Ant ID help please - South Florida, USA | caught March 2022

[UndefinedJRod]

Okay so I Caught these queen ants (3 of them) at the beginning of March 2022 in South Florida.

They are roughly 7-8mm long.

Other visual or behavioural characteristics:
- The worker ants shake their butts ALOT (idk why?)
- During the nuptial flight, I find dozens floating in my pool (hence how I caught them) and I never see any distinguishingly different ant species in that pool, just dozens and dozens of these.
- The ate honey but they didn't seem to love the apple pieces I smeared with plant protein powder.

Also I need to know what these are because I am moving to NYC soon and I need to know if this species is native there because if it isn't I will just set them free before I move.

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Okay so I Caught these queen ants (3 of them) at the beginning of March 2022 in South Florida.

They are roughly 7-8mm long.

Other visual or behavioural characteristics:
- The worker ants shake their butts ALOT (idk why?)
- During the nuptial flight, I find dozens floating in my pool (hence how I caught them) and I never see any distinguishingly different ant species in that pool, just dozens and dozens of these.
- The ate honey but they didn't seem to love the apple pieces I smeared with plant protein powder.

Also I need to know what these are because I am moving to NYC soon and I need to know if this species is native there because if it isn't I will just set them free before I move.

This is S. Invicta, or S. Xyloni. It would be best to set them free if you caught them from the wild. If you raised them, try to find someone who would willingly take them(I have my hands full with once colony and queens)

[UndefinedJRod]

Okay so I Caught these queen ants (3 of them) at the beginning of March 2022 in South Florida....

This is S. Invicta, or S. Xyloni. It would be best to set them free if you caught them from the wild. If you raised them, try to find someone who would willingly take them(I have my hands full with once colony and queens)

Super cool, I tried to move them into the Hybrid nest I bought but they just keep backing up deeper into the water side cotton. I left them 48hrs connected to the Hybrid nest. What am I doing wrong?

[SolenopsisKeeper]

Okay so I Caught these queen ants (3 of them) at the beginning of March 2022 in South Florida....

This is S. Invicta, or S. Xyloni. It would be best to set them free if you caught them from the wild. If you raised them, try to find someone who would willingly take them(I have my hands full with once colony and queens)

Super cool, I tried to move them into the Hybrid nest I bought but they just keep backing up deeper into the water side cotton. I left them 48hrs connected to the Hybrid nest. What am I doing wrong?

It’s a new space, give them time. Small colonies are quite shy, and Invicta can live in very tight spaces. I have actually found an entire colony under a small stick before, and one of my colonies brood chamber was filled to the brim with ants. Do a tubs and tubes setup until around 100-200 workers. Then try to move them.

Keep use updated!

[UndefinedJRod]

Thanks will do!