Treatment of unidentified species?

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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mallonje
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Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:55 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Treatment of unidentified species?

Post: # 36740Post mallonje
Sun Jun 03, 2018 8:50 am

I'm curious,

Let's say you capture a lovely little lady, you're 99.9% sure she's a queen, but you're having trouble identifying her. Maybe you narrow it down to 2 or 3 possibilities so you post to the forum and get... 3 or 4 more possibilities.

Is there a de facto treatment? Claustral vs. Semi-Claustral? etc.

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Batspiderfish
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Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Maine

Re: Treatment of unidentified species?

Post: # 36764Post Batspiderfish
Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:11 pm

A correct identity is important, because it's not always clear whether a queen can raise her first workers in isolation just by looking at them. Typically a "fully" claustral species will have queens with large gasters.
If you enjoy my expertise and identifications, please do not put wild populations at risk of disease by releasing pet colonies. We are responsible to give our pets the best care we can manage for the rest of their lives.

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antnest8
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Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2018 2:11 pm
Location: Detroit, MI

Re: Treatment of unidentified species?

Post: # 36860Post antnest8
Mon Jun 04, 2018 4:26 pm

if the queen has a small gaster i would feed her immediately.
Some of My Informative Sheets
https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19099
Includes :
  • Ant Care Sheets
    Queen Hunting
    How To Identify Ants
Goal is to become #2 poster on the forum

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