Possible budding??

[HaydenP]

Hi, I think this species is a pheidole but I’m kinda new at this. I’ve found multiple alates around the colony, but then there are a few dealates looking like they are being taken into the colony via small workers. Would it be okay to take the dealates? If so, should I bring workers too? I’m in southeast Louisiana and it looks around 11 mm but I don’t have a ruler on hand. Also I’m posting on my phone so can’t embed the pics but I have the link!
https://imgur.com/gallery/n3yC1H9

[MorbidBugg]

Unfortunately if you collect the queens before they fly off to mate it will be an adventure of failure. These queens are unmated meaning they will never lay eggs. If you see males and queens budding be sure to check back ever 6 to twelve hours for the next two days and I'm sure you'll see them flying then look in the general direction they flew a few hours (3 to 6) after and you will find a mated queen. Good luck!

[HaydenP]

Unfortunately if you collect the queens before they fly off to mate it will be an adventure of failure. These queens are unmated meaning they will never lay eggs. If you see males and queens budding be sure to check back ever 6 to twelve hours for the next two days and I'm sure you'll see them flying then look in the general direction they flew a few hours (3 to 6) after and you will find a mated queen. Good luck!

Would this be true even if the queen undergoes budding? Because I have read some queens don’t even fly when budding and they mate in the nest. As seen in the picture provided, the queen has already removed her wings as well and was found about 3 feet from the nest entrance but still relatively close to the other workers.

[MorbidBugg]

This may be the case. Another theory similar is this is a foreign queen thats mated and found this nest and they had accepted her into their colony. If however seeing the photo it does appear she has mated. If you do take workers with her if she is part of their colony already there's no worries to add a couple. If she's a foreign queen and the workers act aggressive try different sets.

[HaydenP]

This may be the case. Another theory similar is this is a foreign queen thats mated and found this nest and they had accepted her into their colony. If however seeing the photo it does appear she has mated. If you do take workers with her if she is part of their colony already there's no worries to add a couple. If she's a foreign queen and the workers act aggressive try different sets.

Some of the workers looked like they were dragging some queens (without wings) into the nest. Even the ones with wings had workers clinging to them. I’m not really sure how to tell if it’s a violent action or not because I have seen some videos where it looks violent but I’m the end, it was all okay. Also, should I put queens together? Because I grabbed two just in case and was going to go back just in case I found some even further away from the nest. I have read that the pheidole are polygynous, so I would assume it would be okay to House the two together but not sure. I’ll try to grab some workers when I go back. Can you confirm the ID of the ant from the pictures? If not it’s okay. Thank you very much for the replies!