Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus)

[Crimsonant]

I would like to know the best way to find the queen and start up a colony or if its even a good idea for this type of ant I'm 100% new to the ant keeping hobby and these ants are abundant where I'm from. I think there the Pogonomyrmex barbatus (Harvester Ant). There's a lot of dark red ants then there's a few that are a light orange color.

[ooper01]

Most likely harvester ants. They are plentiful across the western USA. I have collected harvester queens the past two years and had success raising them. They have already flown here in Utah, not sure about your area. You may be able to find some that have already burrowed in. You will see a small mound of dirt, usually only a half circle. The queens are usually 6 to 12 inches down if you want to try and dig them up. You may want to look for any larvae they have as well. You can see the journal I have here that tracks my most successful colony.

http://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=196

Happy to answer any additional questions you may have on harvester ants.

[Crimsonant]

I never thought about digging them up, are they different size or color?

[ooper01]

I would suggest you only attempt to dig up a newly mated queen, not an established colony. It is very difficult to find a harvester queen in an established colony and kinda mean too But newly mated queens are not too difficult to find this time of year in areas where you know harvester ants live, especially if it hasn't rained since the nuptial flight.

Just look for a small mound of dirt in a semi-circle around a plugged-up hole and carefully dig 6 to 12 inches down or so. She will be red in color, most likely have shed her wings and will be noticeably larger than the workers you may see from other colonies roaming around.

[Crimsonant]

Ok fantastic thanks for your help! where do you get your seeds from i was doing some research and it says they mostly forage for seeds?

[ooper01]

I have collected seeds from grasses near the native ant colonies before, but what I do now is just use some crushed grain that I feed my chickens! It looks like this:

crushed-grain.jpg

My harvester ants love it!

[Crimsonant]

Alright i went out early today and i got maybe 15 of the winged ants but im not sure how to tell the difference from the male/ female

[Carl75]

Compare sizes of the ones you caught. Generally the queens are a lot bigger. The males will die quickly after mating.

You can post pictures and see if people here think they are queens. More experienced ant keeper than me can also identify species for you if you aren't sure.

[Crimsonant]

awesome! ill take some pics and upload them soon!

[ooper01]

Alright i went out early today and i got maybe 15 of the winged ants but im not sure how to tell the difference from the male/ female

How did you get them? Do they still have wings?