13 replies to this topic

[Ants4fun]

Everyone keeps showing me pictures of all sorts of Camponotus queens, while here I can barely find a worker... Supposedly in the spring/early summer Camponotus queens are supposed to be abundant, and I just saw that someone said that their flights where already over! (Note that this primarily applies to the more northern regions.)

[drtrmiller]

You must be near a wooded area where they are present.

 

I live one or more miles away from a wooded area, and I've only seen one male from a flight that occurred about 6 weeks ago.  Queens are far heavier and probably don't fly as far from the home nest.

Edited by drtrmiller, May 20 2015 - 9:20 PM.

[BugFinder]

I haven't seen any flights in my area, but they may have happened when I didn't notice because I have to drive about an hour to get to where I find them.  I have seen lots of activity, about a half dozen queens, and so far have been able to collect one queen with workers and larvae.  I'm in the Bay area of California.

[Tspivey16]

They are still actively flying here in OH. I just found one a few days ago at my place of employment in the middle of a business and shopping center. We have large expansive sidewalks, so these large queens are easy to spot clunking along.

[Crystals]

I have seen one or two nests kick out the alates so far, but the main flight has not happened yet in my location.

 

Keep your eyes open!

 

Easy to spot on large sidewalks and driveways.  Or if you peel back bark on older fallen trees you can sometimes find them there as well.

[dspdrew]

It's been so cold here in Southern California, that I think we could possibly have more Camponotus flights still.

[cpman]

Every Camponotus flew a long time ago here in Austin, except for those in the subgenus Colobopsis.

Edited by cpman, May 26 2015 - 6:57 PM.

[Ants4fun]

I accidentally busted into a Camponotus colony yesterday, and a latest scattered everywhere. It was a small lighter colleges sp. I also found a large carpenter ant queen, however it got lost in the leaf litter. I also found another aphaenogaster colony, but decided to collect it later.

[AntsNY]

Anybody know the ideal weather conditions to trigger flights for Camponotus pennsylvanicus or Camponotus noveboracensis?

 

It just rained heavily for 2 days here and was very cold (40's). Today it has warmed up to 64 and tomorrow will be 70.

 

Thinking this is a good time to scout.

[Ants4fun]

Found two Camponotus pennsylvanicus queens that recently flew, two small colonies, and a queen with 3 larvae.

[AntsNY]

Do you know the weather trigger that causes them to fly?

[Ants4fun]

I believe they fly on warm days in the afternoon, usually after a rain.

[dermy]

You should just go out around 6pm and look everyday, they aren't hard to miss, since sometimes they fly without you noticing it. That way you should get some queens.

[AntsNY]

I just walked around for 2 hours on a paved trail by woods.

 

The woods have lots of Camponotus workers but did not see a single queen.

 

I checked under bark and all old wood. 

 

Time was 6pm, 64 degrees 55% humid. It rained yesterday and last night.

 

Edited by AntsNY, June 2 2015 - 3:30 PM.