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Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:30 pm
by Mortamir
Well welcome
.
There are alternatives to buying from A.C. Check out ebay, Amazon, and Google how to make your own. There is a ton of info out there and it's good to hear from another local.
Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:03 pm
by ACaseoftheMondays
KSkuroooari wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:19 pm
My son and I are new here (to the forum and to ant-keeping). We caught our three queens during the Spring nuptial flight here in WA and were told they were
C. laevigatus and
C. modoc.
The ID post is here, if you'd like to see photos:
http://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=4127
We are most likely keeping Queen #1 and are discussing the probability of keeping Queen #2. My son is a 10yro aspiring entomologist but we aren't quite ready to shell out $200+ for two sets of formicariums and outworlds. I am still researching what to do with Queen #3, regarding whether or not releasing her is a good or bad idea. We may wait for her to get workers so they can scout a home for her.
Welcome to both of you, and congratulations on your catches!
I would recommend holding on to all your queens, until they are in need of a formicarium. Keeping the queen, and then the colony in a test tube setup is easy, cheap, and perfectly suited for a colony until they in are in upwards of 20-100 workers (depending on species, of course.) Queens will not always be successful and many perish before and even shortly after getting workers. It is a good idea to hold onto all of them until you are ready to move one of your colonies into a formicarium. You can then release the other queens with their workers.
Mortamir gives good advice. Check out all your options. Ant setups can be made with as little as some tupperware with test tubes placed inside. AC offers great pro-end products, but there is also something to be said for creating your ants' home yourself, especially your first colony. (Here is one I recently made, just as an example -
http://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=3807) Antkeeping can be lots of fun, because there are so many facets to it. Take your time and learn as you go, as that is where the fun lies.
Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 5:48 pm
by KSkuroooari
ACaseoftheMondays wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:03 pm
KSkuroooari wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:19 pm
My son and I are new here (to the forum and to ant-keeping). We caught our three queens during the Spring nuptial flight here in WA and were told they were
C. laevigatus and
C. modoc.
The ID post is here, if you'd like to see photos:
http://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=4127
We are most likely keeping Queen #1 and are discussing the probability of keeping Queen #2. My son is a 10yro aspiring entomologist but we aren't quite ready to shell out $200+ for two sets of formicariums and outworlds. I am still researching what to do with Queen #3, regarding whether or not releasing her is a good or bad idea. We may wait for her to get workers so they can scout a home for her.
Welcome to both of you, and congratulations on your catches!
I would recommend holding on to all your queens, until they are in need of a formicarium. Keeping the queen, and then the colony in a test tube setup is easy, cheap, and perfectly suited for a colony until they in are in upwards of 20-100 workers (depending on species, of course.) Queens will not always be successful and many perish before and even shortly after getting workers. It is a good idea to hold onto all of them until you are ready to move one of your colonies into a formicarium. You can then release the other queens with their workers.
Mortamir gives good advice. Check out all your options. Ant setups can be made with as little as some tupperware with test tubes placed inside. AC offers great pro-end products, but there is also something to be said for creating your ants' home yourself, especially your first colony. (Here is one I recently made, just as an example -
http://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=3807) Antkeeping can be lots of fun, because there are so many facets to it. Take your time and learn as you go, as that is where the fun lies.
Thank you so much. I did read that somewhere in the forums, as well, about waiting until they are ready to be moved into a formicarium to decide which to release. I discussed it with my son, and that is what we'll do. Thank you for the great advice.
We will also look into making our own. Yours look really neat!
Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 12:22 am
by JCassel94
Caught 3 Formica queens up in Arlington, WA today. Pretty sure they're F. Pacifica, which is awesome, but not fully sure.
Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:40 pm
by SamuelMamuel
JCassel94 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2017 12:22 am
Caught 3 Formica queens up in Arlington, WA today. Pretty sure they're F. Pacifica, which is awesome, but not fully sure.
Can we see some pictures?
Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 8:07 pm
by JCassel94
My phone does terrible with taking pictures through the test tubes and that's the only camera I have, but I'll see what I can get. I got another queen of what I'm pretty sure is f. Pacifica yesterday along with two smaller black formica queens. All of them were caught between 3-5pm
Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:50 pm
by JCassel94
Couldn't manage to get a decent picture of them that wasn't either super blurry or too far zoomed out to actually see what they looked like, but the ones that I think are f. Pacifica are about 8mm long, with a reddish brown thorax, and a kinda brownish gray head and gaster, which has a very bright, silver shine to it. They're very nice looking, wish I could get a decent picture that was actually able to show what they looked like. Hoping to see some eggs in their tubes soon.
Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 4:42 pm
by Delphie
It will likely be 2 years before the colony is large enogh to require formicariums. Formica sp ants are slow growers compared to some other species. They will be happy with a test tube set up in a small plastic food storage container. Cut a hole in the lid and use some fine metal mesh for air. Choose a softer plastic so that you can drill a hole in it for a tube to the formicarium later when they are ready to move. Easier to hibernate them as well.
Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:35 pm
by JCassel94
How slow growing are they compared to Camponotus species? It was almost exactly two months from my first Camponotus eggs to my first nanitics, so I'm hoping Formica are a bit faster than that. I have seen my first larva with one of my queens, though, after less than a week and a half, so I'm hoping that means they'll be quite a bit faster growing at least compared to Camponotus
Re: Oregon/Washington Ant Sightings Post Here!!!
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:00 am
by MtHoodOR
Can someone help confirm the species of this queen I caught in Sandy, OR last month? Leaning towards camponotus but not 100% confident.
Thank in advance.
.