Newbie - Queen Ant

[LogiZoe]

Hello All.

My son has recently become interested in keeping ants and I believe we have caught a local queen ant.
I am curious how we tell if it has mated or not, or if it is even a queen. The believed queen still has her wings and was caught roughly 3 weeks ago.

Any help would be appreciated, I want to help my son get his colony started.

Cheers.

[CabboAntsGuy]

Hello LogiZoe, glad to hear your son is interested in ants. If it has wings and a thicker gaster (back part of the body) then it is most likely a queen. Don't worry about here still having her wings. I will guess that you have her in a test tube set up or another set up like it. Just a few quick questions:

Have you fed her yet?
Does she have eggs at any stage of development?
Is she kept in a dark place any checked up on sparingly?

The darkness is one of the major factors in the beginning stages. she should be kept in complete darkness and checked on maybe once a week at most (I know it's hard). Food wise, she shouldn't need any food until she has her first workers. Then you could give them a cricket leg or some other small source of protein. You may give her a drop of honey before she has any workers, but only a small drop. Once she has workers you can give them some more.

I don't know if there's to much more, but you should post some pics of her so she can be identified and see if there's any other info about that species which might be useful.

I hope this helps,
-Cabbo

[LogiZoe]

Thanks so much for the reply.

In regards to set up. I dont have any tubes so I have her in a jar with cotton that I have been using a dropper to keep moist for water. I have given her a few drops of honey since catching her. I wasnt sure of the species and if she fasts or not.

I have attached a link to a pic, hopefully it can help identify the species and if she is in fact a queen. I believe it may be a carpenter ant as it is the most common species around my neighborhood.


https://ibb.co/FgjgyDL

Cheers.

[CabboAntsGuy]

I am almost certain that she is a Camponotus Pennsylvanicus, or Black Carpenter Ant. The jar set up is ok. Feel free to ask any other questions, and since your queen is a campo, I'll invite you and your son to join our camponotus crew where you'll be able to get a lot more information. The link is in my signature down below.

[LogiZoe]

Thanks so much for the info and the invite.

1 more question. Coming home today, I found this little one running down my drive way.

To me it looks like a queen that has lost her wings. Any chance you can confirm.

https://ibb.co/JKjSG4n

Thanks so much