Methods

Ants were collected from October 2010-May 2011. Collections were made in a number of locations within seven sites in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Below are types of collecting methods, preservation tools, microscope, and camera used during this project.

Basic Tools Used for Collecting & Preserving: glass or plastic viles for storing specimens in 95% ethanol, glue, pins, pinning block, and paper points for pinning specimens, boxes for storing pinned specimens, labels, archival writing pen, tweezers, funnels, pipettes, a hand lens, and other small tools for manipulating and retrieving specimens

     

Observing & Identifying- observations and identification were done using a dissecting microscope; identification was also performed using a Sony Handycam HDV 1080i ; living and nonliving ants were viewed and still shots and videos were taken with the Handycam

 Leaf Litter Sifting- the bottom is cut out of a large bag (brown paper bag will do) and is replaced with wire mesh or plastic mesh; this allows for holes small enough to only let small organisms and soil and leaf particles through; when out in the field, the leaf litter (preferably moist and humus) is placed inside and then the bag is shaken over a white surface (a shallow pan or white poster board); wait for just a moment and ants will begin crawling around on the surface; they can then be captured via aspirating or the paint brush method described below

                        

Aspirating- a syringe is modified to become a siphon for collecting ants; small or large plastic tubing bought at a hardware store is cut to size and attached to a small or large syringe with heavy duty tape; when ants are seen, simply siphon them up by placing the syringe near the ants and lightly sucking on the tube; the syringe can then be taken apart and the ants shaken inside an alcohol vial
                                                     

Paint Brush Method- a small paint brush happens to be my favorite choice of tool to capture ants; the brush is dipped in alcohol and then dapped onto the ants; the wet surface snatches them up and they can then be quickly placed in small vials of alcohol
                                                     

Baiting- bait traps can be placed in various locations in the field to capture ants; some ants prefer sweets and simple sugar water or cookies (rice treat shown below) will suffice; other ants crave protein and leftover deli meat or spam work well
                                                     
Tulgren Funnel Method-leaf litter is placed on wire mesh that is attached to a funnel; this funnel is placed inside a bucket; a cup of alcohol is placed under the bottom opening of the funnel; a lid with a bulb is placed on top of the bucket/funnel; the bulb is plugged into an electrical outlet; the ants and other critters should move away from the heat of the bulb, down the funnel, and fall into the alcohol; they can then be collected and placed into dishes and examined under the microscope; this method generates a variety of by-catch organisms