10 replies to this topic

[AntLoverAdam]

 I'm about to start over with ant keeping! Please leave me some tips and ways i can find queens. Also i have a question, how many queens did you catch in your rookie years?

 

P.S When i say start over its because my whole lasuis niger colony died.

[Works4TheGood]

Look in swimming pools the day after a good, summer rain

[Alabama Anter]

Ummm I live in the suth the home and pride of invicta so i harvest 50 queens daily in the summer.

[AntLoverAdam]

Look in swimming pools the day after a good, summer rain

Inside?!? I don't think ants can live in water

[thosaka]

In addition to looking for queens above ground, look for freshly dug chambers, where you can see small amounts of dirt around a hole, and shovel out the hole a few inches down and look for the queen. Keep in mind, there seems to be many queen during nuptial flights, especially a day or two after rain, but don't let your hunt be limited by rain only, you can also find freshly dug chamber even if the place hasn't rained for days or weeks, so it comes down to chance. Be wary that holes with a lot of ants coming out have queens, but in most cases, the queens have dug too far down. You might be able to find queens using a blacklight and a white sheet as well, though I haven't really tried this for more than 30 minutes, and the area I live in has barely any ants to have such setup. Try to get your queen in a mini formicarium, the size of a petri dish, it seems most people have a successful colony in them versus test tubes. Be careful when you bring water filled test tubes outside, sometimes, the heat can push the water past the cotton, and can drown your queen. I would put them in an empty test tube or container and then, at home, transfer them into a water/cotton filled test tube or mini formicarium. Try to check the weather forecast for precipitation, wind, and humidity every day.

Edited by Tagassi, March 23 2017 - 6:05 PM.

[Works4TheGood]

Look in swimming pools the day after a good, summer rain

Inside?!? I don't think ants can live in water

I have caught MANY queens while they were drowning in pools. Trust me, it's a great place to find them! I can remember a few times when I was young and helped a neighbor with their pool cleaning. I would sometimes skim out hundreds of drowning alates.

[Crystals]

There are some good tutorials and links on this thread - http://www.formicult...of-handy-links/

There are several good ones, like how to find and catch ant queens, tips for successful anting, and some other interesting links.

[ctantkeeper]

- Heavily research the common species that live in your area. I would personally search for colony journals on the forum (they are often full of important infromation).

- Search near artificial light sources at night in order to find and collect queens.

- Look over the nuptial flight chart (on the forum).

- Try to set up a rigid recruit and route when searching for queens at night during the summer and spring months.

- start colonies in acrylic test tube setups and upon reaching a certain threshold of workers (anywhere from 10-30 depending heavily on overall size) move your colonies into founding formicaria. I have personally had much more success while doing so as opposed to raising young colonies solely in test tube setups until the reach the 100-120 range.

- When buying founding formicaria look for attributes such as mold resistance, ample amounts of substrate and the inclusion of a water resivior (such as a water tower). Most THA founding formicariums work great, aside from the atom b. I personally "recommend the atom C" (However most small ant species can escape due to a small gap in between the glass and the formicarium. I have personally had this happen with a Tetramorium sp.e colony.). I highly recommend both type one and type two mini hearths.

- Supply a well balanced diet with equal parts protein (freshly killed insects, seeds, etc.) and carbohydrates (diluted honey, sugar water, sunburst ant nectar etc.). Semi claustral queens will need to be fed during the founding period while fully claustral species will not.

- For the time being, don't attempt to raise socially parasitic queens. 

- Utilizing Pleometrophic founding to your advantage can lead to great success early on. Species of ants such as Tetramorium sp.e and Lasius neoniger are capable of this. If you are interested in perusing this, please contact me for more information on the subject. 

Edited by ctantkeeper, March 24 2017 - 9:10 AM.

[Mdrogun]

Don't kill your queen.

[Works4TheGood]

Don't kill your queen.

I'm confused. Perhaps I missed the context?

[Ants4fun]

I had odontomachus, mycocepurus, solenopsis, crazy ants, and much more in my rookie year in Costa Rica. Moved back and two years later had upwards of 100 queens. I don't have any now, but the biggest thing is patience. Most new keepers check on their queens way too much. Queens did best when stuck in a closet for a couple months. They also move their colonies into formicaroums waaay too quick. It will only mean stress for your young colony. You'd be surprised how many ants a test tube can hold. Wait until the ants want to move. Also, always have water available. I forgot a couple days and had a huge die off.

Edited by Ants4fun, March 26 2017 - 8:44 PM.