The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

CatsnAnts wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:37 am

Is it okay for me to keep my Camponotus subbarbatus near a heat source, such as a lamp? (I have her well covered so she recieves no light). What is a temperature that you think is the maximum heat that a queen ant should have so I can avoid that.

I just recommend room temperature. Lots of beginners kill their colonies by fiddling with heat; it is unnecessary in most cases.

K thanks!

Hey, so I just found this queen ant (I literally watched her pull her wings off!) and I’m guessing that she is a lasius umbratus? Am I correct?

That is Chthonolasius (a subgenus of Lasius) for sure. Interesting to see them flying at this time of year. Could you get pictures focusing on her gaster, perhaps shot from the side? Also turn noise reduction off for your camera if that is an option, since that kills detail for macro.

Lasius umbratus has a much shinier cousin called Lasius speculiventris (don't bother googling, because most of those queens are misidentified).

I’ll try my best! (All of these photos are taken by my phone )

Okay, so I really don’t have that great of a camera, but I might try and use this other one that apparently has a super good zooming lense or something? But for now, here’s the best picture I got! Also I took a magnifying glass and examined her gaster closely, (I have perfect nearsighted vision), and I did not see any visible hairs. I will try to get a better picture sometime soon!

Yes, Lasius speculiventris. You may not want to handle queens that way, though. They can be quite fragile.

Oh! Oops! I will not handle her like that next time. I did not know that! Thanks for the heads up! I tried to get better picture, but it didn’t work. Also, is she a parasitic queen? Because if she is, I think I’m going to release her back into the wild.

CatsnAnts wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 14, 2018 7:46 pm

Oh! Oops! I will not handle her like that next time. I did not know that! Thanks for the heads up! I tried to get better picture, but it didn’t work. Also, is she a parasitic queen? Because if she is, I think I’m going to release her back into the wild.

Yes, they are parasitic. They are also the host species to another interesting Chthonolasius, Lasius minutus, which have small, hairy queens.

Can anyone see the Picture of the ant i posted