Question on invasive species

[AspiringAntGod]

Is it generally acceptable to destroy/capture invasive ant colonies? I'm talking about a particularly bad one: Linepithema Humile. They've been a relentless invader to my home these past few years and I only recently found one of their nests just right outside my front door. They've been mostly eradicated within the house after it got really bad, but they've since remained in smaller numbers. They still eat my outdoor cat's food on the porch and I find them crawling on me sitting on my couch randomly.

So I went outside 8' from my front door under a driftwood log to collect some of their queens and workers by lightly flooding their nest with plain tap water, nothing fancy or harsh. Then I gave the captured workers and some of the queens a small formicarium and two other queens test tube setups with honey drops. Should I keep them in the test tubes or join them with the others? One queen has laid eggs in her tube, but they were a bit scattered. I plan to continue observing them as well as the wild nest until I move out of town. I'd really like to destroy the nest outside when I'm done and either take my new colony with me or destroy them before I leave. I really do love ants, which is why I want native ants to win over their invaders. I plan to grow colonies and allow the alates to reproduce in the wild, so i really do want native species to come back from the damage done by these invasive species. I feel destroying the worst ones, like the Argentine ant or RIFA, in their non-native habitats is a duty we have to reverse some of the damage we've caused to the environment.

[antnest8]

1 first of all you can't take those Linepithema Humile ant across state boarders when you moving.(but i think you know that)
2 you can feel free to put those queens in the other container with them because they are Polygynous and they have no colony scent.
3 also i love ants but i believe that they belong outside and not in a house unless they are captured i'm totally ok about you killing the outdoor colony if first they are invasive and they come into you house.

[AspiringAntGod]

Oh believe me, I'm well aware of the laws. They will not be crossing state lines. I was gonna see how they do starting colonies on their own, but I suppose it's probably pointless anyway. These guys really have been a tremendous pest in my house, but they've been fun and interesting to watch in their formicarium.

[CherrieEvolved]

Any chance you get, kill invasive species. They are detrimental to the ecosystem.

[idahoantgirl]

Any chance you get, kill invasive species. They are detrimental to the ecosystem.

That's debatable....

[AspiringAntGod]

Any chance you get, kill invasive species. They are detrimental to the ecosystem.

That's debatable....

I'd say Argentine ants and RIFA most certainly are detrimental to the ecosystem. I'll gladly destroy their colonies with little remorse. I do feel a little bad just because it's not their fault they were introduced here, but they are damaging the ecosystem, so they must go.

[antnest8]

it would be cool to keep them because if you need more you can just grab them from the wild and they are highly polygamous.

[AspiringAntGod]

I am gonna keep them for a bit. I saved two of the queens in test tubes before deciding earlier today to just put them in with the rest. I carefully set one tube in and watched as the workers reunited with one of their lost queens and escorted her and her eggs into the nest.

When they were done in that tube I put the other one in and the queen was drowning in the drop of honey after it had mixed with some water in the tube. The workers didn't do much to help her, maybe because she was covered in honey-water. I saved her from drowning and allowed her to walk away, with little help from the workers, until she found her way into the nest.

A bit later and I notice a small swarm of ants around the same queen that almost drowned, but they didn't seem to be aiding her and she pretty much seemed lost. She climbed out of the nest mostly on her own, but I noticed the workers kept grabbing her and dragging her, even on her back, and I also noticed her front legs were either damaged or missing, so she was having trouble walking. Not sure if the workers were trying to help, but it doesn't look like they're doing a very good job if they are. They don't seem to be trying to kill her, but also don't seem to like her very much. This is the second queen that did not lay eggs in her test tube, so maybe she's infertile and they're sensing that and deciding she's not very useful?

I'm having a great time observing their activity, or what I can see of it since it's mostly dirt, and learning about them and keeping ants in general.

[AspiringAntGod]

Went outside after my last post to catch more of their queens. I was surprised at how many were still there, as I was able to capture another seven queens, missed one, and there are likely several more. That makes the number of captured queens roughly 12.

Tranfered all the new ones into their new home and now I have a colony of 10+ queens and 100+ workers and some brood. The only thing I'm worried about is not having the brood to replace the workers in time for their deaths, but I'll just go get more workers if they need more. I'm probably not going to capture anymore queens from them, and just collect workers if/when I need them and destroy the nest before I move.

Any ideas on how to destroy an ant nest without ruining the surrounding soil and killing plants or other critters?

[idahoantgirl]

Went outside after my last post to catch more of their queens. I was surprised at how many were still there, as I was able to capture another seven queens, missed one, and there are likely several more. That makes the number of captured queens roughly 12.

Tranfered all the new ones into their new home and now I have a colony of 10+ queens and 100+ workers and some brood. The only thing I'm worried about is not having the brood to replace the workers in time for their deaths, but I'll just go get more workers if they need more. I'm probably not going to capture anymore queens from them, and just collect workers if/when I need them and destroy the nest before I move.

Any ideas on how to destroy an ant nest without ruining the surrounding soil and killing plants or other critters?

Diatemacious earth. ( probably spelled wrong but if you copy and paste it into google it will come up correctly) It is this white powder, harmless to pets and anything bigger than an insect. People literally eat the stuff to kill parasites. It is like microscopic little knives that pierce the outer skeleton and dry the ant out. Sprinkle it around the entrance. ants walking through will get covered in it and then they will rub it off to other ants, and those ants rub it off into other ants... until it gets to the queen.