Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi Nuptial Flight Thread!!!!!

[AuntLinda]

south west florida july 23 2016. I saw these today by my car. Many were flying around. I am new to ant keeping and my supplies should be arriving within a day or two. I am hoping to be able to catch one fertilized. Any tips?

[AuntLinda]

http://prntscr.com/bwr89c

[AuntLinda]

Awesome!!! They r Solenopsis invicta queens that u have there!!! AKA RIFA AKA Red Imported Fire Ants!!!

Ok you are the second to tell me they are that type. Awesome to know what i've got here in the yard. We also have a whole lot of red fire ants. I am still looking for more info so if you have anything handy on this particular type would be great.

[AuntLinda]

Ok then Fire Ants r highly aggressive and will overpower prey and threats by stinging!!! They can live in water for periods of time so if ur queen is accidentally drowned don't throw her away and see if she'll come back to life! They r a very explosive species and can expand in short notice so get ready with those formicariums!!!! The queens of this species r fully claustral which means no feeding them anything during colony founding!!! Hope this helped!!!

So these are very similar to the very red ones that are very common in my yard? And yes that was good to know, about not needing to feed her while tending her eggs.

[AuntLinda]

Yes they r the same species!!!

AHA! Well I am a tiny bit disappointed, I thought I found something slightly less aggressive. I do have my first fornicarium in route. I am wondering if my abilities being so new are good enough to handle these.

[AuntLinda]

I actually have Solenopsis invicta and they r aggressive yes but fun to watch!!! This is my first time ant keeping and so far it's all good and Solenopsis invicta love to escape so get some Insecta Slip from Bioquip.com and get that and watch one of Mikey's videos on how to apply so if u do everything right the ants will be ok so yes if u feel like u can do it then do it but if u think maybe next year or something then try to catch some Tetramorium species!!!

I think that boost of confidence was enough to get me started. I have indeed watched a ton of mikeys videos and saw that I would need the insecta slip. Watching the eggs in the different phases being moved so efficiently was so soothing to me to watch.

[AuntLinda]

We dug up a whole nest pretty much. I have them in a bin and added a small bin with food. They enjoyed some chicken and a cracker I put in. My fornicarium hasn't arrived yet. Using vaseline my insectaslip should arrive tomorrow. I am enjoying watching them already. I don't even know for sure if we got the queen but i am almost positive we did. Alot of larvae and pupae.

[larynx]

We dug up a whole nest pretty much. I have them in a bin and added a small bin with food. They enjoyed some chicken and a cracker I put in. My fornicarium hasn't arrived yet. Using vaseline my insectaslip should arrive tomorrow. I am enjoying watching them already. I don't even know for sure if we got the queen but i am almost positive we did. Alot of larvae and pupae.

[AuntLinda]

We dug up a whole nest pretty much. I have them in a bin and added a small bin with food. They enjoyed some chicken and a cracker I put in. My fornicarium hasn't arrived yet. Using vaseline my insectaslip should arrive tomorrow. I am enjoying watching them already. I don't even know for sure if we got the queen but i am almost positive we did. Alot of larvae and pupae.

What's wrong? I have a million fire ants in my yard and I am new to ant keeping. This is just a first time experience. They are calm and enjoying themselves so far. If you have tips I am surely open to them.

[larynx]

We dug up a whole nest pretty much. I have them in a bin and added a small bin with food. They enjoyed some chicken and a cracker I put in. My fornicarium hasn't arrived yet. Using vaseline my insectaslip should arrive tomorrow. I am enjoying watching them already. I don't even know for sure if we got the queen but i am almost positive we did. Alot of larvae and pupae.

What's wrong? I have a million fire ants in my yard and I am new to ant keeping. This is just a first time experience. They are calm and enjoying themselves so far. If you have tips I am surely open to them.

Ohh ok. Solenopsis sp. then? Thats cool if you are learning off of them then. I just hate to see non-invasive species get dug up. Not that i could really say anything other than . because its the keepers prerogative. lol
Anyway....tips... Learn as much as you can about containment of ants, and what all the different stages of life there are from this species. I personally started with Solenopsis sp. and they taught me a great deal. You will 100% learn the tricks to keeping escape driven spp. And also get to see one of the fastest growing sp. do their thing. Have fun, and good luck.