The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

is the ant eating the entire pupae because if it is then there is a problem. If this has happened this is most likely because of stress

the stripes could just be a species feature.

It could be tetremoriom, myrmica and solinopsis

make it as big as you want then because they will expand there nest when they need to.

I might live in michigan but I do know that at your latitude expect nuptial flights to start at late April with a possible early April late February prenolepis imparis flight.

are you having a hard time keeping your colony in?

It matters the formicarium. if the formicarium is huge you should add dirt or substrate for her to slowly expand her colony. test tubes are just cheaper and easier to find. plus you can store water with out disturbing her. some people have raised queens in other items of course from plant water pick...

well the alate that you saw is most likely from when you caught them. keep a look out for brood because that is a good sign of a queen.

well the lasius parasite queen would do ok because i found dome outside under a log literally sitting on the Ice and still Alive. as for the workers and brood They will not fair as well. some ants have anti-freeze chemicals in the hemolyph, like your camponotus ants, but most do not since they usual...

since your ants are tropical you might want to try the lasius hybrid nest since the humidity is higher. The largest problem is the fact that your ants like to house in live tree's. I really don't know what to do here because in Michigan we don't have weaver ants. I might suggest though that you prov...