Possible ant queen

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Atlantis
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 3:37 am
Location: Maine

Possible ant queen

Post: # 71085Post Atlantis
Sat Jun 06, 2020 3:53 am

I've always liked ants, and have a wild colony I consider to be pets of mine. Obviously that's a lot different than keeping ants indoors, but I digress
I recently stumbled across a random carpenter ant walking across my floor. I know exactly what species she is (Componotus pennyslvanicus) because it's one of the only two carpenter ants species where I live. I decided to keep her, thinking she was a random scout ant. I know you generally can't keep scouts all alone, but I didn't want her to get back to the colony and tell them where the house was and she seems to be doing very well in captivity. Even took a bit of the honey I offered her.
Since she was doing so well, I recently decided to move her into a new formicarium with a bit of breathing room. I noticed yesterday that she started tunneling and seems quite at home in there.
I was watching Ant Canada's video on Componotus care Thinking I could pick up a few tips on how to make her more comfortable. Watching the video I had a major facepalm moment and realized based on looks she could very well be a queen. It hadn't occurred to me before because I haven't noticed the nuptial flights starting yet (and they're generally hard to miss when the ants flying around are about 13mm each.) However it would explain her comfort in her little habit whereas a worker might be trying to find the colony still instead of settling in. If she is a queen, what do I do with her? It's so early in the season she might not even be fertile. I know a test tube setup is best for new queens, but I don't want to disturb her more than I already have, especially when she's already made a little home. On the other hand though I didn't set it up for a more permanent colony, there's not even drainage in the bottom. Do you think I should move her or leave her where she is? Also any other suggestions are helpful. I can add some photos of her too but I don't currently have any

QJH2023
Posts: 228
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 2:54 pm
Location: MN

Re: Possible ant queen

Post: # 71091Post QJH2023
Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:34 am

I recommend placing in a test tube anyway its not like there formica camponotus generally take stress pretty good (compared to other ants) also I recommend asking your questions here https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?p=71087#p71087 they can really help you
keeper of: 41xCamponotus novaeboracensis, Crematogaster spp. and unidentified species and tapinoma sessile

Atlantis
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 3:37 am
Location: Maine

Re: Possible ant queen

Post: # 71094Post Atlantis
Sat Jun 06, 2020 9:19 am

QJH2023 wrote:
Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:34 am
I recommend placing in a test tube anyway its not like there formica camponotus generally take stress pretty good (compared to other ants) also I recommend asking your questions here https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?p=71087#p71087 they can really help you
Alright thanks :) I'll still think about the test tube

noonoosants
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2020 3:21 pm
Location: 27050

Re: Possible ant queen

Post: # 72119Post noonoosants
Tue Jul 07, 2020 3:25 pm

hey I am wondering about my potential ant queen. I caught it with wings and within about 2 hours it shed 1 wing but the other is still attached after about 3 days. is this a cause for worry?

thx

ellie5010ml
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2020 5:02 pm
Location: United States

Re: Possible ant queen

Post: # 72151Post ellie5010ml
Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:20 pm

noonoosants wrote:
Tue Jul 07, 2020 3:25 pm
hey I am wondering about my potential ant queen. I caught it with wings and within about 2 hours it shed 1 wing but the other is still attached after about 3 days. is this a cause for worry?

thx
I believe that this should be fine. Typically, ants shed their wings after mating, but there are times where they mate and don't lose their wings at first or even keep them throughout life. It shouldn't harm her, but it could mean she hasn't mated.

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
Contact:

Re: Possible ant queen

Post: # 72738Post AntsLuxembourg
Tue Aug 04, 2020 2:21 am

Hey,

Don't worry. Some queens keep their wings until they either drop or they don't want them anymore. But until the queens wings are gone I feel like they want to keep them as a fashion statment. ;P

Also wings or not are no 100% indicator for a mated queen ant. But I wish you luck with her. :)
Pictures would also be nice. :D
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

Sombody
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2020 10:15 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Possible ant queen

Post: # 74126Post Sombody
Sun Oct 04, 2020 10:26 pm

I found my queen ant with wings wandering around and I didn't see a colony anywhere the first thing I did was capture it after one night and I see our road trip I finally got into the makeshift test tube been a few days after that I got into a real test tube set-up. Do you think that she would lay eggs she still has her wings on it hasn't taken them off.

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