The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Today I acquired a Camponotus colony from a friend. The first thing I noticed is that the workers were noticeably smaller than Camponotus pennsylvanicus, and the queen has an elongated gaster. The colony has 11 workers, 1 pupa, 10 or so tiny larvae, and perhaps a couple eggs? Anyway, the test tube is pretty moldy, yet I am about to hibernate them, and I assume they are waiting until spring prior to moving into a new environment. (they absolutely refuse to move) I am about to hibernate them, in my garage, so I will try to move them next spring, as I am not concerned the mold will harm them during hibernation.

I plan on keeping them outside in the daytime and inside during the night time about a week, to get them used to the cold. Then they are going in the garage full time.

They are outside getting used to the cold. It has froze here a few times yet they are still alive and, well, not so active.

The temperature is climbing into the 40s here, therefore a few workers have began to awaken. Miraculously, the entire colony, brood included, has survived in my garage that day when it was around negative thirty degrees F .

Camponotus are very good at surviving temperatures below 0C. They often nest in decaying logs that are just sitting on the ground. So they can survive with almost no protection from the outside temperature.

still I'm surprised!

The queen is beginning to wake. One worker drowned, and another died of thirst, for she wandered too far away from the water. This leaves me with nine fully active workers, the queen, and brood.

What part of South Dakota are you from?

Is it not the Camponotus ants that have an anti freeze type of chemical in their blood that allows them to survive on the surface during the winter months or am I getting confused with another species?

Shame not all ants from temperate regions gained that advantage.

Hunter36o wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 01, 2019 10:34 am

Is it not the Camponotus ants that have an anti freeze type of chemical in their blood that allows them to survive on the surface during the winter months or am I getting confused with another species

That is correct. Apparently, Camponotus is the only genera I have ever kept that can survive subzero temperatures, as the same cold has killed all my other ants.