2121 replies to this topic

[Antcatcherpro3]

Great news! I found alates in my yard of prenoplis. I found one queen alate and a bunch of males. I had a lot of ocolonys scattered all over my yard.

[Antcatcherpro3]

There wasn't any big nuptial flight but that's something. They queen alate flew to another nest and went inside of it. She was for sure infertile.

[Antcatcherpro3]

I was wondering.... could I possibly inbreed queen and male alates. Like have a infertile queen and have a male mate with her in captivity like in a test tube, or maybe another conatiner with the right conditions or something like that?

[Chickalo]

I was wondering.... could I possibly inbreed queen and male alates. Like have a infertile queen and have a male mate with her in captivity like in a test tube, or maybe another conatiner with the right conditions or something like that?

No, you cannot do that, also, just curious, what county are you in?

[Antcatcherpro3]

Uh...... if i live in massachusetts, and that's a state in the US..... then you should be able to figure it out.

[Antcatcherpro3]

oop. You said county not country lol.

 

 

I was wondering.... could I possibly inbreed queen and male alates. Like have a infertile queen and have a male mate with her in captivity like in a test tube, or maybe another conatiner with the right conditions or something like that?

No, you cannot do that, also, just curious, what county are you in?

 

I'm in suffolk county.

[Chickalo]

oop. You said county not country lol.

 

 

I was wondering.... could I possibly inbreed queen and male alates. Like have a infertile queen and have a male mate with her in captivity like in a test tube, or maybe another conatiner with the right conditions or something like that?

No, you cannot do that, also, just curious, what county are you in?

 

I'm in suffolk county.

Cool, you're right next to mine then, hopefully I'll find some prenelo soon

[Antcatcherpro3]

I AM SO EXCITED!! There is a huge nuptial flight of winter ants outside in my yard right now. Dozens of alates! Wish me luck in finding queens!

[Antcatcherpro3]

I CAUGHT like 6 queens!! 2 of which I know they are fertile. I saw the males on them. And they don't have wings. I hit the jackpot.

[Antcatcherpro3]

I will post pictures after I get them all settled into tubes.

[Chickalo]

Has anyone found any Camponotus castaneus in Massachusetts (preferably near southern Essex county [also preferably within biking distance of Swampscott])?  It's near the top of my to-catch list this year. Looking at some journal's I'll probably try to get them started in a Mini Hearth since it looks like they don't do to well in test-tubes

Edited by Chickalo, March 26 2021 - 5:15 AM.

[Antcatcherpro3]

Nope. I've been to Essex county but never seen any of them.

[Antcatcherpro3]

There was a huge flight of winter ants yesterday, maybe today also. Did you see any chickalo?

[Chickalo]

no...  Maybe ill find some queens when i walk home from school though???

[Antcatcherpro3]

Good luck! I still can't believe how many queens I found yesterday. 

[Antcatcherpro3]

I am going to look around my yard for the queens founding chambers to maybe dig them up.

[Chickalo]

Amazing new!  Well for me atleast

On my way home from school I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.  Upon closer look it was an ant!  Probably Prenolepis because of the time, and it's also really close to my house, like I can walk there within a minute!  That means if they have the colony nearby I can keep on checking for their flights.  I'm going to go back and look for their entrance and/or queens 

[Antcatcherpro3]

Great! You definitely go back there and check. I which you luck in finding queens. I didn't find any founding chambers, but I saw alates at the entrance of one of the nests, so they might have a flight today also. Although it is pretty windy.

[Chickalo]

So I didn't find any queens....  But I found a bunch of ants congregating around the base of a tree!  I took one of the workers to get photos, and I'm pretty sure it's Prenolepis!  You can see the Hourglass-shaped mesosoma if you look close!  Now that I know where they live I'm going to feed them insects and honey near their nest entrance in hopes of more alates.

Here's some photos, sorry they're kinda bad lol (I had to use honey to get her to stop running around):

[Antcatcherpro3]

cool. Looks like a preno.