Today, I went on my first quest for queen ants and, as usual, I realized that life isn't like the story books! I found one queen ant, however, it was surrounded by about 5 or 6 workers that were trying to pull her in one direction. I was not sure if they were trying to help her or attacking her. I managed to pull her away from those worker, except for one that seems to be hanging on to one of her antenna. I somewhat tried to separate them but I didn't try too hard out of fear of hurting the queen. It looked like the queen and the worker kept on fighting (I think) for sometime, but now the worker seems to not be moving anymore. She seems to be able to walk fine, even with the worker attached to her. I placed her in a temporary test tube (I am getting proper test tubes tomorrow) in a dark area and I am giving her some space for now so she can rest. Could you guys help me identify what kind of queen I caught (I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia)? Also, is there anything you think I should do to try to help her with the worker attached to her?
Now, hopefully, she is fertilized and not injured. Time will tell. Thank you for the ID!
