Queens in Treasure Valley, Idaho

Help with identifying the species your ants

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jlbets123
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:47 am
Location: Idaho

Queens in Treasure Valley, Idaho

Post: # 41666Post jlbets123
Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:45 pm

Hi everyone. My wife and I caught 11 queens on 8th July on the Treasure Valley area, close to Boise (Idaho). We kept all of them in test tubes and 10 of them layed eggs. This queens are aprox 10mm. They have redish lines on the abdomen.

One of them died, we are guessing that she wasn't pregnant and she didn't have any food on the tube. Shame on me.

I took some pictures of the dead one, so i dont bother the rest.

I hope we can identify it so we can take care of them properly.

Thanks so much

Image

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idahoantgirl
Posts: 1521
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
Location: Idaho, USA

Re: Queens in Treasure Valley, Idaho

Post: # 41711Post idahoantgirl
Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:16 pm

jlbets123 wrote:
Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:45 pm
Hi everyone. My wife and I caught 11 queens on 8th July on the Treasure Valley area, close to Boise (Idaho). We kept all of them in test tubes and 10 of them layed eggs. This queens are aprox 10mm. They have redish lines on the abdomen.

One of them died, we are guessing that she wasn't pregnant and she didn't have any food on the tube. Shame on me.

I took some pictures of the dead one, so i dont bother the rest.

I hope we can identify it so we can take care of them properly.

Thanks so much

Image
Yay! more Boise people!

You have Tetramorium Immigrans! Great pets. I have a two year old colony of them here are some pics https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=5430
You will find that tetramorium are the most common in this area. They dominate the ant population here.They are grow fast (egg to worker time 1 month) No sting or bites that we can really feel (their bites just kind of tingle) .

After their flight ends, the next to look out for are Lasius Neoniger. They fly in september and don't lay eggs until spring.

I want to point out that there is no need to feed your Tetramorium Immigrans queens until they have workers. They feed themsleves and their brood from the flight muscles on their backs. Feeding them will only stress them out and provide a higher chance for mold growth. If you already have fed them, them you can remove it carefully. Tetramorium queens and colonies are super hardy so I don't think it will stress them out too bad to remove it if your work fast. Oh also Be sure the cover their tubes so it is dark for them. This will come in really handy later when you have to move them to a different tube or nest.

Here is my tetramorium journal
https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1173&hilit=journal

also AntsCanada has an informative video on this species
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kng0lrxgvr4

a couple tips:
When they have enough workers to need an outworld, use dry baby powder, not baby powder and rubbing alcohol as a barrier. I used baby powder and alcohol for a while when my colony was small, and since they weren't exploring much, they stayed inside. It was later when they got bigger and ravenous that I discovered that barrier didn't work at all. What does work super well is dry baby powder. Just use a dry cotton ball to dab some baby powder on the walls of the outworld about an inch thic all the way around. works like a charm. No expensive fluon needed.

They will take just about any liquid sweet foods. For protein I usually use mealworms, crickets, or fruit flies. (fruit flies are perfect for young colonies) For mealworms and crickets I buy a container of them at the pet store and freeze them to kill them. Then I transfer them to a mason jar and store them in the freezer. when my colony needs protein, I shake one into the outworld, and use a pair of dedicated ant food scissors to cut it in half so they can get to the goodies.

For fruit flies, they will continue to multiply for a while if you keep them at the proper temperatures, so I would shake some into a mason jar, freeze em and then let the others multiply.

Anyways I hope that was helpful :) Good luck!
Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile

jlbets123
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:47 am
Location: Idaho

Re: Queens in Treasure Valley, Idaho

Post: # 41762Post jlbets123
Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:03 pm

Thanks so much for all of that information!
We put them inside the tubes with red celofan but also we keep them covered with a cloth on a shoe box, so i guess they are gonna be fine.

About the food, we were thinking of putting a bit of honey but since you have the experience with them i will wait until they have workers then.

What other species we have around? We caught a huge one next to a lake when we went fishing but she died in a couple of days, i guess the weather wasnt the same for her.

Thanks again, and by the way, i like that Lasius Neoniger queen, i hope i can catch some of them too.

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idahoantgirl
Posts: 1521
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
Location: Idaho, USA

Re: Queens in Treasure Valley, Idaho

Post: # 41795Post idahoantgirl
Fri Jul 20, 2018 10:33 am

jlbets123 wrote:
Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:03 pm
Thanks so much for all of that information!
We put them inside the tubes with red celofan but also we keep them covered with a cloth on a shoe box, so i guess they are gonna be fine.

About the food, we were thinking of putting a bit of honey but since you have the experience with them i will wait until they have workers then.

What other species we have around? We caught a huge one next to a lake when we went fishing but she died in a couple of days, i guess the weather wasnt the same for her.

Thanks again, and by the way, i like that Lasius Neoniger queen, i hope i can catch some of them too.
Yeah, most of the ants your going to see around here is Tetramorium immigrans. I really haven't had much luck catching many other types of queens other than
Lasius Neoniger
Caponotus ( I imagine this was the big black queen you caught. )
Tapinoma Sessile ( this one was a complete surprise and I've never seen their species around since. )
up near twin falls I found a
Temnothorax curvispinosis queen and a Pogernomymex queen once, But I was a beginner and worried about the challenges presented with these species, so I released them
I use red celofane too. Works great.
Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile

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