Trying to decide which species is right for me???

[RangerRob]

I am in the process of queen hunting and was hoping to get some helpful hints as to which ant species is most suitable for my preferences? 1st off im not to picky especially being so late in the flight seasons, ill take just about any queen i may find. But at 1st i wanted to try and capture a larger species of ant such as Camponotus pennsylvanicus or carpenter ants as they are relatively called here. But upon reading about them i learned that there colony's only grow to a few hundred strong... I plan on buying the omni nest XL and I am afraid even a fully developed colony of Camponotus pennsylvanicus may not require that much space.. my main goal is to have an epic ant species that will take up the hole omni nest XL plus a few satellite nests! So really I am just hoping someone could please help me with identifying a species that naturally have enormous numbers in there colony that are a natural species here! ow DUUUUHH! should have put this 1st... I am from middle Tennessee if that helps with the region of species i can choose from. i have this site im going to try and attach as well that has a huge list of common ant species in Tennessee http://mississippientomologicalmuseum.o ... cBYbflVhBf So if anyone could help me out by choosing some species that have massive colony's generally, i would greatly appreciate it! or on a side note if anyone knows of a good GAN farmer thats generally close enough to TN that wouldent mind selling a colony i would no doubt be willing to purchase any species just to get started! Thanks alot everybody! and thanks for helping a poor ant nooby !!!

[Mdrogun]

If you want gaint ants as pets the nest will be of less number of workers. If you have fire ants or even some ants that are about 0.5 cms long they will have thousands of workers. In my opinion more workers means more care you need to take. So go for gaint ants. They are pretty active

This is not true. For example large ants like formica can make super colonies.

I am in the process of queen hunting and was hoping to get some helpful hints as to which ant species is most suitable for my preferences? 1st off im not to picky especially being so late in the flight seasons, ill take just about any queen i may find. But at 1st i wanted to try and capture a larger species of ant such as Camponotus pennsylvanicus or carpenter ants as they are relatively called here. But upon reading about them i learned that there colony's only grow to a few hundred strong

Where did you learn that Camponotus pennsylvanicus only grow to a couple hundred? My Camponotus pennsylvanicus are supposed to grow to 1000+ strong.

[antscanada]

I am in the process of queen hunting and was hoping to get some helpful hints as to which ant species is most suitable for my preferences? 1st off im not to picky especially being so late in the flight seasons, ill take just about any queen i may find. But at 1st i wanted to try and capture a larger species of ant such as Camponotus pennsylvanicus or carpenter ants as they are relatively called here. But upon reading about them i learned that there colony's only grow to a few hundred strong... I plan on buying the omni nest XL and I am afraid even a fully developed colony of Camponotus pennsylvanicus may not require that much space.. my main goal is to have an epic ant species that will take up the hole omni nest XL plus a few satellite nests! So really I am just hoping someone could please help me with identifying a species that naturally have enormous numbers in there colony that are a natural species here! ow DUUUUHH! should have put this 1st... I am from middle Tennessee if that helps with the region of species i can choose from. i have this site im going to try and attach as well that has a huge list of common ant species in Tennessee http://mississippientomologicalmuseum.o ... cBYbflVhBf So if anyone could help me out by choosing some species that have massive colony's generally, i would greatly appreciate it! or on a side note if anyone knows of a good GAN farmer thats generally close enough to TN that wouldent mind selling a colony i would no doubt be willing to purchase any species just to get started! Thanks alot everybody! and thanks for helping a poor ant nooby !!!

Camponotus grow into massive colonies. If you search Youtube you will find mature colonies inhabiting walls of a house that number into the dozens of thousands! Camponotus pennsylvanicus in particular grow into massive colonies. Yes, they become a great amount of work at that point. Any colony of that size (large or small) requires a huge amount of food, the right types of food, and some time every day or every other day dedicated to garbage cleaning/undertaking of the dead.

I would recommend either a Tetramorium sp colony or Solenopsis invicta, but if you're willing to go the slow but steady route, Camponotus ants do make great pets. I also suggest you try a small or large formicarium at first if you're just starting out with a single queen. They may falter if you move them into a huge formicarium too early, unless of course you will certain rooms with sand or block off access using cotton to all areas of the Omni Nest Xtra Large except for one or two rooms at first, and gradually allow them more and more space as they grow.

Whatever you choose, good luck on this fun and rewarding hobby!

[RangerRob]

Thanks for all the input guys! really appreciate it! IVE Caught 6 queens,most with already established colonies! 4 camponotus queens and also 2 more unknown species that i have posted on the help identify page on the forums! So if you see that page and know what species they are, would love to know as well! and as for the species I go with, I have some choices! The camponotus colonies I have are already well off with about 15 workers in the biggest!, also those mystery species are of small ant species, and in only 3 days have produced about 20-25 eggs already!!! So I may use them in the omni nest ive ordered instead of Camponotus sp. Just depends on which species needs more room. As for the other colonies i will be purchasing some hybrid nests for them here soon and will keep growing them in the tube till then. Thanks alot every one!

[Mdrogun]

my friend,
small ants generally what i breed have more than one queen. i have 5-10 queens in my colony right now. cannot bear the pressure i left all of them except a queen into grassland. that queen with 4 workers i kept in a test tube. it layed so many eggs. waiting for them to fertilize. the workers are barely 0.15 cm long. gaint ants only accept one queen. so they build up very slow. i have omni nest large. how many ants can it accomodate? so i gave them freedom.

small ants do not generally have more than one queen. it just depends on the sp. and, what sp. is popular where you live. larger ants like Camponotus and "gaint" ants as you referred to them can have more than one queen. Like I said it just depends on the sp.

you also said "it layed so many eggs. waiting for them to fertilize." The fertilization is done inside the queen. Not ouside of the queen.