Ant genus for starting

[JDuke91]

Hey all I am going to try keeping ants for the first time, I have always wanted to. So before I purchase my setup I have two options in my area that I am interested in, there is a European fire ant colony close by and a carpenter ant colony near by. I only want to start with one but I am having a hard time deciding which one I'd like to start with. I would prefer the fire ants but carpenter ants are so neat. Any advice in the keeping of these two?

[JDuke91]

So after spending the whole day doing research I have decided to go with Camponotus ants as my first go. Question though is if I collect several queens for test tube set ups am I able to eventually put them into the same hybrid nest?

[AntsDakota]

So after spending the whole day doing research I have decided to go with Camponotus ants as my first go. Question though is if I collect several queens for test tube set ups am I able to eventually put them into the same hybrid nest?

The act of multiple queens founding a colony together is known as polygyny. Camponotus, however, are the opposite- monogynous. Their colonies only tolerate one queen. If two queens come in contact, they will slaughter each other immediately. Yet Myrmica rubra is highly polygynous, and, according to AntsCanada, their nests are very shallow so you could dig up the colony you mentioned and have a high chance of capturing their queen.

[JDuke91]

Okay awesome thanka for the reply