#technomyrmex

There's a lot happening in this big mess of bugs. Firstly, it seems the palm tree already had a problem with scale insects, there's probably thousands just on this part of the tree alone. Despite the large amount of scale insects, some mealybugs decided to join the party also, bringing along their protective ant colony, which milk the mealies for honeydew. With the ants protecting their honeydew source, the mealybugs should be safe right? Well no, the larvae of the Mealybug Destroyer ladybug is also present. You may have noticed that some of the mealybugs are much larger than they should be. That's because, of course, these are not mealybugs at all, but predatory lady beetle larvae, mimicking the appearance of their food source: the mealybugs. I don't know why there's a huge, layered ecosystem on a decorative palm tree outside the conference room, but here we are.

Here's a list of the insects present (there's also the fat maggot-looking things in the first photo, but I don't know what they could be):

Technomyrmex sp. - large black ants

Pseudococcidae sp. - mealybugs (white, dusty bugs)

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri - suspiciously large mealybugs

Coccoidea sp. - weird speckes and round shapes on the bark (literally layers upon layers of scale insects)

14/09/23

Somewhat troublesome to ID - I'd originally been told these were T. sophiae, an Australian endemic apparently found in rainforests and mangrove creek habitats in Queensland, so I have a few questions about finding it as far south as Sydney, although there were certainly mangrove creeks a kilometer or so away, and the park was noticeably damp.

It is more likely to be part of the albipes species complex, although that complex includes over 40 species including sophiae. Technomyrmex albipes itself is a horribly successful tramp species, originally described from Sulawesi but now found in Australia, Africa, North America, the Caribbean and parts of Asia. In the wild nests have been found under stones, around fallen wood and in tree stumps, in twigs, on tree trunks and up into the canopy, in more restricted spaces such as plant spathes (and once inside a ant-plant) and rot holes in wood. They also readily nest inside human-built structures, which is one of their qualities that makes them a pest. This variety of behaviour may mean that albipes needs to be broken up into yet more species - White-footed Ants in Florida have already been renamed as T. difficilis.

White-footed Ants both scavenge, prey on insect eggs, and farm sap-sucking insects, some of which are pests in their own right.

Colonies include both winged and wingless males, and three types of female - queens, intercastes and workers. New colonies are founded by winged females after a nuptial flight, who then find a suitable nesting site and start laying eggs. However, she is eventually replaced by intercastes, who are mated by wingless males inside the colony. This strategy lets colonies grow to very large sizes, sometimes containing millions of individuals.

"Funny Skilled Ant", named by Swiss entomologist Auguste Forel in 1910. He apparently didn't record what was so amusing about them.

Native to Australia, and present in NZ since 1921 when a male was collected in Nelson. As far south as Christchurch and Dunedin, it appears to live only in human habitation, presumably since it's too cold outside. But they're a common household nuisance anyway, nesting inside computers, electric kettles, furniture and so on.

Intercaste females, with anatomy and behaviour intermediate between workers and queens, and wingless ergatoid males that fight their brothers to the death for access to virgin queens, are both known from the species.