Nuptial flights

[PelesAsher]

Is anyone finding ant queens in their area yet? I just caught my first of the season...Lasius niger, nothing spectacularly interesting but a big girl is still exciting!

Interested in potential trades if I continue to have good luck over the next few months.

Is anyone else an ant keeper?

-get those vials ready

 

[chanda]

Is anyone finding ant queens in their area yet? I just caught my first of the season...Lasius niger, nothing spectacularly interesting but a big girl is still exciting!

Interested in potential trades if I continue to have good luck over the next few months.

Is anyone else an ant keeper?

-get those vials ready

I'm afraid I haven't kept ants since I was a kid - when I kept them in clear glass soda bottles in my room.

My mom made me get rid of them after some of them escaped and ended up in my little sister's bed.

 

[mantisfan101]

Nuptial floghts will occur during humid and slightly eindy weather. The wueens emerge and the time varies depending on the species; I believe camponotus are beginning to end. I found tons of camponotus pennsylvanicus males in apidwr webs and I caught a c. Subbarbatus recently. I’ve kept ants before but I’ve sort of dropped it sinc eI’m trying to focus on other stuff right now but with the imepnding flights I might trt keeping them again...depending on where you live the next species to look for would be tetramorium sp or maybe solenopsis and in July to August look for mostly formica, aphaenogaster, solenopsis, lasius, nylanderia, and if you’re lucky crematogaster towards the end of the season. Queen alates will be wandering around although some like pheidole and temnothorax can be attracted to lights in numbers. If you need more help go to the antkeeping forum formiculture.com, they should be able to help you out plenty.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

I caught a Solenopsis invicta queen a few weeks ago, she was very lethargic and died a few days after collection.

I constantly keep a vial on me. I just want ants