Advice for a Noob

Questions from those who are just starting or considering getting into the ant keeping hobby. If you’re intimidated or confused by the in-depth posts of the other sections of this forum, feel free to post here, and we'll start from square one!

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ThatGuy23

Advice for a Noob

Post: # 23855Post ThatGuy23
Sun Jul 02, 2017 9:24 am

Hey, I just found a queen alate at work! I work in a chem lab so I cleaned out a test tube and set her up as best I can. I need help identifying a species, and advice on how to take care of her. Attached are a picture of the current setup, a picture of the queen, and two pictures of one of the workers I found nearby (as far as I can tell they appear to be of the same species). The queen is about 2 mm long, and the workers are about 1.5-1.75 mm long. I am in Illinois, reasonably close to Joliet. The workers are black, and the queen is honey colored with notable black stripes on the gaster (I believe that is the name for the butt part lol).

*edit* For some reason it won't let me attach the pictures. It says that "the board quota has been reached". Any idea how to fix that?

Martialis
Posts: 1576
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2016 5:30 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Advice for a Noob

Post: # 23858Post Martialis
Sun Jul 02, 2017 9:59 am

You could try posting a link or using the image option in the editior.
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JackPayne
Posts: 287
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2017 2:28 am
Location: Australia,NSW

Re: Advice for a Noob

Post: # 23859Post JackPayne
Sun Jul 02, 2017 9:59 am

Congrats on your possible queen, I'm not sure what the photos are doing , but I'm sure someone with more knowledge will help. leave her in her Test tube, in the dark and warmth. Check weekly, or if she is semi claustral and requires feeding during the founding stage, every 3-4 days.

I recommend watching as many tutorials as you can, either AntsCanada,ants Australia etc.
Hi I'm Jack, How are you?

ThatGuy23

Re: Advice for a Noob

Post: # 23864Post ThatGuy23
Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:51 am

Here, I made a photobucket account so I could link to the pics. Hopefully you guys can help me positively identify the species so I can give her the care she needs!

http://s44.photobucket.com/user/SeamusMcNugget/library/Ants

ThatGuy23

Re: Advice for a Noob

Post: # 23866Post ThatGuy23
Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:53 am

JackPayne wrote:
Sun Jul 02, 2017 9:59 am
Congrats on your possible queen, I'm not sure what the photos are doing , but I'm sure someone with more knowledge will help. leave her in her Test tube, in the dark and warmth. Check weekly, or if she is semi claustral and requires feeding during the founding stage, every 3-4 days.

I recommend watching as many tutorials as you can, either AntsCanada,ants Australia etc.
I have seen a bunch of the AntsCanada tutorials, but was hoping for more specific advice based on the species I found.

ThatGuy23

Re: Advice for a Noob

Post: # 23868Post ThatGuy23
Sun Jul 02, 2017 11:06 am

As best I can tell from AntWeb I believe they are Monomorium minimum, but would really like confirmation from someone more experienced :D

Serafine

Re: Advice for a Noob

Post: # 23883Post Serafine
Sun Jul 02, 2017 3:27 pm

OMG please use a proper image hosting site like http://imgur.com/ - Photobucket is a load of *****. I can't even watch the picture without doing a bazillion exceptions (which I won't do) or NoScript will just block off the entire site.

AntLove5Ever
Posts: 214
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:22 pm
Location: VA

Re: Advice for a Noob

Post: # 24655Post AntLove5Ever
Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:39 pm

Your queen is Temnothorax (unsure species, but I'm gonna guess curvispinosis, it doesnt matter, care is consistent across genus) Move her into a thinner tube, and dont give her as much space. She would appreciate a tighter living space. This colony will grow to around 120 workers max, and can live in a small test tube, changing it whenever it runs dry or grows mold, or otherwise becomes unsuitable for nesting. They will not need much space, even at max size. Put the tube into a tupperware with a barrier, and some substrate, make sure to bury the tube with the opening sticking out for darkness. This tupperware they are in will be their outworld. Feed them as you would any other ant, but they will not need much food. To my knowledge temnothorax are fully claustral, do not quote me.

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