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SoDak (Society of Dakotan Ant Keepers) Official Ant Keeping Thread

ant keeping south dakota camponotus formica lasius solenopsis molesta aphaenogaster tetramorium pogonomyrmex occidentalis myrmica ponera brachymyrmex

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#221 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted July 19 2023 - 9:16 AM

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Yea will do. Haven’t checked on her since yesterday but last night she seemed pretty calm finally

Keep in mind these queens can live for years when not mated... I still have one from over a year ago that never laid eggs...
Oh wow ok. When’s the best time of day to find this species? I was surprised to find her in the morning. I’m also trying to keep an eye out for Formica dakotensis? I think… reddish Orange field ants. Also not sure if they’re parasites or not. I think Obscuripes already flew probably… but tried that last year or the year before and failed miserably. Maybe I need pupae instead of workers though from fusca to found one
Btw Tetramorium is still flying west river. Saw another queen today on the sidewalk.
Formica fly usually in the afternoonish and i have had the most luck finding them in the evening. The morning means she has been foraging for nest locations for a while and most likely means she is mated. Quite the ambitious antkeeper haha, I have never seen nor caught formica dakotensis. They are very shiny compared to other parasitic and slave raiding colonies so that is your best indicator besides a microscope. However if you are interested I could sell you a colony of Formica ravida that I have just caught, if you really want to try your hand with parasitic queens. Yes I would agree pupae is the safest way to found, although some species do need workers too. Destroy as many of those tetramorium queens as you can...

Edited by Ants_Dakota, July 19 2023 - 9:17 AM.

  • amerikansturm likes this

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My South Dakotan Shop Here

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)


#222 Offline amerikansturm - Posted July 20 2023 - 2:07 PM

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Yea will do. Haven’t checked on her since yesterday but last night she seemed pretty calm finally

Keep in mind these queens can live for years when not mated... I still have one from over a year ago that never laid eggs...
Oh wow ok. When’s the best time of day to find this species? I was surprised to find her in the morning. I’m also trying to keep an eye out for Formica dakotensis? I think… reddish Orange field ants. Also not sure if they’re parasites or not. I think Obscuripes already flew probably… but tried that last year or the year before and failed miserably. Maybe I need pupae instead of workers though from fusca to found one
Btw Tetramorium is still flying west river. Saw another queen today on the sidewalk.
Formica fly usually in the afternoonish and i have had the most luck finding them in the evening. The morning means she has been foraging for nest locations for a while and most likely means she is mated. Quite the ambitious antkeeper haha, I have never seen nor caught formica dakotensis. They are very shiny compared to other parasitic and slave raiding colonies so that is your best indicator besides a microscope. However if you are interested I could sell you a colony of Formica ravida that I have just caught, if you really want to try your hand with parasitic queens. Yes I would agree pupae is the safest way to found, although some species do need workers too. Destroy as many of those tetramorium queens as you can...

Haha yea I saw a dakotensis queen a couple days ago but lost her in the rocks. Probably wouldn’t have been able to get the right pupae.

Lol why destroy the Tetramorium queens?


Also I caught a drone Formica fusca group… my queen is laying and it appears like she’s putting them in a pile rather than dropping them randomly. Probably not a good idea to see if they’ll mate huh?
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There are four things which are little on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they prepare their food in the summer

Proverbs 30:24-25 NKJV


#223 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted July 24 2023 - 5:44 AM

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Yea will do. Haven’t checked on her since yesterday but last night she seemed pretty calm finally

Keep in mind these queens can live for years when not mated... I still have one from over a year ago that never laid eggs...
Oh wow ok. When’s the best time of day to find this species? I was surprised to find her in the morning. I’m also trying to keep an eye out for Formica dakotensis? I think… reddish Orange field ants. Also not sure if they’re parasites or not. I think Obscuripes already flew probably… but tried that last year or the year before and failed miserably. Maybe I need pupae instead of workers though from fusca to found one
Btw Tetramorium is still flying west river. Saw another queen today on the sidewalk.
Formica fly usually in the afternoonish and i have had the most luck finding them in the evening. The morning means she has been foraging for nest locations for a while and most likely means she is mated. Quite the ambitious antkeeper haha, I have never seen nor caught formica dakotensis. They are very shiny compared to other parasitic and slave raiding colonies so that is your best indicator besides a microscope. However if you are interested I could sell you a colony of Formica ravida that I have just caught, if you really want to try your hand with parasitic queens. Yes I would agree pupae is the safest way to found, although some species do need workers too. Destroy as many of those tetramorium queens as you can...

Haha yea I saw a dakotensis queen a couple days ago but lost her in the rocks. Probably wouldn’t have been able to get the right pupae.

Lol why destroy the Tetramorium queens?


Also I caught a drone Formica fusca group… my queen is laying and it appears like she’s putting them in a pile rather than dropping them randomly. Probably not a good idea to see if they’ll mate huh?

 

you are lucky then! The queen i caught that i thought could be dakotensis turned out to be F. cf fossaceps, which was a little disappointing as i wanted to try out dakotensis, but whatever. Because tetramorium are invasive and quite destructive of native ants in the city, although lasius neoniger are fighting back... Yes if the queen is already caring for the brood, best not to risk that. The only species that i have observed mate in captivity myself was ponera pennsylvanica, but that does not mean others won't. Your queen is more than likely mated so you should be fine!


Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My South Dakotan Shop Here

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)


#224 Offline MinifigGaloreStore - Posted August 8 2023 - 7:10 AM

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I was at the end of my driveway last evening waiting for my brother to pick me up for a culver's run. I was admiring the "pet" pavement ant colony at the end of my driveway, and noticed what appeared to be a queen.

It was super tiny though like dwarfed by even the tetra workers.

 

Anyone heard of any orange-ish tiny queen ants? Could have maybe just been a worker from species with particularly long gasters too and not a queen at all.

 

I ran to the kitchen quick, grabbed a small container to secure the ant. The lid rested on these "friction" ridges and it left a large enough gap I guess that the ant escaped when we made our food run. It was that small. Hope it doesn't start a colony in my garage lol. At least it wasn't in the house.

 

Any way, later that night in the dark, I went out to the same area hoping to maybe find another one. I had all but given up hope when I spotted movement between the sidewalk cracks right at the end of my driveway and found a lasius species!!!

 

She's all test tubed up.  :lol:



#225 Offline Virginian_ants - Posted August 8 2023 - 7:43 AM

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Maybe some Strongylognathus sp, they are from Europe but maybe like tetramorium atratulum they've been introduced as inquilines.

Edited by Virginian_ants, August 8 2023 - 7:45 AM.

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#226 Offline ANTdrew - Posted August 8 2023 - 9:05 AM

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Sounds like a Solenopsis molesta queen to me.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#227 Offline Virginian_ants - Posted August 8 2023 - 9:35 AM

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I agree with ANTdrew. Probably Solenopsis.





Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: ant keeping, south dakota, camponotus, formica, lasius, solenopsis molesta, aphaenogaster, tetramorium, pogonomyrmex occidentalis, myrmica, ponera, brachymyrmex

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