19 replies to this topic

[FishFeet]

So I want to start ant keeping and i found a nest in my front yard but i don't know what species it is. I live in the midwest in the US. The ants are a shiny black and the workers are 5 mm long. They don't seem to have variations in size. I have not seen the queen yet. The workers seem to have a yellowish stripe on their back. they don't travel very fast and i don't know if this helps, but they like honey.

Edited by FishFeet, April 5 2017 - 1:19 PM.

[Martialis]

We're unable to determine species without pictures.

[Jelly]

Sounds like a 6-legged ant species to me. Do they have 2 antenna?

[FishFeet]

Here is a picture. 

[Loops117]

L.neoniger?

[Bracchymyrmex]

Try to collect some workers in a test tube, pop em in the freezer for 5-10 minutes and then take pictures of them. The cold will slow them down so you can have time to take good quality pictures. Don't keep them in the freezer for longer though, they will have a harder recovery.

[Batspiderfish]

Don't put ants in the freezer unless you intend to kill them. The fridge will basically do the same thing without putting the ants at risk. I would check the measurements, but these look like Prenolepis imparis.

Edited by Batspiderfish, April 6 2017 - 6:48 AM.

[Cindy]

Dat gaster tho. Need a better pic to make sure it's P. Imparis, which you do have in your state.

[Batspiderfish]

With how shiny they are, there aren't too many other options. They're not Formica or Lasius, so the only other possibility would be Nylanderia, but the overestimate in size and time of year more closely fit my first guess. I think we would be able to see more hairs if they were Nylanderia.

Edited by Batspiderfish, April 6 2017 - 7:12 AM.

[FishFeet]

are there other prenelopes species that hibernate in the winter, not summer?

[Cindy]

are there other prenelopes species that hibernate in the winter, not summer?

 

Possibly, but the only one that is found in North America will hibernate in the summer 

[Nathant2131]

I would say Prenolepis imparis.

[FishFeet]

This is a good image

Edited by FishFeet, April 6 2017 - 10:48 AM.

[Nathant2131]

I would say Prenolepis imparis.

[FishFeet]

ok, thank you for all the help. Will they have nuptial flight at the same time as other species?

[Nathant2131]

ok, thank you for all the help. Will they have nuptial flight at the same time as other species?

They are having their flights now. They are usually the first species to fly in the year.

[Cindy]

ok, thank you for all the help. Will they have nuptial flight at the same time as other species?

They will be having nuptial flights very soon and much earlier than other species, usually when the weather reaches 70 F for the first time. In Massachusetts, there was a picture of a dealate queen on March 12, 2012, the first day we had 70 degree weather that year. 

 

Edit: Picture here. It will give you a good idea of what the queen should look like.

Edited by Cindy, April 6 2017 - 11:13 AM.

[FishFeet]

thank you for everything. I will be searching. 

[Works4TheGood]

What you're really looking for, if you want to get into anting, is a fertile queen.  I would not advise trying to collect a colony that's already established outside, because you will more than likely destroy much of the colony and you won't find the queen in the end.  Instead, you'll want to wait for nuptial flights where you can catch the queens on the ground or in the air.

[Nathant2131]

What you're really looking for, if you want to get into anting, is a fertile queen.  I would not advise trying to collect a colony that's already established outside, because you will more than likely destroy much of the colony and you won't find the queen in the end.  Instead, you'll want to wait for nuptial flights where you can catch the queens on the ground or in the air.

Agreed. It's a lot more ecologically harmful and way more difficult. Catch newly mated queens.