She was in far too large of a set up, so taking advice from more experienced keepers here, I moved her into a smaller tube. I won’t bother her for another 10-days minimum. She’s not in a shoebox sitting in my closet. Now that I’ve released my Lasius interjectus, I’ll be focusing all my time and effort on this beautiful ant.
Wish me luck!
I have determined I’m far too inexperienced as a first time ant keeper to try to found a Lasius interjectus colony. Identifying compatible Lasius species is far too difficult this time around so I gave her some sugar water then let her back out into the wild. She likely won’t survive but there’s at least a chance now. Now I’ll focus all my time on my Camponotus subbarbatus.
Thanks for all the advice so far!
Got a good amount of workers and pupae. I can go back tomorrow as well if I need more later on. I’m fairly sure these are a Lasius species and maybe even also interjectus.
Trying everything I can to find compatible Lasius for my interjectus queen. I’m sort of just trying to find anything somewhat similar to a Lasius (in this case maybe americanus or neoniger. These are probably little black ants but still want to try my luck.
Please let me know as if they’re Lasius it would be perfect considering all the pupae.
I’m out hunting for compatible species of Lasius for my interjectus, I think these are pavement ants, but is there any chance they may be Lasius Americanus?
I’ve determined she’s a Striped carpenter ant but am still trying to figure out if she’s a queen or a major.
From gaster to mandible she’s approximately 15 mm in length and I think the light markings on the side of her thorax could be wing markings but I’m new to this and unsure.
Any confirmations on whether she’s a queen or a major would be great!
I found her in a piece of rotten wood I was going through in my backyard in North East Georgia.
Worst case, apparently the major workers live 1-3 years so I could always return her into the wild if there aren’t any eggs within a few months.
She measures at approximately 11-12 mm. She shed her wings on my arm assuming after her nuptial flight therefore I’d imagine she must be a queen so I put her in a test tube set up shortly afterward.
I recently caught an identical one a month prior in the same manner but didn’t know how to properly care for her so she unfortunately died. This time I took the proper steps to make her (and the potential queen striped carpenter ant) a sufficient set up.
From her appearance I’m guessing she’s a Camponotus castaneus (Chestnut Carpenter Ant) but from my research their queens are generally a bit longer in length, so I’m curious as to what else she could be or why she’s a bit undersized.
Any guesses would be very helpful.
She measures at approximately 15 mm, found her when going through a piece of rotten wood, I thought that it was possible the lightly colored markings on the side of her thorax might be wing scars so just in case I put her in a test tube set up.
I’m thinking maybe she’s a Camponotus subbarbatus (Striped Carpenter Ant) though from my research she seems like she could be a bit bigger than they usually are so I also figured she could potentially be a Camponotus americanus. For reference I live in North East Georgia.
Any guesses would be very appreciated.