Hey, im trying to start an ant colony with a queen that I just found. im not sure what type she is, Im in maryland and she is around 1/8 or 1/4 inch long, i dont remember. she is also a deep red in color. If anyone could help ID here that would be great. also any advice on what to feed here/ keep here until she produces young? also about how long will it to produce full grown ants?
Just found a queen Ant
- Thread starter auroborus
- Start date
There is a pretty good chance that it is a fire ant, if youre in maryland and if it is not too cold
Try puttting the queen in a premade ant farm you can get on ebay or most stores. use fine dirt or sand and dampen it to putin the container. A plastic clear small box works fine. poke a few holes along th esides so that the queen will ding along the viewing area. I caught 3 red mated queens once and the nested together in a chamer they dug inside a simple large clear plastic cup with dirt. the queens laid eggs, but i drooped the container and the queens gor upset and that was that. They never dug or laid eggs again.
Where do u keep the queen now?
It 'll take few weeks probably for your queen to lay eggs, if she is secure and settled.
Try puttting the queen in a premade ant farm you can get on ebay or most stores. use fine dirt or sand and dampen it to putin the container. A plastic clear small box works fine. poke a few holes along th esides so that the queen will ding along the viewing area. I caught 3 red mated queens once and the nested together in a chamer they dug inside a simple large clear plastic cup with dirt. the queens laid eggs, but i drooped the container and the queens gor upset and that was that. They never dug or laid eggs again.
Where do u keep the queen now?
It 'll take few weeks probably for your queen to lay eggs, if she is secure and settled.
i keep here in a small vial in my bed room, i first gave her clean fibrous dirt material that my friend gave me but she didnt like it so i added the dirt i found her in and that seemed to make her happy. she dug out a a chamber and sealed herself in it and just recently broke the seal on her chamber.she has been sitting around doing nothing much, I cant tell if there are eggs or just bits of sand. she is probably a fire ant but im not sure what species. i would take pics but my digital camera cant focus that much.
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A pic would help quite a bit.
my friend is gonna take some pics but it could be a week or so before he comes over to take them. i dropped some bits of sugar down in her tunnel and she eagerly gobbled up the sustenance. Tonight i will try some ground up dog food for protein. she is brownish red, already had removed her wings, 12 segments on her antenna. the way she sits in her tunnel i cant see node conecting the thorax to the abdomen. useing two ID sites i think ive narrowed her down to one of four species. hopefully my friends camera will see more than me with my magnifying glass.
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Test tube set up, thats the best bet for a new queen
Theirs an Article that has a picture of what a test tube set up looks like. You really don't have to do any thing with the queen. BUT that depends on the type of ant she IS.
How many waist segments does she have, where did you find her (part of the state if you don't wanna be specific), coloration, size in mm's, Clubbed antenna?
She wouldn't be a "fire ant" seeing as how they have southern limitation. They wouldn't survive in Maryland. Like previously stated it could also be a late founding Solitary wasp.
BUT I Just thought of something, How was the weather when you found her?
Theirs an Article that has a picture of what a test tube set up looks like. You really don't have to do any thing with the queen. BUT that depends on the type of ant she IS.
How many waist segments does she have, where did you find her (part of the state if you don't wanna be specific), coloration, size in mm's, Clubbed antenna?
She wouldn't be a "fire ant" seeing as how they have southern limitation. They wouldn't survive in Maryland. Like previously stated it could also be a late founding Solitary wasp.
BUT I Just thought of something, How was the weather when you found her?
the weather was a little chilly, but i actually dug her out from her chamber. i think she just dug it out after a prenuptial flight in the fall. I think she's 1/4 to 1/3 inch long a deep brownish red. i live by fields and forest in central Maryland. she has one segment between thorax and abdomen. She is a deep brownish red, her antenna start with one really long segment then the rest are 11 fused segments after the elbow bend. she has very fine hairs on here that are almost unseen. she has small triangular mandibles, not sure what else i know to describe here. hopefully my friend will be over to take pics that i can upload.
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Lasius umbratus
http://antweb.org/description.do?su...s&name=umbratus&rank=species&project=ohioants
best bet, they are specialized in taking over other Lasius colonies, can be found all the time this time of year, especially when it warms up a little bit. They will wait it out all winter just to find a new colony
ill wait for that image though
http://antweb.org/description.do?su...s&name=umbratus&rank=species&project=ohioants
best bet, they are specialized in taking over other Lasius colonies, can be found all the time this time of year, especially when it warms up a little bit. They will wait it out all winter just to find a new colony
ill wait for that image though
do they smell of sweet citronella oil? I know those ants are local, so it could be possible. if there a social parasite, do i need to give her some workers from another colony? I'm not too sure how i would take care of her. also tonight i actually got to see her head close up with a week powered microscope. She has 6 jagged teeth on each mandible and three dots on her head.
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Thats not specific enough.
here is a mating chart my friend is working on
best chance at starting a colony. I suggest getting some test tubes! http://ants.ideltech.com/
here is a mating chart my friend is working on
best chance at starting a colony. I suggest getting some test tubes! http://ants.ideltech.com/
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what are you going to use?
I make plaster set ups. don't make it too big other wise workers wont know where the food is, unless its a dirt set up.
Does she have brood? Don't add workers, they will kill her she has to rear her own.
I make plaster set ups. don't make it too big other wise workers wont know where the food is, unless its a dirt set up.
Does she have brood? Don't add workers, they will kill her she has to rear her own.
I have yet to see even one larvae, i plan on a dirt set up. gonna have one large clear plastic container and an inverted container with in that so there is a 1/2 inch gap around the sides for the dirt, and gonna give them an inch of dirt on the surface so they can have a few little plant, roaming space, and maybe even aphids.
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not all ants use aphids, if you do get aphids make sure you get a nice fast growing weed. Best for aphids.
http://www.antkingdom.tk/
this is a good web
If you still have the queen in a vial, dont take it out, since it will disturb the queen. you can keep the queen in a test tube with a water supply ,ike in the keeping ants secction of the website. after the queen gets a few workers, then you can leave the tube open inside or connected to your s utuble nest, where they will explore and willingly dwell
this is a good web
If you still have the queen in a vial, dont take it out, since it will disturb the queen. you can keep the queen in a test tube with a water supply ,ike in the keeping ants secction of the website. after the queen gets a few workers, then you can leave the tube open inside or connected to your s utuble nest, where they will explore and willingly dwell