Lasius niger in test tube

[fighter512]

Hey y'al, I caught a Lasius Niger Queen when leaving my home. I noticed her on the steps and caught her quick. I put her into a test tube setup and after coming home from work (11 hrs later) she has shed her wings. Very excited! Well, I wanted to know when to feed her. Also ways to hibernate if she does. She was caught west of Phoenix, Arizona if location helps. I'm also very noobish to the ant world.
Any suggestions would be very helpful too!

[AntsLuxembourg]

Well to make it short. Put them inside the fridge at arround 5-8°C. Next Yes they hibernate from the end of october until the end of march. Put her preferably inside a dark box during those days. Also I wouldn't expect the queen to lay any eggs this year since it's nearly time for hibernation but if she does the eggs probably won't manage to survive the winter or develop into her nanitics.

Lasius niger is also a species which needs no feeding during founding. As soon as she got some workers you could offer the colony a little drop of honey. Use a toothpick to get a nice little droplet.

It's best to place her in a dark place and not disturb her too much. If possible remove the wings from the testtube to avoid a molt outbreak. Check on her perhaps ever 2-3 days like having a short peak.

I got like 10-11 colonies founding now and I will have to put them all inside my fridge. Except for the messor barbarus which will need to go inside my cave since the fridge would be too cold but the cave hopefully won't be.

During hibernation check on them once a week to check for molt but don't worry too much. We all know how excited this can be but sometimes you just need to be patient. I'm also very patient with my basilicum and other herbs which wouldn't grow at first and now is growing pretty fast.

Perhaps you could provide us with a picture of your setup in case you want some feedback about it.

[fighter512]

Thank you for the input. I removed the wings today but forgot to snap some photos, I'll probably check on her again in about a week. Also she was in my last test tube that was available and it had a crack from the fill line to the bottom. So I set her on the table with a lid over her while prepping the test tube and fixing it, and used black tape. I'll be getting some more test tubes soon and will have a better view.

I can say that the cotton is still moist (3 days later) and she is hanging out by the moister side of the test tube setup. I have some pics of the others i caught after the last rain we had. (1-2 weeks ago)





Hopefully these are good enough

[AntsLuxembourg]

the pictures don't seem to work :/
Perhaps check the links again

[AntsDakota]

Hey y'al, I caught a Lasius Niger Queen when leaving my home. I noticed her on the steps and caught her quick. I put her into a test tube setup and after coming home from work (11 hrs later) she has shed her wings. Very excited! Well, I wanted to know when to feed her. Also ways to hibernate if she does. She was caught west of Phoenix, Arizona if location helps. I'm also very noobish to the ant world.
Any suggestions would be very helpful too!

Lasius niger is rare or non-existent in North America. It is probably Lasius americanus. Also, only check on her once a week.

[fighter512]

Hey y'al, I caught a Lasius Niger Queen when leaving my home. I noticed her on the steps and caught her quick. I put her into a test tube setup and after coming home from work (11 hrs later) she has shed her wings. Very excited! Well, I wanted to know when to feed her. Also ways to hibernate if she does. She was caught west of Phoenix, Arizona if location helps. I'm also very noobish to the ant world.
Any suggestions would be very helpful too!

Lasius niger is rare or non-existent in North America. It is probably Lasius americanus. Also, only check on her once a week.

Thanks! I did some more research and I'm strawn between Crematogaster Cerasi or Lasius Neoniger. I'll take photos in a few days when I check on them.

Is there any I should do different with the Cr. Cerasi sp?

thanks again!

[AntsDakota]

Hey y'al, I caught a Lasius Niger Queen when leaving my home. I noticed her on the steps and caught her quick. I put her into a test tube setup and after coming home from work (11 hrs later) she has shed her wings. Very excited! Well, I wanted to know when to feed her. Also ways to hibernate if she does. She was caught west of Phoenix, Arizona if location helps. I'm also very noobish to the ant world.
Any suggestions would be very helpful too!

Lasius niger is rare or non-existent in North America. It is probably Lasius americanus. Also, only check on her once a week.

Thanks! I did some more research and I'm strawn between Crematogaster Cerasi or Lasius Neoniger. I'll take photos in a few days when I check on them.

Is there any I should do different with the Cr. Cerasi sp?

thanks again!

Crematogaster are much more susceptible to stress than Lasius. Therefore I wouldn't check on her for 2 weeks, at most. Lasius, I would assume, isn't very common in Arizona, unless you live in the mountains, of course. Crematogaster, though rare, would probably be easier to find in Arizona than Lasius neoniger.