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Monday Night Mystery

March 29, 2010 by myrmecos

“Ah, an easy one!” you might think.

But no. I’m only handing out 4 points for identifying this common Illinois ant species. I’m more interested in this ant’s quarry, for six points: 2 each for order, family, and genus. First correct guess in each category gets the points.

The cumulative point winner at the end of April gets an 8×10 print from the gallery, or a guest blog post on a topic of their choosing.

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Posted in illinois, Nature | Tagged Insects | 16 Comments

16 Responses

  1. on March 29, 2010 at 6:08 pm TGIQ

    Order: Hemiptera
    Family: Cicadidae


    • on March 29, 2010 at 6:20 pm TGIQ

      scratch that…


      • on March 29, 2010 at 6:56 pm TGIQ

        Drat. Now that my brain sees “cicada”, even though the antennae and wings are clearly all wrong, it refuses to entertain other possibilities. I’m going to go sleep this off and hope someone with insight can set me straight tomorrow.


      • on March 29, 2010 at 6:59 pm peteryeeles

        I’m thinking that Alex has glued a beetles head to a cicada’s body….


      • on March 29, 2010 at 7:09 pm myrmecos

        That’s a great idea for next week, Pete.


      • on March 29, 2010 at 7:10 pm TGIQ

        Or, at the very least, beetle antennae on a cicada head and body, and cleverly altered caddisfly wings.

        BAH!!

        Real funny, Alex.

        Now I’m really going to bed.


  2. on March 29, 2010 at 6:34 pm Julie Stahlhut

    I’m thinking Prenolepis imparis for the ant. The prey is a bit weirder — the antennae make me think Coleoptera, even though the wings are unusual. It would be easier if the mouthparts were visible ….


  3. on March 29, 2010 at 7:09 pm JasonC.

    No, I’m late again! I say Prenolepis imparis is the ant. The prey is a psocopteran (or psocodean, or whatever the order is called now).


  4. on March 29, 2010 at 7:18 pm Julie Stahlhut

    I’d been thinking Psocoptera too, but the antennae don’t seem right. Of course, the head’s at the wrong angle to get a good look at the clypeus.


  5. on March 29, 2010 at 7:38 pm peteryeeles

    Those filiform, clavate antennae just scream Coleoptera to me, but those wings are just wrong. Maybe it’s the angle of the photo.

    If no one gets it, I’d love to see a few closer crops of the head before you post the answer…


  6. on March 29, 2010 at 7:42 pm JasonC.

    Here is my verdict so far: The ant is Prenolepis imparis, the false honeypot ant, because of the characteristic constriction on the alitrunk/mesosoma thingy. Its prey is of the order Psocodea, family Amphientometae. Genus ID is pending.


  7. on March 29, 2010 at 7:46 pm Ted C. MacRae

    I don’t know about the ant, but the prey is:

    Order: Hemiptera
    Family: Psyllidae
    Species: Pachypsylla celtidismamma
    Common Name: Hackberry Psyllid


    • on March 29, 2010 at 7:51 pm peteryeeles

      Superb Ted. Had a google, and I agree.


    • on March 29, 2010 at 7:53 pm Ted C. MacRae

      p.s. man, I wish I could get to these earlier in the evening!


  8. on March 29, 2010 at 7:56 pm JasonC.

    Aw well. I was looking at this, and it was sorted under Psocoptera:


  9. on March 30, 2010 at 4:43 pm Answer to the Monday Night Mystery « Myrmecos Blog

    […] Who were those magical mystery insects? […]



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