I think I found a Queen!!!

[Muttonchops82]

I am a little behind on this journal because it took a week to be approved as a new member. I am going to try and put together a decent post with as much detail as I can remember and hopefully I can keep up with it.

Last Saturday I found an ant near an open window in the bathroom at my job. It rain heavily on Friday and it is early August, so from what I learned so far that makes for a good chance I found a Queen after her flight. She is a big ant with wings that had no interest in crawling on my skin to a scooped her up in a paper towel. I walked her out of the bathroom and she crawled around in and out of the folds of the paper towel. I was showing her to a friend who I was just telling about the AC videos I had been watching.

She pulled her wings off while we were watching her before I had a chance to take a picture but we still thought it was pretty amazing to see her shed wings. I put her in a Snapple bottle for a little while until I got home. By the time I got home she was all sticky with Orangeaid. I washed the bottle and I even washed her a little to get her legs unstuck and I left her in the closet in the clean Snapple bottle and some wet cotton. It looked like she groomed herself wile she was sitting on the wet cotton.

The next morning I found a test tube and put her in a set up. I keep her in a closet because it is dark and away from air-conditioning. That was Sunday and she seems to be doing okay all week. I peak at once everyday or two but I don't leave her in the light for more then a minute or so. Last night was Friday so I have had her a week. I was reading that she may not lay eggs right now and that I may need to hibernate her for the winter before she will lay eggs. I am really not sure.

I was also reading that I could try and feed her a little and I would have to keep feeding her through the winter if she doesn't lay eggs so I mixed up a little honey and water and spread a little around the top of the test tube. I left her in the closet over night and this morning the honey had kind of crystallized so I don't think I have to worry about her getting stuck and she definitely can't drown. I didn't she her eat but her back looks bigger today. I need to take some new pictures.

I do not know what kind of ant she is. I think she may be a carpenter ant. I live outside of New York City but I don't know enough about what is native to this area.

As a side note just because I find it interesting the honey I feed her came from a friend that raises bees, another colony insect with workers and a Queen. So thanks to Aush for the honey.

All in all I am excited about starting a new colony. I am surprised that I found a Queen without looking after watching random YouTube Videos.

If anyone has any comments or idea I would really appreciate their insight. I will update soon.

[Muttonchops82]

Holding this spot for pics when I get home.

[Muttonchops82]

Holding this spot for pics when I get home.

I guess you can't edit posts.


This is the first day in the Snapple bottle

8/19/2017




The next morning in her new test tube.
8/20/2017



After one week. It looks like she moved a little honey down to her water cotton. Whenever I check on her she is on or close too the water cotton.
8/27/2017

[lossanmu]

That looks like a lasius niger queen.

[AntsRule]

I agree

[Muttonchops82]

Wow thanks guys for helping to identify my queen! This sounds like good news because I wasn't really ready to take on an ant colony. I found her out of the blue after watching videos. I think it my be easier to manage a colony of garden ants over carpenter ants my first try.

[Batspiderfish]

Cannot identify to the species with these pictures, but it is Lasius, almost certainly not Lasius niger.

[Muttonchops82]

Thanks so much for your help. I will try and get someone to help me get better pics then I can take from my iPhone.

[Gavinthesheep1234567]

I think its L neoniger the Canadian version of l niger

[Muttonchops82]

I found 2 more queens Tuesday night, 9/5/17. It rained just after I found them and it had rained all weekend. What was left of hurricane Harvey passed through the New York Tri-State area this weekend. I'm starting to think there must be a thriving colony in the park next my job now that I found 3 without really trying.

These two look to be the same as the other queen I found. They were both on the hood of a car. Even though I found them together I separated them. I was afraid they would fight if I left them together. They both lost their wings but I'm pretty sure they are the same as my other ant. I am getting a little concerned though that I may not be able to raise a colony.

These two were on the same car and my first queen was found just inside the building. I hope I'm not finding queens that are coming out of the same nest and didn't have the chance to breed before I found them. There is not a lot of undisturbed property around my job. Everything is paved and built on. The park is great. The natural areas are almost compleatly undisturbed. There is a fence separating all the walkways from all of the plants and trees. The only other exposed soil in the area is a construction sight that has heavy traffic from workers and machines. It's is a huge area taking up the entire city block on all 4 corners so I guess it is possible the something was able to nest there.

I'm either sitting on a gold mine of queen ants or there is a single huge colony that is so dominant in such a dense business/residential district that they won't have a chance to reproduce. The chance of survival for my first queen is really bothering me now.

I have to say though I was so tempted to try and raise these two new twin queens together. Right now I have them both in water bottles with wet cotton in the bottom. Just like the first queen they like to sit on the wet cotton. I placed an order on Amazon yesterday for 25 test tubes. Once I get everyone placed I'll take some pics.

I have also come up with some names for my ants. The friend at work that was with me when I found my first queen said we should name her Todd. Obviously we was a little taken by with idea of me coming out of the bathroom with an ant in a paper towel and had no reason to think of a good name, but I have chosen Mary Todd to be her name. Of the two queens I just found I feel I have to name one Harvey because I found her right after the storm. So the bigger of the two will be Harvey Dent and the smaller will be Harley Quinn.

That's all I have for now with my updates.
I do have some questions though. Will these ants be okay living in my closet through the winter having found them so late in the season? Should I move them so they can hibernate in the next month of two? Can I expect that they will lay eggs soon and then hibernate? Can I just leave them in my closet so they stay room temperature until they do their own thing naturally?