11,503 ft.), highest mountain in southern Calif.

Distant view of the Salton Sea, 228 ft. below sea level.

Ant Nest At Keys View

The nocturnal honepot ant (Myrmecocystus mexicanus) has been reported from this location. The crater does not have husks typical of harvester ants of the genera Messor & Pogonomyrmex). The crater is larger than the Mymecocystus mexicanus nest from Holbrook, Arizona.

Myrmecocystus mexicanus has been reported from the Salton Sea, but this species has an amber-colored head and body. It has also been reprted from 5,185 ft Keys View (Salton View Overlook) in nearby Joshua Tree National Park. Alex Wild includes images of this species from the Mojave Desert, CA plus images of two additional amber-colored species: M. navajo (Wilcox, AZ) and M. testaceus (Mojave Desert, CA). He also includes another species from sand dune areas of the Mojave Desert with a black head and body (M. tenuinodis). I have photographed M. mexicanus (or M. navajo) from Holbrook, AZ.

Ant nest photograped at Keys View, Joshua Tree National Park. No ants were present, probably because they were deep underground. This area was still very cold on 1 February 2015 at 5,000 ft. elevation. The crater did not have husks typical of harvester ants of the genera Messor & Pogonomyrmex which are rather common in this national park. The nocturnal honepot ant (Myrmecocystus mexicanus) has been reported from this location. The crater is larger than the Mymecocystus mexicanus nest from Holbrook, Arizona. (see following link). The craterform nest of M. mexicanus in Holbrook is much smaller and the tumulus around the entrance contains course gravel; however antiwiki reports an observation by Gordon Snelling of large nests of M. mexicanus 3 feet in diameter in southern California!

Holbrook, Arizona: Great place to photograph freight trains and the home of one of my favorite honeypot ants (Myrmecocystus mexicanus). This species might be M. navajo. It is also near the Painted Desert & Petrified Forest National Park.