I need help in finding a queen ant

[AntsGreece]

Hello, I want to start a colony but I cant find any queen ants, I tried to search for a queen ant or for a nest that has a nuptial flight with no luck, the weather is really dry and hot (30-40c) and I dont think its going to rain any time soon.. it is possible to find a queen ant in this time of the year without rain? if not it is a good idea to take a small colony of ants from outside?

[SYUTEO]

It's best to wait for rain to catch queen ants, digging up a colony is very risky and you may accidentally kill the queen.

[AntsGreece]

Oh ok, I will wait for a rain then, I hope it will come soon!
in the meantime I will try to search some more ant nests in my area and I will try to memorize their location so after a rain I will go and check the area around the nests

[AntsGreece]

Hello again, today I bought 8 test tubes and went for a long walk to search for any queen ants and nests, I went to a forest/park that I had catch queens in the past and knew that it had Camponotus and Pheidole sp and perhaps even more species but I was shocked to find that almost no ants left there, I was searching for an hour or more and I only found a young/small Pheidole sp nest,the camponotus nests was empty and I didnt spot a single worker.. the park had no grass or small plants, only trees, no water and the humidity was really low so I guess a lot of them died out I was really sad, now I only know 3 nests that are active but the 2 is Pheidole sp nests and I know their nuptial flights is in april-may.. I am really sad and I am afraid that I will not be able to catch a single queen, i desperately need any help cause I am trying 2 years to start a colony with no luck I know that it needs to rain first so I am waiting (I hope it will rain in 2 weeks)
Can someone suggest a place to look or someone know a place to look for ants in Athens, Greece? Thanks for your help!

[SYUTEO]

If you're lucky, you may even be able to catch one in your house.

[AntsGreece]

before 2 years I had found a undefined queen with wings in my door but it turns out it was not fertilized and she died later...
After this I have never seen a ant queen in my house or near my house but I keep looking often (perhaps the landlord used chemichals to kill the ants in the building ).The most queens I had found was near nests in parks but even then I was stupid and collected some queens right outside their nests so all of them was unfertilized..
Now I will not make this mistake again so I will wait until the next rain to search the areas around nests but not near the nest.
I found a trick too in the internet, I painted a plastic piece with blue marker and then a layer with a purple-blue one and I put it in my phone flash and it looks like black light, I will try to use it a rainy night or the next night to see if it will attract alates/queens.

one question I have is if its better to look for queens the same day it rained (after the rain stops) or the next day?

sorry for the long text

[SYUTEO]

before 2 years I had found a undefined queen with wings in my door but it turns out it was not fertilized and she died later...
After this I have never seen a ant queen in my house or near my house but I keep looking often (perhaps the landlord used chemichals to kill the ants in the building ).The most queens I had found was near nests in parks but even then I was stupid and collected some queens right outside their nests so all of them was unfertilized..
Now I will not make this mistake again so I will wait until the next rain to search the areas around nests but not near the nest.
I found a trick too in the internet, I painted a plastic piece with blue marker and then a layer with a purple-blue one and I put it in my phone flash and it looks like black light, I will try to use it a rainy night or the next night to see if it will attract alates/queens.

one question I have is if its better to look for queens the same day it rained (after the rain stops) or the next day?

sorry for the long text

If it's just a light drizzle, then you can look for some after the rain stops. If it rained a lot, then look for them the next day or two.

[CombinedHalo467]

u said it was dry but if u find a damp board thats been on the ground for a while try looking under there rocks too i found like 7 queens ants north of where i live doing that but i only too three (there all camponotus btw) gl i hope u fnd some

[AntsGreece]

Thanks for the answer, unfotunately it hasnt rain here for over a month so its still very dry, I have searched a lot of parks even a little forest with no luck, I will continue to search until november (the last flights of the messor ants here) and if I dont manage to get a queen until late august-september, I found a guy here that is willing to sell me one or two of his colonies for a friendly price.