Queen Ant Identification in Vancouver BC

[esneep]

Hi, I am 8 years old and love ants. I caught my first few queen ants here in Vancouver on July 9. Can someone help me identify what they are from these pictures? Thanks.

[Hawkeye]

Hi, I am 8 years old and love ants. I caught my first few queen ants here in Vancouver on July 9. Can someone help me identify what they are from these pictures? Thanks.

Hi esneep,

I would love to help you identify your queen, but unfortunately, there are no pictures with your post. Here's how to solve that:
1) go to imgur.com and create an account (it is free, easy to use and doesn't add watermarks to your pictures)
2) upload your pictures to imgur.com
3) In a separate tab open the forum and start writing a message.
4) go back to the imgur tab, click on the picture you want, and copy the direct link
5) go back to the forum and paste the link
6) select the link, and then press the picture button (sun over the mountain)
7) it should now look like this [ img] link [ /img] (I've had to add a space in between the brackets, otherwise it won't show up as text)
8) post your message and it should have the picture included.



You can also use the BB-code. That way the link comes with the tags already, and you don't have to do anything else.

I look forward to seeing your pictures. Also when you post your next message, could you tell us how big the ant queens are? (preferably in mm or cm)

While you are waiting for people to respond to your post, have a look at https://antwiki.org/wiki/United_States that lists all the know ant species in your country!

[esneep]

Here are my photos
https://imgur.com/a/dLeUXaT

[Hawkeye]

Are these taken over a period of time? Looks like she has eggs in one, and puppae (and lots of them) in the other?

Will have a closer look later today, have to catch a train right now

[esneep]

I caught 6 queen ants that day from the same area. They look the same but some now hatched and others still have eggs/ puppae. Thank you

[Hawkeye]

I caught 6 queen ants that day from the same area. They look the same but some now hatched and others still have eggs/ puppae. Thank you

Wow 6 queens? Can you tell me how big they are? And do you have a side view picture?

[Hawkeye]

Also there might be a clue in where you caught them, like on the pavement or in the forest?

[Hawkeye]

I think your queens are Lasius niger aka the common black garden ant. A very good species to start with as they don't require a lot of special attention and they develop quickly.

Even though the queens are claustral (which means they don't have to eat until the first workers can supply her with some food) they might appreciate a small drop of honey. You can use something like a toothpick to get tiny drops on a piece of baking paper or aluminium foil and put that in the tube.

If you have cats or dogs and you feed them wet food, you could also get a little bit of the jelly from that food and feed it to the ants. (Loads of protein)