16 replies to this topic

[electrodynamix]

hello! I'm just starting on my ant journey and i would like to keep a colony. I've read a few articles on obtaining an ant queen and i have been keeping an eye out for nuptial flights. i think i found a few (2) queen ants but i can't be sure if they are queens.assistance?(how do i attach images?) additional info- caught in nighttime, around south india ,9/5/2025, in a parking space. i have provided them with water in cotton,air and nothing else

[AntsGodzilla]

Upload images by going to postimages.com and copy hotlink for forum.

Edited by AntsGodzilla, May 10 2025 - 12:46 PM.

[ANTdrew]

An easy way to add photos from a phone is by going to postimages.com. Upload the photo and copy the hotlink for forums, then paste it in your post.

[Stubyvast]

Or, if you're on a desktop/PC, you can simply click "more reply options" below, select "choose file" from the bottom left, find your file, "attach this file", and then "add to post." I've used that function for basically everything. 

[electrodynamix]

thankyou, though i think the website is postimages.org and not .com

here are the images of the two ants
https://postimg.cc/gallery/6yhrxBq


https://postimg.cc/gallery/Ckxxcf6


after some more reading and observing, I'm having a feeling they are queen ants. One of them seem to have laid eggs too!!! both of them look like the same thing, size is about 5mm , +/- 1mm. Apologies if the images arent too clear.
are the eggs supposed to be that small? do i need to feed the ants honey? The eggs could be infertile, but I'm not giving up hope. Sorry if i have too many questions, I'm a first time ant parent

again, thanks

[IdioticMouse26]

Yes, they are queen ants. I'm not sure which species though. 

You should put them in a testube setup. You'll need two cotton balls, some water, and, of course, a testube. Fill the test tube around 2/3 with water, push the first cotton in, deep enough to reach the water, but not too deep that the water soaks through the cotton immediatly. The water will seep in later. Put your queen ant in and plug the entrance with cotton. There needs to be enough room for the queen ant. I find the space of 3 or 4 body lengths of the queen to be adequte (it depends on how big the queen is though). You probably don't need to feed it anything because it will survive off of it's stored fat. But if you wish to do so, give her very small amount so that there are no leftovers and it doesn't mold. Put her in a dark and quiet place and check up on her every 1-2 weeks.

 

There are tons of videos about test tube setups in youtube so you could go check them out if you want.

 

Anyway, I hope this helped! Good luck!

 

Edit: After looking at the ant images, I'm starting to think your queen may be a fire ant queen. They're not beginner friendly, so just a heads up, their stings can be painful, deadly, even, if your allergic to it. The colonly also grows very rapidely and are quite good at escaping. 

Edited by IdioticMouse26, May 11 2025 - 5:12 AM.

[electrodynamix]

Yes, they are queen ants. I'm not sure which species though. 
You should put them in a testube setup. You'll need two cotton balls, some water, and, of course, a testube. Fill the test tube around 2/3 with water, push the first cotton in, deep enough to reach the water, but not too deep that the water soaks through the cotton immediatly. The water will seep in later. Put your queen ant in and plug the entrance with cotton. There needs to be enough room for the queen ant. I find the space of 3 or 4 body lengths of the queen to be adequte (it depends on how big the queen is though). You probably don't need to feed it anything because it will survive off of it's stored fat. But if you wish to do so, give her very small amount so that there are no leftovers and it doesn't mold. Put her in a dark and quiet place and check up on her every 1-2 weeks.
 
There are tons of videos about test tube setups in youtube so you could go check them out if you want.
 
Anyway, I hope this helped! Good luck!
 
Edit: After looking at the ant images, I'm starting to think your queen may be a fire ant queen. They're not beginner friendly, so just a heads up, their stings can be painful, deadly, even, if your allergic to it. The colonly also grows very rapidely and are quite good at escaping.

thank you!

however, I'm on a pretty tight budget and do not happen to be in ownership of any test tubes. would a small bottle roughly shaped and sized like a test tube work?even though i can afford a test tube, i doubt any nearby stores sell them.also one of them seems to hace eggs, so what do i do about those?

about the fire ant thing-yes its better i get rid of her and find new ant queens but i kinda don't want to let her go so i shall keep her. i will be however looking for new queens to grow my collection

i really appreciate your help

[Stubyvast]

I think that should work! A smaller bottle or even a Petri dish should work fine, so long as you have some form of moisture in there to keep the queens hydrated. Basically, the rule of thumb for this is no exposed water, and enough room for some basic maneuverability, and not big enough that it looks like an ant Cathedral or something. So long as its soaked into a cotton ball or something, you're good!

 

As for the queen with eggs, don't move her. She's evidently decided she's going to found a colony here, so I'd leave her to it.

 

What you can do, however, is make sure she has moisture, and potentially begin preparing for the growth of the colony. Eventually, every ant keeper will have to acquire test-tubes at some point, as it kind of becomes inevitable. But in the meantime, make sure she's comfortable, keep her in a dark location to mimic the underground, and keep her moisturized and cozy. for the other queens that don't have eggs, if you can, move them to a nice small bottle/Petri dish, with a way to renew their water sources without disturbing them too much. Normally, a test-tube would be perfect for this, but in this case you'll have to innovate a little bit. 

 

Hope the other queens manage to succeed as well!

[Artisan_Ants]

Based off of size, the Pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaohensis) seems like a valid ID. Her setup is mostly fine for now, but acquiring a container smaller will still be better as already mentioned. Just keep her in a dark environment and checkup on her as little as possible. Good luck with your queens! Keep us updated!

[electrodynamix]

thank you all!!
i shall adhere to this advice and disturb them as less as possible and hopefully innovate something that satisfiesthe conditions for the ants. will most definitely keep you people updated
i read a bit about pharoah ants, and apparently they only have 400 workers around the whole lifetime and last for around 4 months to a year.I'm having a feeling its a great starter colony
thank you so much once again.its really nice to get support,as everyone around me sees ants as pests and do not encourage me. it really means a lot.

[electrodynamix]

update: the ants seem to be doing good! i moved the second ant to a small tube with same setup as a test tube setup, and she has laid eggs too now. the first one even removed her wings and is very busy with the eggs, from what i see. also i read that pharoah ants are polygnous.does that means i can combine the 2 queens (if they are succesful) into the same nest? as for the nest,I'm still working on them with a few plastic containers.might post a thread for that soon,I'm open to any suggestions

[ColAnt735]

update: the ants seem to be doing good! i moved the second ant to a small tube with same setup as a test tube setup, and she has laid eggs too now. the first one even removed her wings and is very busy with the eggs, from what i see. also i read that pharoah ants are polygnous.does that means i can combine the 2 queens (if they are succesful) into the same nest? as for the nest,I'm still working on them with a few plastic containers.might post a thread for that soon,I'm open to any suggestions

Do not mix these ants together, they are not pharaoh ants. These are Solenopsis geminata (Fire ant) queens and they are arguably even easier to keep. However these ants do grow very quickly so I would limit the amount you feed them once the first workers arrive.

Edited by ColAnt735, May 21 2025 - 9:28 AM.

[electrodynamix]

oh god i almost commited a blunder....thank you very much for the advice!

[Artisan_Ants]

 

update: the ants seem to be doing good! i moved the second ant to a small tube with same setup as a test tube setup, and she has laid eggs too now. the first one even removed her wings and is very busy with the eggs, from what i see. also i read that pharoah ants are polygnous.does that means i can combine the 2 queens (if they are succesful) into the same nest? as for the nest,I'm still working on them with a few plastic containers.might post a thread for that soon,I'm open to any suggestions

Do not mix these ants together, they are not pharaoh ants. These are Solenopsis geminata (Fire ant) queens and they are arguably even easier to keep. However these ants do grow very quickly so I would limit the amount you feed them once the first workers arrive.

 

I completely missed the large head   . Yeah it is indeed S. geminata my fault on that.

[electrodynamix]

update- one of the 2 queens died. I'm really unsure of the reason as she seened to be really healthy the last time i checked. there was water and the temperature was not too cold. What could i be doing wrong? How do i prevent this from happening to the others? the other one seems to have some mould in it, do i attach another test tube in it and let her move? i will start a journal for my ants if they succesfully have atleast one worker. I appreciate any help
update- one of the 2 queens died. I'm really unsure of the reason as she seened to be really healthy the last time i checked. there was water and the temperature was not too cold. What could i be doing wrong? How do i prevent this from happening to the others? the other one seems to have some mould in it, do i attach another test tube in it and let her move? i will start a journal for my ants if they succesfully have atleast one worker. I appreciate any help

[Artisan_Ants]

update- one of the 2 queens died. I'm really unsure of the reason as she seened to be really healthy the last time i checked. there was water and the temperature was not too cold. What could i be doing wrong? How do i prevent this from happening to the others? the other one seems to have some mould in it, do i attach another test tube in it and let her move? i will start a journal for my ants if they succesfully have atleast one worker. I appreciate any help
update- one of the 2 queens died. I'm really unsure of the reason as she seened to be really healthy the last time i checked. there was water and the temperature was not too cold. What could i be doing wrong? How do i prevent this from happening to the others? the other one seems to have some mould in it, do i attach another test tube in it and let her move? i will start a journal for my ants if they succesfully have atleast one worker. I appreciate any help

Sometimes queens may randomly die, but it's just a natural thing. You could have a very healthy queen and it could still die due to unknown causes. Infertility could also be the issue. An infertile queen basically just lives until she ages and dies unless something else happens, so that might be the case. For the other queen, limit checking up on her often to prevent stress (check up on her every week or at lest every 3-4 days at minimum). 

[RushmoreAnts]

 

update- one of the 2 queens died. I'm really unsure of the reason as she seened to be really healthy the last time i checked. there was water and the temperature was not too cold. What could i be doing wrong? How do i prevent this from happening to the others? the other one seems to have some mould in it, do i attach another test tube in it and let her move? i will start a journal for my ants if they succesfully have atleast one worker. I appreciate any help
update- one of the 2 queens died. I'm really unsure of the reason as she seened to be really healthy the last time i checked. there was water and the temperature was not too cold. What could i be doing wrong? How do i prevent this from happening to the others? the other one seems to have some mould in it, do i attach another test tube in it and let her move? i will start a journal for my ants if they succesfully have atleast one worker. I appreciate any help

Sometimes queens may randomly die, but it's just a natural thing. You could have a very healthy queen and it could still die due to unknown causes. Infertility could also be the issue. An infertile queen basically just lives until she ages and dies unless something else happens, so that might be the case. For the other queen, limit checking up on her often to prevent stress (check up on her every week or at lest every 3-4 days at minimum). 

 

It's not a matter of some times. In the wild the vast majority of queens die, and generally less than 1% of queens born successfully found a colony. In captivity the odds are much better, though queens dying is still not uncommon.