General Questions regarding specie specific care Pt 2

[LIExoticBreeders]

Hey everyone. So, my name is Chris, and I've been interested in Ants since I was a young child, but, did not start to get into ant keeping till about 6 months ago. I've posted quite a few times over the last few months in the Ants ID section, as well as the Ants Keeping sections, but, this is a general discussion topic about the different species of ants that I have and are currently keeping. I've come across a bunch of different species in my travels and ant searching adventures and I'm doing a lot of research through AntWiki and Antweb. But, I would like to discuss these species I have with others who have actual experience raising these specific species.
So, a little about why I only got into ant keeping about 6 months ago: When I was 9 years old, my mom bought me one of the uncle Milton ant farms, and we ordered a tube of ants. within about 3 to 4 months, all the ants had died. So, we ordered another tube, and once again, in about 4 months, they all had died yet again. So, thinking we did something wrong, or just weren't good at keeping a colony alive, we got discouraged, and gave up. And, that ended my desire to own an ant colony, because as far as I was concerned, I just couldn't keep one alive, so I wasn't going to continue if they were just going to keep dying. I am now 31 (Almost 32) years old, and I only just found out, 6 months ago, via watching one of AntsCanada's YouTube videos, that those tubes of ants do not come with queens, and are only designed to last a few months and then you replace it with another tube of ants. So, after all these years, I finally found out that we didn't do anything wrong, and that we just didn't have any queens in those tubes. So, I continued watching the channel, and learned so much more then I ever did from watching the discovery channel, or other ant related documentaries. Even the documentaries aiming to teach people about ants still didn't make them seem like "pets" but more pests if they are in your house, and a clean up crew when they are outside. And, while, yes, they are natures natural clean up crews, they are so much more then that. And in the 6 months of having ant colonies in my home, I have learned soooooooo much, between watching the ants, and the AntsCanada YouTube channel.

So, about the ants I have.
So far I have collected:
Camponotus Americanus
Camponotus Nearcticus
Camponotus Chromaiodes
Camponotus Maritimus
Prenolepsis Imparis
Nylanderia Flavipes

Those are the ones I have positively identified, thanks to this forum.

I also have a few I have not fully identified yet. I thought one was M. Minimum, but after looking up the queens to this species, I realized it is not that at all. They almost look like Lasius Niger, but, only 3mm long. I have 3 tubes, each with 3 to 5 queens in them, and already a TON of eggs. So, they are coming along nicely. They make a nice small black ant.
Then I have some queens that look exactly like M. Minimum, but they are 7mm long, and they still have their wings on. I know they are mated because I caught them during a nuptial flight right outside my door. All 3 queens were attached to males when they fell, and I waited till the males let go, then scooped up the queens. But, they never dropped their wings. So, little weird, but, I have heard that some species will keep their wings on indefinitely. Sometimes could take quite a while for them to drop the wings. But, they have laid at a minimum of 30 eggs a piece so far. So, we will see if they ever drop their wings.
I also have a solo queen and another tube with a queen, 14 workers, and brood, to a small ant of 5mm long for the queen and 2.5mm long for the workers, that looks similar to either twig ants or Asian needle ants. I have tried getting it ID'ed, and I've tried to find it under the list of New York ant species, and it has been to no avail. All I know is these girls sting, and while it is no where near as bad as a fire ant sting, it still feels like a jewel wasp sting. So, tiny ant, nice punch. I honestly thought they were tiny dragon beetles at first. But, all I know is I have one of the coolest ants I've ever seen, and I love it. But, I have to have soil and wood in the test tube, because they do not climb glass at all. So they kept slipping and landing on their back. So, I put some soil (Sand and coco fiber) and wood pieces (Cypress mulch) into the test tube, and this seems to work fine.
I was told that it is possibly a species of ant that is invasive to NY, and therefore would not be on the list of NY ant species. So, I've been expanding my search. So, I will keep everyone updated as to my findings on this. And, if anyone knows any good entomologists or taxonomists that I could email the pictures to and get a positive ID, that would be amazing.

I am going to be posting another post with my 2 questions regarding specie specific care. lol. My original post was over 9000 characters and this forum only allows me 6000. lol.

[LIExoticBreeders]

Here is my questions:

So, first and foremost, the Prenolepsis Imparis colony. I caught a single queen, I'm assuming right after a nuptial flight. She was close to where her wings were. Did not find any dead males, but, she had dropped her wings, and she was searching for a place to nest. Apparently, this is a hard species to find on Long Island, according to the people I have spoken to, and a lot easier to find upstate or in New Jersey. So, I'm very happy to have found this queen. She laid about 30 eggs over the course of 3 weeks. Some of those are mature larvae right now, and beginning to get to the point of pupating. So, she is coming along really nicely. Even though I was told she doesn't need it, I still throw in a small cotton piece soaked in honey water (3 to 1 mixture). Just for some extra food because she has A LOT of eggs to deal with. Or larvae. I don't know when she stopped laying eggs. Only way I can tell how many eggs and larvae are there is by using my camera and zooming in. But, here is the question: Normally these species live deep underground, and they like the cold. I have all the ants in a species draw with anti-vibration padding and complete darkness. But, it is in my kitchen, and being that my kitchen has no AC, it is very warm in there, especially during the summer. Will the heat affect how she raises the young? And, if it will, should I move her into the bedroom where I have AC, and let her raise them in there? That is the first question regarding this species. Here is the second: How many workers should I wait to get before moving them into a formicarium? I know this number varies greatly depending on species. Like, my camponotus Americanus, or other larger camponotus species i only need 8 to 12 workers before moving them into a small formicarium, while the Nylanderia Flavipes ants I could have over 100 workers in there before introducing them to a formicarium. So, being that this is a small bordering on medium ant species, I'm not sure what the magic number of nanitics is before introducing them to a formicarium.

Now, my Camponotus Nearcticus. When I had this ant ID'ed on Formiculture, the guy who ID'ed it for me told me that in the wild they are Arboreal ants, and usually nest high in trees. He did say they will do fine in a formicarium, but, One thing I love doing is trying to make everything as natural as possible for my ants. So, here is my idea. Taking a lot of the ideology from the AntsCanada YouTube channel, and his Open air ideas, I would like to create a set up in a Large Bonsai Pot, with a large branch sticking straight up the center, with some beginner tunnels and chambers bored out in the wood. This branch would be secured to the pot itself, and then a layer of graven, and then dry soil for the ants to hunt on, since they will in nature come down to the ground to find insects like larvae and beetles and Isopods to feed on, as well as the occasional earthworm and caterpillar. This pot would be sitting on top of 2 containers filled with soil and be placed in a glass bin about 3 inches on each side larger then the bonsai Pot. This glass bin would be laced on the inside and outside with fluon, therefore not allowing the ants to escape or the pharaoh ants that are very popular here from invading. How does that sound? Does it sound Viable, and if not, what other suggestions do people have? Just curious. Obviously this would be an experiment as I've never done something like this before. I have built my own formicariums out of wood, and free carving the tunnels and chambers, but, still working on how to keep everything moist. Trying to use coco fiber and sphagnum moss and combat any chances of mold by having springtails in the actual formicarium part. It has been a really fun journey experimenting with these formicarium designs. lol.

Anyway, I look forward to hearing everyone's opinions, suggestions, and personal experiences. And, if anyone has any suggestions for anything I have in this post, feel free to post them. As I stated in the beginning, I am still new to this hobby, only being in it for 6 months so far. I am learning new things every single day, and spend hours every night just watching my ants, and I am always looking to learn more. So, no advice or suggestions will be ignored. Thank you all in advance, and I look forward to these discussions. Have a wonderful day, and thanks for listening to me rant about my ants. lol. Take care everyone.