Possible Queen ID?

[warhawk373]

About 7mm long, maybe a little more.

Found it running across the ground in a wooded area in western Kentucky USA at approximately 2:00 P.M. on a sunny day.
I honestly can't even tell if it's a queen or not. Its dark color makes it hard to make out whether or not there are wing scars.

It's much bigger than any of the ants I've ever observed in that area. I found two just like that, got them both.

[Martialis]

It's a queen! I'm gonna say Lasius social parasite.

[warhawk373]

It's a queen! I'm gonna say Lasius social parasite.

Are you sure? I didn't think we have those in my area. I would really be disappointed because I heard those are nearly impossible to start a colony with in captivity.

[Batspiderfish]

The first one is Lasius umbratus, a relatively easy social parasite. The other two are from the Acanthomyops subgenus, either Lasius claviger or Lasius latipes (a clear view of the petiolar crest is necessary to distinguish them). We are working on raising these for the first time. CanadianAnter's Lasius claviger has made it to the worker stage, and I am caring for a L. latipes queen who is at least still alive with host workers after seven months. There are lots of Lasius social parasites in Eastern North America (making up about half of the Lasius diversity.)

http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/

[warhawk373]

The first one is Lasius umbratus, a relatively easy social parasite. The other two are from the Acanthomyops subgenus, either Lasius claviger or Lasius latipes (a clear view of the petiolar crest is necessary to distinguish them). We are working on raising these for the first time. CanadianAnter's Lasius claviger has made it to the worker stage, and I am caring for a L. latipes queen who is at least still alive with host workers after seven months. There are lots of Lasius social parasites in Eastern North America (making up about half of the Lasius diversity.)

http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/

/: darn...I was hoping for an easier species as a first colony. I do however have a colony of small ants that probably can't harm these queens very easily so I might gather up 15-20 of them and try to introduce them while I'm out looking for a camponotus queen.

[Batspiderfish]

The first one is Lasius umbratus, a relatively easy social parasite. The other two are from the Acanthomyops subgenus, either Lasius claviger or Lasius latipes (a clear view of the petiolar crest is necessary to distinguish them). We are working on raising these for the first time. CanadianAnter's Lasius claviger has made it to the worker stage, and I am caring for a L. latipes queen who is at least still alive with host workers after seven months. There are lots of Lasius social parasites in Eastern North America (making up about half of the Lasius diversity.)

http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/

/: darn...I was hoping for an easier species as a first colony. I do however have a colony of small ants that probably can't harm these queens very easily so I might gather up 15-20 of them and try to introduce them while I'm out looking for a camponotus queen.

The host species NEEDS to be from Lasius. They won't be dangerous for their bites -- it will be the formic acid. Lasius umbratus was my first colony, so as long as you're careful and do things by the book, you have a decent chance at succeeding.