Help me ID these Big Freaking Ants

[Totenkampf]

Feed to your fish. If your fish eat them then they are fish food ants.

lulz, i dont have a fish big enough to eat these. that would have been a good idea though if i had cichlids. too bad i orthened the lot of em. whatever they are i dont want a million colonies of them around. of course now i wont have earthworms for a while there either, or anything else. :(

[barberking12]

there are different types of termites then the white ones ur thinking of

[Totenkampf]

yes they do have some big ones in africa that might be like this, but these are in texas and seemd to be going into ant burrows. if you have a link to some other types of termites that are here in texas and could ber these then i would love to see htat, termites that big would be an issue for sure!

[barberking12]

how big are they they look little from the pics

[Totenkampf]

the queens are 2.5 inches including the folded wings, the size of some smaller tarantula hawks. the drones are 1.5 inches and as large as red wasps. they have waists and appear to be ants, as tonyo pointed out, but i am going to explore large termites too. there are africanized bees at the back of the propoerty so heck why not some big african hill making termites? i guess it wouldnt surprise me...

[barberking12]

ya thats bigger than i was thinking lol the ants found the steroids

[Totenkampf]

well i doubt the roids would have still been good but i better go check my creatine malate and nitrous oxide!

[barberking12]

lol

[TonyO]

there are different types of termites then the white ones ur thinking of

Right, but identifying the narrowed waist (also called the petiole) is a very easy diagnostic tool for distinguishing between the two quickly. . . that wasn't just for this situation, that was for everyone's general knowledge, in case they found themselves in a situation of having to identify these things.

[SunnyHouTX]

I think Tony hit the nail on the head:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/92125

[SunnyHouTX]

http://soilcropandmore.info/crops/Insects/Insect-Pictures/Ants/TexasLeafCuttingAntText.html

[barberking12]

I think Tony hit the nail on the head:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/92125

yup he got it

[Totenkampf]

that first pic that sunny posted is the best pic yet and it does look alot like em only these have smaller abdomens and the arch in the head to thorax area isnt as pronounced. there is also no evidence of leaf cutting on the property

texas a&m has asked me to send samples if the rain doesnt wash them all away. my pics werent good for ID but one of the entomologists thinks they may be red harvester ants. some interesting things about those are that they are the main food for horned lizards, they were the type of ants sold in ant farms, and the workers are reluctant to sting which is good because their venom is more toxic than a cobra when u compare by volume

[TonyO]

that first pic that sunny posted is the best pic yet and it does look alot like em only these have smaller abdomens and the arch in the head to thorax area isnt as pronounced. there is also no evidence of leaf cutting on the property

texas a&m has asked me to send samples if the rain doesnt wash them all away. my pics werent good for ID but one of the entomologists thinks they may be red harvester ants. some interesting things about those are that they are the main food for horned lizards, they were the type of ants sold in ant farms, and the workers are reluctant to sting which is good because their venom is more toxic than a cobra when u compare by volume

Yeah, that's a bit weird. I saw leafcutters in Belize, and they wore trails in the ground from going back-and-forth, but they will travel quite a distance. I'm definitely interested in the ID, because I wasn't even close to 100% sure on the species. If you don't see any, you could always dig them out. Those workers will still be there, though the "reproductives" will be of definite value to the person IDing them.

[sunkenmetal]

I don't care what it is kill it...

That is one thing I don't like about houston is the bugs lol