Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

[Hawkeye]

I just want to say that i put a dead log in field in hopes to "trap" C. Vagus queens after nuptial flight. Any thoughts, will this work?

Haha I will cross my fingers for you!

[Camponotus]

I just want to say that i put a dead log in field in hopes to "trap" C. Vagus queens after nuptial flight. Any thoughts, will this work?

Haha I will cross my fingers for you!

Lol, really want the queen

[Alex07]

Hey fellow camponotus lovers! Glad to find this forum! Hopefully we can share some helpful information and what not!
I currently have a camponotus nicobarensis in a test tube with about 5 workers and recently added a micro outworld for them. They seem to prefer when I put my test tube on the water side for that extra humidity, love honey and seems to choose crickets over anything else.
I've come across that this camp. Species can have more than one queen and does not hibernate (though I won't risk adding more than one queen). Bought from a GAN farmer but it's invasive to my area so idk how that happened. I live in Chicago and claimed it's from Indiana. If you look it up it's a Southwest asia.
Anyways glad someone made a forum for us and of anyone has this species let me know what you've learned please and thank you!
Alex

[Kherafox]

Hi all! I'm newly joined to the AC forums, and Hawkeye kindly pointed out this thread to me in his reply to my intro post, since what I'm looking at in my (shared) yard is most likely C. vicinus. Here's a link to the original post: https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=15326&p=61627#p61627

I don't have a queen yet, to my sadness, but I recently observed a rather large night-hunting caravan of C. vicinus (we think) roaming around last night. My first time seeing a polymorphic species in person! (I'm very new to the idea of ant keeping, haven't had any catches yet, but I'm looking!).

Reading up on C. vicinus, I find myself a little more in despair... since they apparently like to nest under loose rocks as well, my apartment complex employes fist size and smaller rocks to plant the bushes around the apartments in, as well as areas where there aren't walkways or vegetation. So many hiding places! I also had an epiphany as to why one of our balcony-bordering bushes died last year (or was helped along to perish)... one of the many trails of hunting ants I saw last night went right to nearby where the bush was, but I couldn't get under the stairs nearby to see where they entered ground.

Also, is it too late in the year for them to have a nuptial flight? I've read they can in July, but... that's almost over. I really do want to catch my own, especially as in my state I'd have to either drive a long way or pay more money than I can afford right now to buy a queen+. And it sounds like C. vicinus is a great starter for me, as I would like a slow growing, interesting colony - something that doesn't require readjusting their areas constantly like fire ants do with growth!

I'm sure I have many more questions in my hunt for a starter queen or two, but I'll save them for later. Except one last - is there a book or a really good site on basically a "dummy's guide" to raising Camponotus?

[Kherafox]

Oh! Another question, for when I eventually get a colony going... I also have cockatiels, and with their food (as is common) often comes eggs for seed-moths. So, periodically we get a small swarm of seed moths that I have to control and swat down. Not really a threat to anything aside from my sanity or any bird food lying around, but... can these be caught and fed to the ants? I'd be essentially already growing my own live food source inadvert-ant-ly... (boooo.. I know..).

[Hawkeye]

Oh! Another question, for when I eventually get a colony going... I also have cockatiels, and with their food (as is common) often comes eggs for seed-moths. So, periodically we get a small swarm of seed moths that I have to control and swat down. Not really a threat to anything aside from my sanity or any bird food lying around, but... can these be caught and fed to the ants? I'd be essentially already growing my own live food source inadvert-ant-ly... (boooo.. I know..).

Sounds like you got yourself a food source!

The pictures in your previous post display different species of ants btw, not workers vs majors. Check antwiki.org for more info on the species.

[Hawkeye]

Also Mickey from AntsCanada made a clip specifically about caring for Camponotus ants. You should probably have a look at that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUCoajYwo8s

[Hawkeye]

Hey fellow camponotus lovers! Glad to find this forum! Hopefully we can share some helpful information and what not!
I currently have a camponotus nicobarensis in a test tube with about 5 workers and recently added a micro outworld for them. They seem to prefer when I put my test tube on the water side for that extra humidity, love honey and seems to choose crickets over anything else.
I've come across that this camp. Species can have more than one queen and does not hibernate (though I won't risk adding more than one queen). Bought from a GAN farmer but it's invasive to my area so idk how that happened. I live in Chicago and claimed it's from Indiana. If you look it up it's a Southwest asia.
Anyways glad someone made a forum for us and of anyone has this species let me know what you've learned please and thank you!
Alex

Welcome Alex!

I haven't tried feeding my carpenters crickets yet, but I'll definitely try. Mine also seem to like a bit of peanut butter (watered down) as a source of protein. Who knows, yours might like it as well! You might also try syrup (like the kind you put on pancakes) as an alternative to honey.
Contrary to what you've heard, it is a monogyn or ONE queen colony, not multiple! So don't introduce a second queen, she will be killed. They don't hibernate as they are from the tropics (Asia) and no they do not naturally occur in your neck of the woods! They can actually develop a symbiotic relationship with certain plants and build their nest inside them. You can probably order those types of plants, I guess it would be cool to house them in there in a natural setup. Mind you they do need high humidity!

[Hawkeye]

The plant (Myrmecodia tuberosa) kind of forms a natural formicarium for them, and the ants defend the plant in return.

[Kherafox]

The pictures in your previous post display different species of ants btw, not workers vs majors.

Well, I did mention they looked closest to what I saw. Maybe I'll try and catch and get pictures of the three sizes tonight, to see what y'all think... although my phone isn't greatest at pictures. It just seems weird they'd all follow the same trail without fighting to me if they were different.

*sets an alarm to investigate at 1am*

Thanks for the video link! I don't think I've gotten to that one yet.