lasius umbratus Care

[Dinofroz4]

Can you give information about this spisece and tell where to get Lasius Neoniger

[Aaronantl]

This is a harder species to keep because it is a parasitic queen. I guess you could try to get an existing colony of Lasius Niger or Neoniger and get a few workers from there and then hibernate them and the queen and hope for the best. That is probably the first step in taking care of Lasius Umbratus.

[Batspiderfish]

http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/

I've written a guide about founding Lasius parasites. The basic principle is that you want to use host workers that are as young as possible. Once a L. umbratus queen is established, she enjoys the same conditions that other Lasius do. Lasius alienus and Lasius pallitarsis can be found in woodlands. Lasius neoniger is abundant in partially human-settled and open field habitats across the US. I've always used Lasius alienus or something from the flavus group.

[Batspiderfish]

The species name is never capitalized, fyi.

Lasius (genus) neoniger (species)