27 replies to this topic

[spinyeti]

Hello! I'm an engineer in the aviation industry living in Connecticut. I have been thinking about owning ants for about five years now, but lacked the space and was never prepared for nuptial flights.

A couple of weeks ago however, what appears to be a Camponotus pennsylvanicus alate "terrorized" my girlfriend by landing on her in her bedroom. I've caught it and transitioned it to a test tube which is now in a drawer in my office.

I have no real way to tell if she's fertile except to wait and read everything I can. The threads and posts I've found here have been very informative and have given me hope!

At the very least, I'm going to end up being very prepared for next spring, and will finally have ants of my own...

[Herdo]

Congrats.  It's not like you are too late this year either.  You should have plenty of opportunities to find queens in your area throughout August if this queen isn't fertile.

[spinyeti]

That's good to hear, Herdo! I plan on bringing some prepped test tubes with me on my next hike, just in case. I'll keep a close eye on what I suspect to be the origin nest of my captive. Perhaps more will fly after a good rain (we are due for a storm soon).

[BrittonLS]

Hello! I'm an engineer in the aviation industry living in Connecticut. I have been thinking about owning ants for about five years now, but lacked the space and was never prepared for nuptial flights.

A couple of weeks ago however, what appears to be a Camponotus pennsylvanicus alate "terrorized" my girlfriend by landing on her in her bedroom. I've caught it and transitioned it to a test tube which is now in a drawer in my office.

I have no real way to tell if she's fertile except to wait and read everything I can. The threads and posts I've found here have been very informative and have given me hope!

At the very least, I'm going to end up being very prepared for next spring, and will finally have ants of my own...

"I didn't choose the ant life, the ant life chose me."

 

Lol, welcome, yay engineers! I'm currently a mechanical engineering student down in Texas. And yeah, plenty of queens should be flying throughout August. That's my hope too at least.

[dermy]

Welcome to the boards! As Herdo has said your not too late, in fact lots of species of ants choose to fly in the August or even September Months, A few honourable mentions would be Lasius neoniger [which flies around Labor Day] and a few Formica Species, Lasius and others.

[spinyeti]

"I didn't choose the ant life, the ant life chose me."

At least, that's the excuse I'm using with my girlfriend to get my foot in the door (she dislikes everything creepy-crawly).

"She came to me! It's destiny, we can't fight it!"

[dspdrew]

Yeah you should still be able to find yourself some Formica possibly, Lasius most definitely, and maybe some Crematogaster a little later.

[spinyeti]

A few honourable mentions would be Lasius neoniger [which flies around Labor Day] and a few Formica Species, Lasius and others.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for these! I like the Camponotus species I've found in my yard (Camponotus pennsylvanicus and Camponotus chromaiodes as far as I can tell from my fuzzy cell phone pictures of wild workers) for their large size and docile nature, but will probably feel confident enough with my homemade formicariums to attempt something smaller by the fall.

[spinyeti]

Yeah you should still be able to find yourself some Formica possibly, Lasius most definitely, and maybe some Crematogaster a little later.

Awesome! More ants than I thought!

I've been admiring your formicarium builds and especially your journal for your leafcutters. I wish I lived in a region that had leafcutter ants, they are my favorite.

[LC3]

H'llo and welcome to the forums

If you plan to bring prepared test tubes for a hike be careful about them flooding.

[Gregory2455]

Nice! Welcome to the forum.

[Jonathan21700]

Welcome! Good luck with your queen!

[dspdrew]

 

Yeah you should still be able to find yourself some Formica possibly, Lasius most definitely, and maybe some Crematogaster a little later.

Awesome! More ants than I thought!

I've been admiring your formicarium builds and especially your journal for your leafcutters. I wish I lived in a region that had leafcutter ants, they are my favorite.

 

 

Thanks.

[dspdrew]

H'llo and welcome to the forums

If you plan to bring prepared test tubes for a hike be careful about them flooding.

 

That's true. Nobody mentions this often, but if you have large air bubbles in your water reservoir and you go up in altitude, you will have a flood, and possibly a dead queen. I've had it happen a few times when I went up in the mountains with old test tube setups.

[Foogoo]

Welcome! Civil Engineer here. Together, we should be able to build an amazing, automated, self-maintaining formicarium. Or a box of dirt that's over budget and late on schedule...

[BrittonLS]

Welcome! Civil Engineer here. Together, we should be able to build an amazing, automated, self-maintaining formicarium. Or a box of dirt that's over budget and late on schedule...

And flies

[spinyeti]

Welcome! Civil Engineer here. Together, we should be able to build an amazing, automated, self-maintaining formicarium. Or a box of dirt that's over budget and late on schedule...

And flies

I'm aiming for "meets customer requirements" on this first try. That's not to say I haven't already thought about incorporating an arduino in one...

[spinyeti]

I have no real way to tell if she's fertile except to wait and read everything I can. The threads and posts I've found here have been very informative and have given me hope!

She has laid some eggs! Four or five eggs in a pile right in the middle of the tube. I noticed them while putting a second queen in a tube next to her (this new one was uncovered while splitting and stacking logs. I picked up the firewood she was scurrying over and kept an eye on her until my dad fetched a container). The new queen is dealate and so much calmer than the first. Peeking at them this morning, I saw an egg already in the dealate tube.

I guess I really need to get my formicarium(s!) constructed now! I will soon start a thread in the journal section to document further updates!

[Jonathan21700]

It's good to leave her in the dark and check her only once a week. When I started I used to check my ants(Formica) every other day and they only got around 4 workers but now when I peek on them less often they usually get around 10 workers.

[spinyeti]

It's good to leave her in the dark and check her only once a week.

You are of course correct. My patience had been rewarded with my first--it was perhaps easier, because I tubed her, then went on vacation for a week!

I have their tubes in a drawer in a dark room which is rarely used, and only looked at the first incidentally last night while containing the second. Now that it's clear they are both comfortable enough to lay eggs, I will not be disturbing them until next week, earliest.