ID Request - Toronto Ontario

[MLavers]

Greetings Myrmicologists,

I need some help. I found this lovely lady mid-April in Toronto.

She is 8mm to 10mm is length. No visible petioles between Thorax and Gaster. I want to say Lasius sp. but don't recall if any would be out this time of year. Thoughts?



Thanks very much,

ML

[Batspiderfish]

Prenolepis imparis

[JackPayne]

Yep, prenelopis imparis are flying from what I've heard.

[MLavers]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Fully Claustral? Anything special I ought to know about such a colony?

Looks like she's starting to lay eggs. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Aquaexploder]

Hi, I'm starting my own colony too and here are some of the things I learned.

The are a claustral species.

They are polygyne.

They like cool temperatures around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

Check up on them after two weeks (they should have laid eggs about now)

The "hibernate" during the summer.

If you would like more information I would recommend watching this: https://youtu.be/wcSBXPsvH6o

You can move them from there test tube when they have at least 10 workers.

[Serafine]

The most important thing is to not overheat them. Other than most ants these ones don't like it hot but will be active even at almost freezing temperatures. This makes them the perfect ants for heavily air-conditioned rooms (which rarely exceed 20°C) and the perfect ants to watch during the time when all your other ants hibernate.