Newbie from Central Florida
Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 5:17 pm
Hi everyone!
I'm brand new to ant keeping and very excited to start keeping my own colony!
It is my understanding that nuptial flights for fire ants can be going on now, hoping someone can confirm this. Are they mating this early in the year? Its been super hot here in Florida this past week 78-85F (25.5-28.5C)! And random light rains.
There are lots of ant hills by the basketball court near my place and when I went exploring for queens I found 2, but they were very close to the ant hills. I'm guessing they aren't fertilized but I captured them anyways. One lost her wings the next day however! Is this a good sign? I have them in a test tube with water and cotton balls, tucked into a fold of a blanket in my closet so it will stay warm and dark. Not sure it it a bad idea for it to be in a blanket so if I am doing something stupid I would love any feedback!
Also I'm going to try and post some pictures for identification, I believe they are Solenopsis Invicta.
Some last questions;
When is the best time of day to look for the queens?
How long will it take the queen who lost her wings to start laying eggs?
Are fire ants a bad idea for my first colony?
If I get more queens should I put them together for a multi queen colony and if so what stage should I do this at?
I'm brand new to ant keeping and very excited to start keeping my own colony!
It is my understanding that nuptial flights for fire ants can be going on now, hoping someone can confirm this. Are they mating this early in the year? Its been super hot here in Florida this past week 78-85F (25.5-28.5C)! And random light rains.
There are lots of ant hills by the basketball court near my place and when I went exploring for queens I found 2, but they were very close to the ant hills. I'm guessing they aren't fertilized but I captured them anyways. One lost her wings the next day however! Is this a good sign? I have them in a test tube with water and cotton balls, tucked into a fold of a blanket in my closet so it will stay warm and dark. Not sure it it a bad idea for it to be in a blanket so if I am doing something stupid I would love any feedback!
Also I'm going to try and post some pictures for identification, I believe they are Solenopsis Invicta.
Some last questions;
When is the best time of day to look for the queens?
How long will it take the queen who lost her wings to start laying eggs?
Are fire ants a bad idea for my first colony?
If I get more queens should I put them together for a multi queen colony and if so what stage should I do this at?