# Ant queens are out and about!



## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 24, 2011)

If anyone wants to raise colonies of ants from freshly mated queens, head outside now. It's pretty much the peak of nuptial flights. Mornings and evenings are best, take walks often at these times, especially after rain or on a warm, humid day. Let's spread this amazing hobby!


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## xhexdx (Jun 24, 2011)

Got any good species to start with?


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 24, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> Got any good species to start with?


All the species I have are quite good beginner species.


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## xhexdx (Jun 24, 2011)

All collected in Florida?

I've been thinking about venturing into ants.  Any helpful hints/tips?


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 24, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> All collected in Florida?
> 
> I've been thinking about venturing into ants.  Any helpful hints/tips?


Yes, all collected here in Orlando, around my house. 

As far as tips go, the mornings after a rain have been producing lots of Pheidole. (Like the one in the picture) These are great beginner species, fun to keep since they have soldiers, so head out anywhere from 7-10 am to find these queens. Look around side walks, driveways, and open sandy areas that recieve a good amount of shade. Evenings, anywhere from 6-11 pm, have produced Dorymyrmex, an attractive orange/yellow species, and Brachymyrmex, a very small but interesting to keep species. All nocturnal flyers are attracted to lights, a simple 18" blacklight held above a white sheet is a good way to lure in mated queens flying for the ground. Camponotus floridanus, the florida carpenter ant, a very large and cool species to keep, will fly very soon. Most Camponotus in Florida are nocturnal, so search for their queens at night. Solenopsis invicta, the common and much hated fire ant, is also flying, and will do so all summer long. This is a great beginner species when colonies are small, but I do warn you that colonies get huge in short periods of time and are hard to control. These will fly from 1-6 pm on humid, warm days. Side walks are a good place to start with these. Cloudy days are good for nuptial flights, since the sun doesn't fry them the moment they hit the side walk. There are many other species out there, so feel free to take those too. Remember, the thorax is the main indicator of a queen, it will be bulky, and wing scars will be present. Wet season has just started, and I'm having lots of luck, so since you're in Florida, keep your eyes peeled.


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## xhexdx (Jun 24, 2011)

Got any colony setup/care tips or links to any? 

Thanks for everything so far.


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## Malhavoc's (Jun 24, 2011)

the test tube set up seems to work well, place an amount of water into a test tube, wefge acotton ball/tissue into the water creating a water comparment with a moist water source ( the cotton/tissue) place queen, cap. and forget about it till she has nanites ( founding workers)


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 24, 2011)

Ah, yes, I forgot. For founding queens/small colonies the test tube setup is best. Basically, it requires a glass test tube (Or plastic), clean source of water, and cotton balls. (     water    /cotton/  Colony  /cotton/ - That's a crude diagram of what you should end up with. Queens will benefit being kept in the dark, and this is very much true for skittish species like Formica, who can stress themselves to death. I myself acclimate my colonies to light by keep them in a dimly lit room, and increasing the amount of light daily. Now after you reach 10-30 workers, you can then transfer your colony to a plaster nest connected to an outworld. Refer to the two videos below on how to contruct a nest. Use regular plaster of paris. (Autoclaved areated concreate, or aac, is the best possible nest material but it is very hard to find in the US) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKv2BoFvKTU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akJLHKiJy80&feature=related

Care:
It can vary between species, so obviously it would be best to get an ID. (Or ask me!  ) Certain species have queens that are semi-claustrel, meaining they need to forage while founding. Others have a specialized diet, like seeds. But for most of your standard Formicinae and Myrmicinae species, you need two base diets. A source of energy, or carbohydrates for the workers. Protein for the larvae and queen. Use 2 parts water to one part honey for the honey water. (Honey can be substitued with sugar) Protein can come in a variety of items. You can use crickets or mealworms from your local pet store, or catch your own. Different colonies have different preferences, and small colonies can especially be picky, give a variety of insects to find out what they like best. I find termites, mosquitoes, fruit flies, or cut up insect parts work best for young colonies. Once again, if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer!


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## xhexdx (Jun 24, 2011)

So you don't provide any kind of food at the beginning while they're in the tube?


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 24, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> So you don't provide any kind of food at the beginning while they're in the tube?


Yes and no. Some queens run out of their food stores quicker than others, like the Pheidole queen pictured above, but you honestly don't have to feed a Pheidole queen. There are queens that are semi-claustrel, meaning you must provide food, and then there fully claustral, these don't need food. I usually supply fully claustrel queens with a *small* drop of honey first, they take what they need if any at all. Once the first larvae have reached a size that they are easily visable, I offer a fruitly. That's usually it.


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 26, 2011)

Just caught a bunch of Camponotus (Carpenter ants) queens last night. If you're in Florida, and it's raining, they'll be flying at night!

Camponotus floridanus

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/CampoQueens001.jpg

It hasn't been 15 hours since capture and this queen has already laid 2 eggs.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/CampoQueens002.jpg

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/CampoQueens003.jpg

Camponotus tortuganus, a similiar species to the one above, smaller and slimmer, but still just as fun to keep.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/CampoQueens005.jpg

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/CampoQueens006.jpg


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## Tleilaxu (Jun 26, 2011)

No ant queens up here, though I managed to get two C penn queens a few weeks ago. But I want some of the smaller ant species to keep too, since tyhey tend to dismember stuff!


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 26, 2011)

Just wanted to add that I captured a Trachmyrmex septentrionalis queen late evening, the northern fungus growing ant. I've kept Cyphomyrmex before, which reared a yest-like fungus, but nothing like Trachymyrmex. It's the closest thing I'll get to Acromyrmex or Atta so I'll take it! She's currently excavating her first cell.


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## Tleilaxu (Jun 26, 2011)

Do you get S invicta?


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 26, 2011)

Tleilaxu said:


> Do you get S invicta?


Plenty. I squish all the delate queens I see, they're worthless and the US would do better without them. I do have one colony of them though, it currently numbers at 1000, at only 3.5 months old. They are easy to rear but with the rate of growth, and the size of the colonies, makes the species hard to control in captivity.


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## Tleilaxu (Jun 26, 2011)

I dont dispute their issues but I do find them fascinating I would appreciate updates on this colony with pics, especially of them tearing things, I just love ants that carry their food back piece by piece.

And would love to get ahold of this species someday...


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 26, 2011)

2 Campo queens have laid eggs.


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## xhexdx (Jun 27, 2011)

I caught 6 or so queens (at least, I think they're queens) this evening.  Two different species, one of which I believe is S. invicta.  The other is much smaller.

Anyway, I'll try to get pictures posted so you can ID them for me.

Also, I'd love to see pics of your setups when you are able to post them. 

--Joe

EDIT:  Alright, here are (crappy) pics of queens from both species.

First species, queens are approx. 1/8-1/4" long:













Second species, I believe is S. invicta; queens are approx. 3/8" long:


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## Tleilaxu (Jun 27, 2011)

NICE I think you will have the best luck with the dealated queens though winged queens have been known to lay eggs. I personally would keep the invicta simply because... anyways good luck and I hope you get an ID soon.!


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 27, 2011)

The smaller queen appears to be Brachymyrmex (The genus is a big mess making it impossible to ID species without a microscope) though your measurements seem a bit off, can you get a better one? (Brachymyrmex queens should measure around 4-5mm) Your second queen is in fact Solenopsis invicta.


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 27, 2011)

Damn, this has been a successful year so far. I ordered 200 test tubes for this year, and I've already used amost half. 

On another note, I captured a second Trachymyrmex septentrionalis queen as she dug her first chamber. My first one is still constructing hers, but has already planted fungus on some catterpillar frass I gave her.


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## xhexdx (Jun 27, 2011)

1Lord Of Ants1 said:


> Damn, this has been a successful year so far. I ordered 200 test tubes for this year, and I've already used amost half.


Ok, so what do you *do* with all of them?

I'm still waiting to see pics of your setups!



Tleilaxu said:


> NICE I think you will have the best luck with the dealated queens though winged queens have been known to lay eggs. I personally would keep the invicta simply because... anyways good luck and I hope you get an ID soon.!


By the way, I'd be happy to send you some invicta queens if you want to give it a shot.


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## Tleilaxu (Jun 27, 2011)

Its illegal to ship ant queens across state lines. But thanks for the offer. And also complicating things is I have no cash for unnecessary purchases. Nor do I have anything worth while to offer in trade.


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## xhexdx (Jun 27, 2011)

Tleilaxu said:


> Its illegal to ship ant queens across state lines.


I didn't know this - thanks for the heads up.

As for the rest of your post, all I would have asked for was shipping.


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## Malhavoc's (Jun 27, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> I didn't know this - thanks for the heads up.
> 
> As for the rest of your post, all I would have asked for was shipping.


Queens like most insects are seen as a very invasive threat to most goverments. crossing any state lines with the possession of a queen is considered a federal crime AFAIK. this is why most of the starter kits come with workers only.

Xhedx, have your queens began to lay yet?


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## xhexdx (Jun 27, 2011)

Not that I've seen, but I'm not really bothering them much.

Caught some more tonight - two species I haven't caught yet, so I'll take pics and post them.

Ok, here they are:













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## groovyspider (Jun 27, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> Got any colony setup/care tips or links to any?
> 
> Thanks for everything so far.


use search function it should help


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## xhexdx (Jun 27, 2011)

groovyspider said:


> use search function it should help


Who are you?



1Lord Of Ants1 said:


> Once again, if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer!


Silly me...

Back on-topic:



1Lord Of Ants1 said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKv2BoFvKTU&feature=related
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akJLHKiJy80&feature=related


Watched both videos - I'm not sure how to provide a food source in a closed system like that...do you just remove the glass to add food?

Also, at the end of the second video where the nest is displayed up close, there is a rectangular chamber that is not covered by the glass.  What is that for?


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## dtknow (Jun 28, 2011)

Stumbled into a nuptial flight today-pretty wild. A small yellow species was flying and it looked like a swarm of gnats. I've captured 5 dealated queens and 20 odd winged ones at a light(dunno if they are fertile). Also saw a few Solenopsis xylonii and some argentine ant sized-fast running black species.


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## Malhavoc's (Jun 28, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> Who are you?
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Just went over the videos provided for you, it is a basic plaster of paris next a common medium for keeping ants in- the only worry you have is ants stockpiling their refuse in the nest and thus developing mold where its hard to reach however, that tutorial is wonderful so let me fill in the gaps your missing.

 Often on a nest like that, you would have lead holes going in one side or another- these are where you would connect plastic tubing to take your ants to the out world, the out world is slang for a area that your ants can forage/dump trash in that they have limited to no nesting ability in  and where you can easily feed them. Most use critter keepers with vasoline on the sides or a fine mesh lid.

 the unlabled 'rectangle' at the base of his nest I am presuming is his hydration channel, here he would place water in that the plaster of paris would absorb and help keep a good humidity level within the nest, essential for all ants in varying amounts- without it hteir eggs will dessicate ( believe thats the right word)

 I plan to build something like those next year if my C. Penn queens do well this year. Most queens wont need anything like that in their first year. The Queens you have now will eventualy lay eggs and the waiting game will begin, in one to two months after the first egg is born a nantic worker shall emerge, smaller then all other workers these first workers will get your queen started. without brood boosting I think most queens stay in limited numbes (below 50 but I could be wrong) in their first year and dont need much excess space ( too much space and they put the trash inside the nest.)

 My set ups for the first year are very simple, once the queen has larvae/pupae/nantics in her test tube. I place the entire test tube in a small kriter keeper- against one of the sides. from there I roll paper towel over it like a blank it (to keep it from shifting, to exclude light. and promote them nesting within/maitaining humidity levels) with a small exit, the first nantics and the queen will live for a fair while in this kritter keeper with a spartan set up, usualy no more then two bottle caps, one with water, one with honey and the occasionaly protien snack placed in. 

 To move your queen from this kind of set up into a plaster one is rather easy, consider ants will move themselves! if you wish to transfer your queen and brood from one place to another, merely give her a path and let her current home dry out- whilst moistening the other. they will realize their need of moisture and move the entire nest most likely while you sleep.


 hope this helps.

 and Im sorry I did have to giggle at the search function post after reading your sig. there are quite a few posts of ants on the forums already, even a wonderful how to set up a termite nest guide ( a lovely snack for most ant species) though I dont think any had the youtube vids in them.


ps, the last three you pictured are males you can tel by the dimunitive heads and of no use to you. (I believe. unless its some species Im not fimiliar with.)

---------- Post added at 12:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:19 AM ----------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irz1y0MQ7t8&NR=1

watering that very nest. handy this youtube thing is.


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 28, 2011)

xhexdx - Your first queen is Dorymymex bureni, a really common and attractive species here. These ants like warm. (80 degrees) They're very fast, aggressive, and you've probably seen the orange workers and crater nests that are everywhere in Florida. Your second species is a male of Solenopsis invicta, pretty useless, lol. 

Malhavoc pretty much covered it as far as nests/outworlds go. Remember, *most* queens don't need a setup like that for their first year. Generally, you want at least 10-20 workers before a colony is moved, whether it be to a new test tube or a small plaster nest. Make nests according to the size of your colony, if a nest is too big workers may treat the other chambers as foraging/dump sites. I typically get my glass cut at lowes for cheap, they give you just about any size you want.

C. floridanus update - this queen is doing the best, she currently has 5 eggs.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/ants028.jpg

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/ants030.jpg

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/ants024.jpg


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## xhexdx (Jun 29, 2011)

Yeah...those eggs are way too small for me to see with my queens, so I'm just gonna let them do their thing and see what happens.

I think what I'm excited about most is building a nest.  I've already sketched out a couple designs, hehe.

Here is what I believe to be a queen from species number 5 so far.  Thoughts?



















Measures about 5mm.

Those smaller queens you asked for a measurement for were about 4mm, by the way.

Thanks to you and Malhavoc's for all your help so far.


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## dtknow (Jun 29, 2011)

So I am pretty positive the ant queens I collected are Solenopsis molesta(thief ants)...which produce tiny tiny workers. Are these worth rearing? Apparently they are polygnous...so I went ahead and put two queens in one piece of tubing. They don't seem to mind each other so I guess that is a good sign.


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 29, 2011)

dtknow said:


> So I am pretty positive the ant queens I collected are Solenopsis molesta(thief ants)...which produce tiny tiny workers. Are these worth rearing? Apparently they are polygnous...so I went ahead and put two queens in one piece of tubing. They don't seem to mind each other so I guess that is a good sign.


Despite their small size they are fun to rear, grow like mad, and eat everything. I myself would keep them.

@xhexdx That's a Trachymyrmex septentrionalis queen, the northern fungus growing ant. That's right, they farm fungus! From what I've found and experienced, they almost always fail in test tubes. I start mine in a well moistened dirt setup, with about 3-4 inches of a sand/soil mix. Mist this 3 times a week to prevent tunnel colapses. They will get to digging straight away. After about 3-4 days on nest construction, you will need to provide your queen with catterpillar frass, and tiny pieces of fresh leaves (No leaves that are high in tannic) and flower petals. These queens are semi-claustrel, and will forage for material to grow their fungus with. This is as far as I've gotten with the species though, I'm still waiting for signs of fungus though I've seen mine collect material.


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## xhexdx (Jun 29, 2011)

Would millipede frass work?


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jun 29, 2011)

It could, assuming the millepedes are eating vegetation only, you can at least try. Though I noticed that T. septentionalis has some very specific choices when it comes to gardening medium. There is a solution to this, though. It is to locate an area with several Trachymyrmex colonies present. While observing the colonies, it shoud not be hard at all to find scouts carrying in decaying matter, frass, leaves, etc., into their nest. Just rob these pieces. (You dont need much) And offer it to your queen in small amounts.

Here's a worker carrying catterpillar frass.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/Tseptrio035.jpg

Nests are cresent saped and easy to spot.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/Tseptrio036.jpg

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/Tseptrio039.jpg

Typical Trachymyrmex habitat; Shady, well drained, sandy soil, trees overhead.

http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad257/Destroyer551/Tseptrio037.jpg


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## xhexdx (Jun 29, 2011)

Nice pics, I'll go back tomorrow and see if I can locate a nest.



1Lord Of Ants1 said:


> @xhexdx That's a Trachymyrmex septentrionalis queen, the northern fungus growing ant. That's right, they farm fungus! From what I've found and experienced, they almost always fail in test tubes. I start mine in a well moistened dirt setup, with about 3-4 inches of a sand/soil mix. Mist this 3 times a week to prevent tunnel colapses. They will get to digging straight away. After about 3-4 days on nest construction, you will need to provide your queen with catterpillar frass, and tiny pieces of fresh leaves (No leaves that are high in tannic) and flower petals. These queens are semi-claustrel, and will forage for material to grow their fungus with. This is as far as I've gotten with the species though, I'm still waiting for signs of fungus though I've seen mine collect material.


The setup - do you have a lot of ventilation or can I keep the air holes closed off?  I can do this with just a queen, or do I need to keep her in a tube until she has a few workers?  I know you said they almost always fail in test tubes, so I'm not sure if you mean I should just let her make a few workers in there first, or put her straight into the dirt setup.

I have coco fiber, topsoil, and peat moss at my disposal.  Which (combination) of these three would you recommend?  I also have the sand, so I'll add that as well.

I have a small bag of vermiculite - something to consider or no?

Thanks again.  I wonder if this particular species may be a little much for me at this point in time though.


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## auroborus (Jun 29, 2011)

dang, now I feel like I should post pics of my queen and her larvae. Just cought her late spring. shes also in  tube for now, until she ges a few ants. I got a larger environment for her colony but i need to finish working on the lid


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## xhexdx (Jun 29, 2011)

So my Dorymymex bureni and two of three Solenopsis invicta all have eggs.


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## Malhavoc's (Jun 30, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> Nice pics, I'll go back tomorrow and see if I can locate a nest.
> 
> 
> 
> .


Did you ever find the nest? and locate some frass? Another option if you do find the same species nest is brood boosting. stealing some pupae (I prefer pupae over larvae as the queen doesnt have to feed them) to give her a headstart.


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## xhexdx (Jun 30, 2011)

Well, tomorrow is today, and it's just about 1pm here.  I'll be going back around 8 tonight to look.


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## dtknow (Jul 1, 2011)

Well the smaller gastered queen in the pairing went ahead and beheaded the other one. So apparently their must be a better way of convincing them to found colonies together! Down to four now.


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## radjess331 (Jul 1, 2011)

well went walking around my front door and back door. I believe I found three different species of queens. two species i have the queens in bead cups. the third...well she accidently got smashed while i tried to catch her 

ill try to get pics up this weekend for i.d.


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## xhexdx (Jul 3, 2011)

I have queens from three different species laying eggs now, and have already built three nests in anticipation.


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## trivium160 (Jul 4, 2011)

I'm in florida but I can never find queens...   I have found some harvester ant nests but have not attempted to dig it up.  I'd pay for a harvester or carpenter ant queen!


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## echostatic (Jul 5, 2011)

I have two Camponotus queens I caught a few months ago. They both have a small handful of workers. My Solenopsis invicta colony from last year is just *huge*, but their numbers can be regulated by controlling how much protein they get fed... I just feed them a lot because I like having an enormous colony


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## xhexdx (Jul 5, 2011)

I have been out several times in the last week and found nothing.  It's like they were all out for a couple days, then they're gone.


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## trivium160 (Jul 6, 2011)

Yea, I'm just north of you in spring hill but I have never seen a Queen...


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## auroborus (Jul 6, 2011)

I know up here in Maryland the larger queens tend to fly in late spring, while some other colonies are pickier about the time of year or weather conditions on wich they fly. So maybe right after the rainy season or something like that is when yours will fly in FL.
Meanwhile I have a large red field ant queen with a few large larvae from this spring. hopefully i'll have workers soon


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jul 6, 2011)

auroborus said:


> I know up here in Maryland the larger queens tend to fly in late spring, while some other colonies are pickier about the time of year or weather conditions on wich they fly. So maybe right after the rainy season or something like that is when yours will fly in FL.
> Meanwhile I have a large red field ant queen with a few large larvae from this spring. hopefully i'll have workers soon


I can tell you one thing, ants fly all season long in Florida. It varies from species to species, but you just need to know what time and what to look for. Once you know what you're doing, anting in Florida is plain easy, it doesn't matter where you are in the state. 

Any pictures of your queen?


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## auroborus (Jul 7, 2011)

1Lord Of Ants1 said:


> Any pictures of your queen?


I'll try to take some pics, but my digital camera isnt the best and her vial is often covered in condensation. I do have the same type of queen that I had last year that had died, so i'll try to get a few pics of her so you can get an idea.


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## Tleilaxu (Jul 7, 2011)

Lets see if anyone can ID this girl...

[YOUTUBE]VrqTqTjGVPA[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]L7JWJ8wf34g[/YOUTUBE]

Same body shape/species just without wings and a different angle and lighting.

More importantly is she semi-claustral or fully-claustral?


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Jul 7, 2011)

Tleilaxu said:


> Lets see if anyone can ID this girl...
> 
> 
> Same body shape/species just without wings and a different angle and lighting.
> ...


Tetramorium species E, America's Tetramorium caespitum. Otherwise known as the common pavement ant. She is fully claustrel.


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## Tleilaxu (Jul 7, 2011)

Nice, any special tips?


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## Rellok1 (Jul 7, 2011)

Hi

Is it possible that one of America here. Can send me free a Gyne to Switzerland? I can sed him one frome here back. Lasius niger, Lasius emarginatus.

Thanks

Excuse my English.

Max


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## Tleilaxu (Jul 7, 2011)

No its illegal to ship ant queens even within the states let alone out of the states, however in Europe you can order ant queens and what not.

Edit: just caught four more of these today. Do they form polygnous colonies? If so then I will set these four up in a "dirt container" and see what happens. Currently the four of them are huddled up and inspecting each other, I have squished fruit and a squished moth in a large container that they can eat if they want until I set up the main enclosure they will be in. Currently I am assuming that they are getting along because they have nothing to fight over yet or they are indeed  polygnous but I want more information before I start this up. Then again these are an invasive pest so I cant say I would be sad if they were to kill each other but I try to avoid meaningless deaths none the less.


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## auroborus (Jul 8, 2011)

This queen is the same as the one I have now, if anyone can ID it/give more info about them it would be apreciated. 
Also how do you delete pics that youve uploaded before? i think i just used up the rest of the space they give you on here


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## xhexdx (Jul 15, 2011)

So my S. invicta queens all died for 'no reason'.  Not sure why...they left eggs and larvae and everything...any ideas?


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## Malhavoc's (Jul 16, 2011)

Death without consumption of brood is suspicious, would make me think viral or fungal, something that would act quickly, oft when they die of humidity or lack there of I find they consue brood. perhaps it is possible they ran out of air?


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## Tleilaxu (Jul 16, 2011)

Not in a test tube setup. I think they may have been infected with something.


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## Malhavoc's (Jul 18, 2011)

Tleilaxu said:


> Not in a test tube setup. I think they may have been infected with something.


Possible contamination from something in their homes? Cotten laced with a chemicle etc? 

Also, mass queens are produced for the reason few survive, why most people will collect double digits of queens to ensure one survives.


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## xhexdx (Aug 19, 2011)

So the formicariums I built with plaster of paris seem to dry out too quickly.  Any suggestions for keeping them moist for longer periods of time, or do I just have to keep adding water on a regular basis?


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## Malhavoc's (Aug 19, 2011)

Do you have a water basin in which you can fill with water and let it slowely leech outward into the coloney? Aslo, when I had this problem I framed it with wood and placed glass on both sides, basicly replacing the sand of an uncle sams with plaster, however it retained moister so well it molded.


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## xhexdx (Aug 19, 2011)

I do have the water basin - from what I've seen so far, the water soaks right in to the plaster and empties the basin rather quickly.


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## Malhavoc's (Aug 20, 2011)

Perhaps some sort of resin, or paint to seal all exposd sides of the plaster but the nest, and the water basin will help it in retaining the moisture.


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## SandDeku (Aug 20, 2011)

Malhavoc's said:


> Perhaps some sort of resin, or paint to seal all exposd sides of the plaster but the nest, and the water basin will help it in retaining the moisture.


Can you actually paint a plaster formicarium? Like will it hurt the ants? Sorry to interrupt. But would a carpenter ant colony require a basin? I could do it. I just don't know if its necessarry? Or if itll create mold or other problems like that.


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## Malhavoc's (Aug 21, 2011)

You can paint it so long as you let it dry and try to avoid the obviously heavily toxic paints. 
next option is a wick system, in which part of the plaster sits down in a basin of water- say a tub under the nest, that then whicks the water up into the nest creating a larger longer lasting basin. however you problem is always going to be mold, I am combating it in a lasius nest at the moment and its not fun, infact my fresh carpenter ant made from compound board grew mold aswell, thankfully C Penn dont mind dry colonies as far as larvae go and have a bottle cap of water for hydration ( and some with sugar water.) they removed almost all the mold in the nest chamber themselves, and the outside has dried out and hopefuly died.


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## xhexdx (Aug 21, 2011)

Got any ideas/tips/links for carpenter ants?  I have a nice queen doing quite well with her starter eggs and larvae, but I'm not sure where to go from there at the moment.


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## SandDeku (Aug 21, 2011)

I think carpenter ants would do well in a test tube set up for like atleast 6mo? Cleaned out every month though. Workers don't like to eat solids too much. But they will kill the prey and suck the liquids out. They prefer honey and aphid poop as their diet. Proteins just for producing more eggs. Though you will only get 20workers in one year max. 

Anything else on them?


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## xhexdx (Aug 21, 2011)

Do I actually need to provide them with wood or can I use a typical formicarium and feed the honey/proteins as their main food source?

My queen has three larvae and a nice lump of eggs.


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## SandDeku (Aug 23, 2011)

Nice! Just that I had to take my queen out of her test tube I'm not sure if the eggs are lost. But atleast she still has two workers. Apparently bad idea of me to put a live small cricket in there. Yes yes Im stupid like that. She killed it. But two days later and it still  is there only bits eaten. But the queen stressed as crud saying "get me the crud out of here". So now she's on a glass jar with a tight lid untill I clean it out. :x I think I'm going to leave them in the jar for now though.

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xhexdx said:


> Do I actually need to provide them with wood or can I use a typical formicarium and feed the honey/proteins as their main food source?
> 
> My queen has three larvae and a nice lump of eggs.


You don't need wood. Just know that they can't eat hard foods. So if you provide proteins make sure they have "innards" aka live food. And make sure to moisten any "pelleted" food if you also feed pellets occassionally like myself.


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## xhexdx (Aug 23, 2011)

Alright.

What I've been doing with my Dorymyrmex is freezing D. hydei and feeding one every couple days.  Seems to work well.  I'll use larger prey items when the colony increases in size.


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## Malhavoc's (Aug 24, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> Do I actually need to provide them with wood or can I use a typical formicarium and feed the honey/proteins as their main food source?
> 
> My queen has three larvae and a nice lump of eggs.


Carpenter ants do not eat wood, simply chew it up and bore out, and only then it has to be pre damaged by water. So no they dont 'need' wood, though I find they do like to chew when given the chance. I took a small krittery keeper, some compound particle board, paper towel/tissue and hot glue and fashioned a formicarium. by cutting the board to fit the side, and some more .slices" I fashioned a "cave/hole" that I then shaped even smaller with wet paper towel, glue this set up to the side of the small kritter keeper. fill with small things like gravel or otherl ight dry debri, insert ants, vasoline lid and tada, your set. mine began to chew out the paper towel seem to leave the board, and then use the debri and paper towel bits to shape it as they wish.

 also most carpenter ants are slow growing, they dont often achieve more then 20 workers in there first year. so as sandeku said, test tube should be plenty for hteir first year.


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## xhexdx (Aug 24, 2011)

Thanks guys for the info. 

At what point do you think I should transfer my Dorymyrmex to a formicarium?  I'd say she's got maybe 15 workers right now.


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## Malhavoc's (Aug 24, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> Thanks guys for the info.
> 
> At what point do you think I should transfer my Dorymyrmex to a formicarium?  I'd say she's got maybe 15 workers right now.


you can put them in whenevery ou wish, a good trick to keep them from placing mold creating trash in unused space is to fill it with sand or another medium ( i found this lovely coloured fine gravel in the dollar store that even the tiniest of ants can move without an issue, and being larger particles they do not use it to obscure view/create tunnels.) then the ants will excavate the areas they need as they go.


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## xhexdx (Aug 24, 2011)

Ah, neat.

Once you put them in the formicarium, you need to attach an outworld as well for waste and feeding, right?


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## Malhavoc's (Aug 24, 2011)

right, they generally will use an outworld to deposit dead, waste material etc. also will dispose of the sand you fill their formicarium with.


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## xhexdx (Aug 24, 2011)

Alright.

A shot of the carpenter queen:







I should have zoomed in before cropping...lemme go take another crop of it.

Here we go:


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## Malhavoc's (Aug 25, 2011)

what a wonderful brood and queen you have, I wish I could give you an Id but unfortunatly Im not that experienced in that department. you could try posting it on antforum.uko.com, just be a stickler about spelling.


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Aug 25, 2011)

The carpenter ant queen is Camponotus floridanus, I picked up about 30 of the queens a couple months ago. Camponotus in general grow slowly, but I've found that certain species grow faster than others. With a bit of heat and lots of food, I had a C. floridanus colony reach 50+ workers in less than a year. 

@xhexdx The Dorymyrmex colony is about the right size for moving to a small formicarium.


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## xhexdx (Aug 26, 2011)

Transfer in progress...


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## xhexdx (May 28, 2014)

Just bumping this since it's coming up on ant queen season again.  Found my first one completely by accident last night.


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