The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

I don't know if I should put this in identification or not, but most of my questions are not about the species so I figured I should put it here. I just snagged this colony out of a plant pot and I was wondering what type it is. I live in Eugene Oregon U.S. there seem to be two types of workers, the smaller ones 3mm the larger ones 5mm at most. Can anyone identify them? I am sorry I couldn't find the queen. Because of this and also I haven not seen any brood that I am worried i just got a satellite nest, but I also have not cracked open their nest so I can't know for sure yet.

Now for the other questions, it was a bit rough with many deaths transferring the ants into a better container. Will the colony be able to survive if the queen didn't die? They are all huddling in random clumps as you probably saw in the previous photo. Is this normal? All of the barriers I made for them they got past with somewhat an easy time, vaseline and baby powder/ isopropyl alcohol both didn't work even when doing 2 inch wide bands of both of them side by side. I did this on a clear plastic crate with rounded corners. I mixed 50% with the mixture, should I change percentages? I also let them dry for 20ish minutes, should I wait even longer? Will I just end up having to buy Insecta-slip? And lastly, will it be okay to store them in this container for a week or so? (Photo below)
Thank you so much, any help answering any of these questions would be greatly appreciated. -Perry

Those bigger workers are queens. My best guess is Monomorium sp.

If you have a lid, that works as a barrier. They may have a hard time, but I think these may survive.

Since there aren't two petiole nodes, this must be Tapinoma sessile.

Batspiderfish wrote: ↑

Mon May 08, 2017 11:35 am

Since there aren't two petiole nodes, this must be Tapinoma sessile.

My fault. They entirely skipped my mind.

So these guys are polygynous?

Martialis wrote: ↑

Mon May 08, 2017 12:27 pm

Batspiderfish wrote: ↑

Mon May 08, 2017 11:35 am

Since there aren't two petiole nodes, this must be Tapinoma sessile.

My fault. They entirely skipped my mind.

perryismyname wrote: ↑

Tue May 09, 2017 6:55 pm

So these guys are polygynous?

Martialis wrote: ↑

Mon May 08, 2017 12:27 pm

Batspiderfish wrote: ↑

Mon May 08, 2017 11:35 am

Since there aren't two petiole nodes, this must be Tapinoma sessile.

My fault. They entirely skipped my mind.

Seeing as I saw at least three queens in the photo, yes. You got the polygynous "strain" of Tapinoma sessile.

Lucky, mine isn't. lol