226 replies to this topic

[MinifigGaloreStore]

 

Yes trails are the best way to spot them. In our spotting we have not yet found any one area that contains a large amount of camponotus close to the trail but I would just recommend hiking all over in the late evening(after 6 o'clock)

 

 

So, the remnants of the 100 year old abandoned quarry near my parent's house is kind of like a very miniature newton hills.
I told my brother last night about some of the SoDak members going to newton hills to find Carpenter Ants and he sends me this later...

That concrete is the patio slab below my parent's backyard deck.

 

This marks the second time my brother sees a queen ant within hours of me talking to him about ants lolol.

 

I asked him if he captured it and he said it flew away right after the video quit....

-sorry for the low quality pics, they are screenshots from a snapchat video.

This is a queen right? I assume it's Camponotus. Almost looks like a black wasp too.

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[ANTdrew]

Males

[MinifigGaloreStore]

Ah, well hopefully he flew away to go mate some queens! lol

[DakotaDubs]

anything new?

[MinifigGaloreStore]

walked around arrowhead park last week. Didn't see anything on the paths except for workers. What time of day did find your nearcticus queen on the sidewalk? I'm guessing I'm not going late enough or early enough.

 

i also wanted to point out how genius you are for looking under the bark of rotting logs. I want to try this in my parents' backyard.

Edited by MinifigGaloreStore, June 5 2023 - 11:46 AM.

[DakotaDubs]

walked around arrowhead park last week. Didn't see anything on the paths except for workers. What time of day did find your nearcticus queen on the sidewalk? I'm guessing I'm not going late enough or early enough.

 

i also wanted to point out how genius you are for looking under the bark of rotting logs. I want to try this in my parents' backyard.

i found the nearcticus queen around 8 or 9 am on a sidewalk that had running sprinklers going at the time, i work overnights so sometimes when i get off ill go on a little anting walk before i head to bed for the day lol. Looking under the bark of rotted logs is my favorite way honestly, it 10000% increases the chances of finding a successful queen, just try to make sure you grab as many nanitics for her as you can to make her job easier cause chances are she's a second year queen and is used to a little help. I usually will still seal them up in a test tube setup but will provide a small drop of honey at all times since the chances are the workers were used to foraging before i abducted them.

[DakotaDubs]

walked around arrowhead park last week. Didn't see anything on the paths except for workers. What time of day did find your nearcticus queen on the sidewalk? I'm guessing I'm not going late enough or early enough.

 

i also wanted to point out how genius you are for looking under the bark of rotting logs. I want to try this in my parents' backyard.

also jus try not to completely take all the bark off if you can, alot of the times its either not ants under it or its a different species you don't want so its always a good thing to not completely destroy their home/ leave it for future queens to use as well. i usually pull it back enough to look under without tearing the whole piece of bark off or just pull small pieces off at a time if you can't get a good look underneath. And make sure you look at the whole log if possible, there have been days I've come to a piece of wood I've already searched but found a piece of bark i havent looked under and sure enough a queen was in that piece of wood the whole time.

[DakotaDubs]

after two weeks the Nearc is fiercely guarding about 4-5 brood, One of the Penns' gained a nanitic while the other still works on raising more than the one she already had. I went out to good earth yesterday and was able to find a new queen, my brain says another pennsylvanicus but I'm not so sure as this new queen is massive, a decent amount bigger than my two confirmed pennsylvanicus queens, maybe you guys can help me? yall think its a different Camponotus or jus a jumbo sized pennsylvanicus?

after two weeks the Nearc is fiercely guarding about 4-5 brood, One of the Penns' gained a nanitic while the other still works on raising more than the one she already had. I went out to good earth yesterday and was able to find a new queen, my brain says another pennsylvanicus but I'm not so sure as this new queen is massive, a decent amount bigger than my two confirmed pennsylvanicus queens, maybe you guys can help me? yall think its a different Camponotus or jus a jumbo sized pennsylvanicus?

excuse my loose hair lol I shed hair like a mad man

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[Ants_Dakota]

Newton hills sadly yielded no queens for me and AntsDakota although we went down there 4 times in a week. However I did manage to find one pennsalvanicus queen one morning while running so at least I am not empty handed. Our next target will be formica, and I would like to note if any south dakotan is interested in some cool formica, newton hills is rich in F. bradleyi and pallidefulva and neogagates groups, which are some beautiful species, so that would be the place to get them.

[Ants_Dakota]

after two weeks the Nearc is fiercely guarding about 4-5 brood, One of the Penns' gained a nanitic while the other still works on raising more than the one she already had. I went out to good earth yesterday and was able to find a new queen, my brain says another pennsylvanicus but I'm not so sure as this new queen is massive, a decent amount bigger than my two confirmed pennsylvanicus queens, maybe you guys can help me? yall think its a different Camponotus or jus a jumbo sized pennsylvanicus?

after two weeks the Nearc is fiercely guarding about 4-5 brood, One of the Penns' gained a nanitic while the other still works on raising more than the one she already had. I went out to good earth yesterday and was able to find a new queen, my brain says another pennsylvanicus but I'm not so sure as this new queen is massive, a decent amount bigger than my two confirmed pennsylvanicus queens, maybe you guys can help me? yall think its a different Camponotus or jus a jumbo sized pennsylvanicus?

excuse my loose hair lol I shed hair like a mad man

See if C. americanus matches that queen

[DakotaDubs]

 

after two weeks the Nearc is fiercely guarding about 4-5 brood, One of the Penns' gained a nanitic while the other still works on raising more than the one she already had. I went out to good earth yesterday and was able to find a new queen, my brain says another pennsylvanicus but I'm not so sure as this new queen is massive, a decent amount bigger than my two confirmed pennsylvanicus queens, maybe you guys can help me? yall think its a different Camponotus or jus a jumbo sized pennsylvanicus?

after two weeks the Nearc is fiercely guarding about 4-5 brood, One of the Penns' gained a nanitic while the other still works on raising more than the one she already had. I went out to good earth yesterday and was able to find a new queen, my brain says another pennsylvanicus but I'm not so sure as this new queen is massive, a decent amount bigger than my two confirmed pennsylvanicus queens, maybe you guys can help me? yall think its a different Camponotus or jus a jumbo sized pennsylvanicus?

excuse my loose hair lol I shed hair like a mad man

See if C. americanus matches that queen

 

I think its almost certainly a Pennsylvanicus honestly, she's jet black and looks identical to the other queens despite being slightly larger. I think the way she was hanging to the top of the test tube made her look way bigger than she is in the picture.

[DakotaDubs]

anything new guys? I think tetramorium are flying currently, have found two queens in the past two days, one of em was getting beat up pretty bad by some other ants and she had some mites so i had to brush her down with a soft bristle toothbrush and now she's being quarantined for good measure, hope yall are having some luck. i also don't plan on keeping more than maybe three Sp. so if anybody is interested in Pennsylvannicus or tetramorium let it be known, only cost would be to cover the test tube id be giving you them in.

[DakotaDubs]

Caught a Formica tonight, not sure exactly what Sp. but will post pictures in a second

[DakotaDubs]

maybe yall can help with ID?

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[Ants_Dakota]

anything new guys? I think tetramorium are flying currently, have found two queens in the past two days, one of em was getting beat up pretty bad by some other ants and she had some mites so i had to brush her down with a soft bristle toothbrush and now she's being quarantined for good measure, hope yall are having some luck. i also don't plan on keeping more than maybe three Sp. so if anybody is interested in Pennsylvannicus or tetramorium let it be known, only cost would be to cover the test tube id be giving you them in.

I found a tapinoma queen but that is about all.

[Ants_Dakota]

maybe yall can help with ID?

Beautiful queen, I don't think I have kept that species before! Unfortunately the farthest you will be able to get is formica fusca group, although it may be parasitic based off of the head size? Perhaps there is a better IDer out there or you may need better pictures. There are so many similar looking species here it is near impossible to ID properly. Antwiki/antwebs are yout best shots.

Edited by Ants_Dakota, June 19 2023 - 10:25 AM.

[amerikansturm]

Anybody finding more tetramorium? Last year I saw a ton (by a ton I mean about half a dozen a couple days in a row) on my morning walks (about 9AM) beginning like in early June but I haven't seen a single queen this year.  I feel like either I missed them or the weather has delayed their flight.  Also I'm never sure if being west vs east river affects flights

[amerikansturm]

 

maybe yall can help with ID?

Beautiful queen, I don't think I have kept that species before! Unfortunately the farthest you will be able to get is formica fusca group, although it may be parasitic based off of the head size? Perhaps there is a better IDer out there or you may need better pictures. There are so many similar looking species here it is near impossible to ID properly. Antwiki/antwebs are yout best shots.

 

Yea I have been wondering what species exactly live around here and if they're all the same or different.  Closest I can guesstimate is formica argentea based on distribution maps but I have no idea

[DakotaDubs]

Anybody finding more tetramorium? Last year I saw a ton (by a ton I mean about half a dozen a couple days in a row) on my morning walks (about 9AM) beginning like in early June but I haven't seen a single queen this year.  I feel like either I missed them or the weather has delayed their flight.  Also I'm never sure if being west vs east river affects flights

A BUNCH of luck finding tetramorium around the sertoma park area, caught 3 yesterday but easily seen 20-30, i can catch some extras for you or if more than one of my three are fertile i can give you one if you have no luck, i go out around 6-7 am and its like the sidewalks are plagued with them.

[DakotaDubs]

Anybody finding more tetramorium? Last year I saw a ton (by a ton I mean about half a dozen a couple days in a row) on my morning walks (about 9AM) beginning like in early June but I haven't seen a single queen this year.  I feel like either I missed them or the weather has delayed their flight.  Also I'm never sure if being west vs east river affects flights

The sidewalk outside great life a block away from sertoma is a place i seen quite a few.