12 replies to this topic

[Air]

Hi! I want to find a Argentine Ant colony (Linepithema humile), and try to collect some queens so I can start a colony of my own. Where exactly should I look to find these ants? I live in South Florida.

[Canadian anter]

I'm actually happy I can't find these but I suggest digging because they're an invasive sp?

[Canadian anter]

You might be able to spray a few(workers) with insecticide so the survivers carry the scent back to the colony, causing panic and sometimes the colony will divide into many pieces and move out? I have no idea if this will work but it does with monomorium pharoanis. you can also flood them like with fire ants

[Air]

I'm looking for a colony, not trying to move them out

[MrmrGatlin]

I think he means move them out in order to get them to all come out of the ground, to make it easier/safer to capture them instead of digging up a nest?

[Air]

Oh, I assumed if I catch 5 queens, and 53 die, the 283791 others will be fine. Damn those Argentine Ants! 

[Crystals]

I can't give any tips on where to look, but perhaps look beside a river or irrigated location.  Sometimes in people's gardens.

If you do a slow trickle flood method they will all come up and try to climb to higher ground as they do have a pretty strong flood response.

[Canadian anter]

I think he means move them out in order to get them to all come out of the ground, to make it easier/safer to capture them instead of digging up a nest?

Ants are usually easier to catch above ground(from personal exp)

[Vendayn]

You can find them at the end of my spray can, or taking poison bait I put out, into their nest.

Edited by Vendayn, July 22 2016 - 9:20 PM.

[Saftron]

All I had to do was walk outside at almost midnight onto my front porch and collect queens from a huge trail of argentine ants. Tip: NIGHT, is the best time to look for queens.

[SoySauce]

I know this is kind of late to reply but I dug a little ant hill and I found 4 Argentine ants queens and it was really easy to find them

[soulkeeper79]

Here in Iowa I get massive colonies of Argentine ants living in my plastic compost bin. I can easily find them in the small space (1/8") between the lid and the top of the 2'x2'x3' bin or between the sliding access door and the compost itself at the bottom of the bin. An aspirator powered by a small shop-vac would work to capture a colony of thousands in mere seconds...

[Martialis]

There are not any recorded L. humile in Iowa.