Vacationing ant questions

[Jharrell23867]

Me & the family are going on a vacation soon. We go once a year to Myrtle Beach South Carolina from Virginia. Its about a six hour drive. I was planning to do some ant hunting while the rest of the fam swim in the ocean & such.

I remember reading its against the law to mail ants across state lines so i have some questions. These are particularly relevant given i live on top of the Virginia North Carolina border line practically & that we have a vacation coming up soon.

Would it be completely wrong if i caught a queen & brought it back to Virginia from South Carolina? I am looking for answers about legality as well as environmental concerns. I see the concern growing the further i go from home with this hobby.

I do not see much of a threat bringing ants i capture in NC back home since its only 20 minutes up the road... 4 songs on the radio go by & im in another state... but a six hour drive to & back from South Carolina might be pushing it or is that still close enough to home that it would be ok?

Be thorough on this guys as i need to know before i do something stupid.

Also if i get a green light to catch queens & bring them home from vacation how do i prepare them for that drive & keep them safe from the heat... heck i need to know this regardless as i have had two queens & a male ant get cooked by accident. I got my Camponotus Castaneous Queen home by sitting her next to ice.

[Batspiderfish]

It's still technically against the law, but a 20 minute drive isn't awful.

[larynx]

Me & the family are going on a vacation soon. We go once a year to Myrtle Beach South Carolina from Virginia. Its about a six hour drive. I was planning to do some ant hunting while the rest of the fam swim in the ocean & such.

I remember reading its against the law to mail ants across state lines so i have some questions. These are particularly relevant given i live on top of the Virginia North Carolina border line practically & that we have a vacation coming up soon.

Would it be completely wrong if i caught a queen & brought it back to Virginia from South Carolina? I am looking for answers about legality as well as environmental concerns. I see the concern growing the further i go from home with this hobby.

I do not see much of a threat bringing ants i capture in NC back home since its only 20 minutes up the road... 4 songs on the radio go by & im in another state... but a six hour drive to & back from South Carolina might be pushing it or is that still close enough to home that it would be ok?

Be thorough on this guys as i need to know before i do something stupid.

Also if i get a green light to catch queens & bring them home from vacation how do i prepare them for that drive & keep them safe from the heat... heck i need to know this regardless as i have had two queens & a male ant get cooked by accident. I got my Camponotus Castaneous Queen home by sitting her next to ice.

Across state lines, is still across state lines. Illegal, is still illegal weather its 100 feet or 100 miles.
The sale of alcohol to someone under 21 is illegal, weather they are 2 or 20..... also if it is a drop of liquor or 5 gallons. Laws are laws.
The environmental concerns are another thing. Lets say you bring home a species that hasent made it quite as far as your city yet. You get it home and go to bed, then in your sleep the dog knocks over the container or whatever, and the ant/ants escape. Then say that ant makes it to sayyyyy the mail mans truck and hitches a ride. Now that species has the potential to inhabit anywhere in your city or state. And boom, you have introduced a new species some where it isnt supposed to be yet, or at all. This has the potential to ruin/interfere with crops and animal life in said new area, as well as many other things.
I know this may seem far fetched, but it is the reasoning behind the law. i hope it helps with your decision.
All that being said, im not going to pretend like dont search for queens when i go to other areas. i havent brought any home, but i darn sure look. lol

[Jharrell23867]

It's still technically against the law, but a 20 minute drive isn't awful.

That is kind of my thought process...

I know this may seem far fetched, but it is the reasoning behind the law. i hope it helps with your decision.
All that being said, im not going to pretend like dont search for queens when i go to other areas. i havent brought any home, but i darn sure look. lol

Yeah that kind of helped. I definitely plan to look as well...

I will probably flood the ant I.D. section after we leave Monday with pics of wild ants & any queens i encounter over the week... already pondering what sort of ants will live near a beach during summer lol.

[Martialis]

Me & the family are going on a vacation soon. We go once a year to Myrtle Beach South Carolina from Virginia. Its about a six hour drive. I was planning to do some ant hunting while the rest of the fam swim in the ocean & such.

I remember reading its against the law to mail ants across state lines so i have some questions. These are particularly relevant given i live on top of the Virginia North Carolina border line practically & that we have a vacation coming up soon.

Would it be completely wrong if i caught a queen & brought it back to Virginia from South Carolina? I am looking for answers about legality as well as environmental concerns. I see the concern growing the further i go from home with this hobby.

I do not see much of a threat bringing ants i capture in NC back home since its only 20 minutes up the road... 4 songs on the radio go by & im in another state... but a six hour drive to & back from South Carolina might be pushing it or is that still close enough to home that it would be ok?

Be thorough on this guys as i need to know before i do something stupid.

Also if i get a green light to catch queens & bring them home from vacation how do i prepare them for that drive & keep them safe from the heat... heck i need to know this regardless as i have had two queens & a male ant get cooked by accident. I got my Camponotus Castaneous Queen home by sitting her next to ice.

I do know of a permit which will allow for the transfer of reproducing ants interstate, I'll try to get you a link on it.

[MCWren]

I'm pretty sure that South Carolina has Solenopsis invicta, while Virginia does not. So I would recommend not bringing home any queens from there.

[Martialis]

Me & the family are going on a vacation soon. We go once a year to Myrtle Beach South Carolina from Virginia. Its about a six hour drive. I was planning to do some ant hunting while the rest of the fam swim in the ocean & such.

I remember reading its against the law to mail ants across state lines so i have some questions. These are particularly relevant given i live on top of the Virginia North Carolina border line practically & that we have a vacation coming up soon.

Would it be completely wrong if i caught a queen & brought it back to Virginia from South Carolina? I am looking for answers about legality as well as environmental concerns. I see the concern growing the further i go from home with this hobby.

I do not see much of a threat bringing ants i capture in NC back home since its only 20 minutes up the road... 4 songs on the radio go by & im in another state... but a six hour drive to & back from South Carolina might be pushing it or is that still close enough to home that it would be ok?

Be thorough on this guys as i need to know before i do something stupid.

Also if i get a green light to catch queens & bring them home from vacation how do i prepare them for that drive & keep them safe from the heat... heck i need to know this regardless as i have had two queens & a male ant get cooked by accident. I got my Camponotus Castaneous Queen home by sitting her next to ice.

Here you go, all you need to know about permits for taking queens interstate: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfoc ... ct_modules

[Jharrell23867]

Well you will all by happy to know while on vacation the only Queen ants i found were all dead... floating in the pool of the Inn i was staying at...

I'm pretty sure that South Carolina has Solenopsis invicta, while Virginia does not. So I would recommend not bringing home any queens from there.

They have been found as far north as Richmond Virginia & have been reported all over North Carolina... Not sure when Antmaps was last updated but it needs to be updated.

[MCWren]

Well you will all by happy to know while on vacation the only Queen ants i found were all dead... floating in the pool of the Inn i was staying at...

I'm pretty sure that South Carolina has Solenopsis invicta, while Virginia does not. So I would recommend not bringing home any queens from there.

They have been found as far north as Richmond Virginia & have been reported all over North Carolina... Not sure when Antmaps was last updated but it needs to be updated.

Richmond?! They better not make it to Long Island... My Tetramorium are ready for them!