Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) Nuptial Sightings

[akuminari]

Hey everyone!
So since it's been pretty warm lately (well, it was, then it went down, but it's supposed to get warm again on Thursday! ), I've decided to make a Delmarva Nuptial flight post, since I haven't seen any sightings posts for Maryland (my state .w.) or Delaware. I saw one for Virginia but it wasn't too active.

Anyways, on Friday I saw some ants out. I didn't spot any queens (granted I haven't been looking), but it was refreshing to see that there were at least some insects outside!

I believe the first ant flight we'll see will either be Prenolepis imparis or a species of Camponotus, so look out for that :p

Good luck on all your finds this year!

[gsparrow]

I was out for a walk last Thursday. I didn't see any flights but I did see newly formed ant mounds in a dirt path through the woods. One colony had a few workers around the entrance. It was a cool day so was not expecting to see any ants but it was nice to see.
I did find a queen ant back in Feb here in Delaware outside of my work building walking across the parking lot. Guessing a Prenolepis? I'm new to anting so trying to learn.
Forgot to mention - thank you for creating a site for Delmarva! Hard to find info for Delaware.

[Acutus3399]

Thanks for starting a Delmarva thread!
Only nuptial flight I saw was a couple weeks ago. They were very tiny ants dunno type.
Found what i think is a Camponotus herculanean colony yesterday managed to get the queen and entire colony!

[gsparrow]

Today at Prime Hook I saw a Termite Nuptual flight. It was about 12:30 in the afternoon. I know this isn't an Ant species but I don't know where to post it. Can Termites be kept like ants? How to capture? Info? or where do I look on this forum or other sites for info?

[gsparrow]

Ok, I've found a lot of info on termites but didn't find in AntsCanada forums. Anyway...very interesting creatures.

[gsparrow]

I found 2 queens today in Camden, DE. One was definitely a black carpenter ant queen and the other one I don't know. It was kind of golden in color - for some reason it died in the capture jar by the time I got home - don't know why. And yes, the queens were in separate jars.

[Chareno]

Hello everyone! I am new to antkeeping and live in Delaware so i thought i would stop in and say hi. Its pretty refreshing to see that there are a few people active in this local area! Especially because there doesnt seem to be a whole lot of info readily available concerning thw ant species of delaware.

This is my first year so i dont have any colonies yet but i look forward to catching my first queens. Fyi, i have been on the lookout but have not spotted any nuptuals yet. I know it is only the beginning of the season but i am eager to get started.

I am especially interested in Camponotus so i would greatly appreciate a heads up if anyone spots anything in the Dover/Camden/*****/harrington area.

Happy hunting!

[BeccaM]

I am new to any keeping and I’m in Virginia. I’m actually trying to start colonies for my undergraduate research.

[gsparrow]

I was looking at the nuptial timing chart at the following site

http://www.formiculture.com/ant-mating-chart.htm

Take for example the first species on the list - Acromyrmex versicolor has nuptual flights from July through October. I'm guessing this covers the whole range of where that species lives.

On species that take flight in the spring I'm also guessing more southern living ants of that species fly sooner than more northern ones? Does any one have or know a more accurate timing of flight schedule for the ants living in Delmarva?

[Acutus3399]

As of today the only Nuptial Queen I have found was on April 23rd and is Camponotus pennsylvanicus The Colony I mentioned in previous post turned out to be C. chromaiodes and is doing well. I caught a smallish C. castaneus colony yesterday.

It's funny before I got into ants I had to move a lot of rock and debris at work, Just never paid attention to what was there!