Hey all! I caught this queen in northern Michigan on July 28. There was a massive nuptial flight all around me, so many Lasius (americanus or neoniger, I’m not sure which, the area has environment for and is rife with colonies of both) queens flying. Interestingly, most of the queens were a parasitic Lasius. They weren’t aphidicola, I caught one earlier that someone here identified. These were slimmer, more red, and looked more predatory….but among the swarm of parasitic queens I managed to spot and catch a non-parasitic queen. When I tubed her, she still had her wings on. I let her fill up on Sunburst then tucked her in.
Jump to today, she has since removed and presumably eaten her wings (I don’t see them in there). Housed in a THA genysis insert. After my Camponotus flooding scare, I decided to try these.
She has a nice little pile of eggs and has moved some of the loose substrate into a small mound against the cotton in the back of the tube. Hoping my first check didn’t stress her into eating them. Will check in on her again in another week or two. Sorry for the bad pics, trying to keep the early checks brief and functional.
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