23 replies to this topic

[SheldonLee5]

What is the best method to safely, and securely capture a wild queen ant from the ground? What do you guys use?

[dspdrew]

A container.

[PTAntFan]

I use a medium acrylic box lid. It works pretty well. I can usually get the queen to walk into it by placing one edge into the dirt ahead of her.

Some people pick them up with their hands and I've been wondering about queens that bite and sting.

[Ants4fun]

I don't think queens can sting, as I believe it is an adaptation of the ovaries, but I might be wrong...

[Herdo]

I caught one queen yesterday with some featherweight forceps.  I was afraid of crushing her still so I just let her climb onto the tip and then I sort of tapped her into the test tube.  I saw a video where someone was using these things:

 

 

http://www.amazon.co...ailpage_o00_s00

 

 

It looked a whole lot easier.  He just puts it over the queen and they run up the side.  He then flips it over and snaps the cap on.

 

Here it is:

 

https://youtu.be/XccAZls7Hns?t=3m43s

[LC3]

I just pick them up but for smaller queens/ants I get a leaf or something and scoop them up. Be careful when you pick them up because ants are still delicate things no matter how hard their exoskeleton is.

 

@Ants4Fun I think Solenopsis invicta workers have modified ovaries for stingers, not sure about other ant though.

[William. T]

I grab queens by their wings.

[LC3]

I grab queens by their wings.

What happens if they shed their wings. o-O

[Desnob]

All you need to catch a queen is a small container. I caught a queen this morning using a small leaf to lift her up very slightly and then gently dropped her into the vial.

[antsinmypants]

A pair of Dixie cups works best for Pogonomyrmex's scavenging on the ground or dug up in the soil.

 

Yesterday I lost my stainless steel featherweight forceps while trying to catch the first of four Camponotus vicinus (black head and gaster, red thorax) queens. I managed to get her into a urinalysis cup without directly touching her. The 4th queen was not so lucky. I must have crushed her with my leather gloves b/c she was DOA by the time I got her into the cup. The first queen had the biggest gaster of the four of them, and so I am assuming she is the founding queen. I put the urinalysis cups into a THA formicarium and let them transfer themselves and their brood into their new home. This morning, I see a clump of eggs that I presume were laid overnight by one of the smaller queens who is in the same chamber. Oh, and true to my name, I had ants in my pants yesterday. Ouch!

 

Later in the day yesterday I used a 3-foot long wrecking bar to rip open the bark of a fallen tree and caught 3 Camponotus modoc queens (black body, reddish legs). Without the forceps I had to coax the queen out with a makeshift probe using whatever I could find on the ground. Looking back, I should have attached the forceps to my neck with a chain. Now I have to cough up $6.99 to purchase another one. Double Ouch !!

[LC3]

Seems like a rough day for you. Atleats you got yourself a nice load of Camponotus.

[SheldonLee5]

Thanks guys.. I thought I heard someone using an aspirator to "suck" them into the tube! 

[BrittonLS]

Yeah, I've seen the aspirator too, seems like a pretty nice way to go especially if you're picking up a whole bunch at once. 

 

The featherweight forceps are great from what I've seen.

 

Personally I use a q-tip and try to roll it backwards and scoop up the queen from in front, she usually sticks to the cotton and then I can tap her into my container. Don't roll it 'towards' her though or you'll just roll over and crush her lol.

[Crystals]

I tend to use a small shovel usually attached to those kid's play sand buckets.  Or anything that they can climb up or into.  I use featherweight foceps to grab their legs if they are in a tight spot.

I have a odd tendancy to find most of the queens racing along my driveway.

[Chromerust]

Nothing is quicker and easier to grab a queen off the ground than polyester fiber used in pillows and stuffed animals. Just pinch it between your fingers. Second best would be a sponge.

[AntsTexas]

1st when i find a queen i use packing tape (the cardboard roll it comes in) place it over the queen (so she won't escape) then i get out a tube or something so she can climb up

into it then i seal the open end with cotton....

 

[AntsTexas]

1st when i find a queen i use packing tape (the cardboard roll it comes in) place it over the queen (so she won't escape) then i get out a tube or something so she can climb up

into it then i seal the open end with cotton....

 

 

 

A pair of Dixie cups works best for Pogonomyrmex's scavenging on the ground or dug up in the soil.

 

Yesterday I lost my stainless steel featherweight forceps while trying to catch the first of four Camponotus vicinus (black head and gaster, red thorax) queens. I managed to get her into a urinalysis cup without directly touching her. The 4th queen was not so lucky. I must have crushed her with my leather gloves b/c she was DOA by the time I got her into the cup. The first queen had the biggest gaster of the four of them, and so I am assuming she is the founding queen. I put the urinalysis cups into a THA formicarium and let them transfer themselves and their brood into their new home. This morning, I see a clump of eggs that I presume were laid overnight by one of the smaller queens who is in the same chamber. Oh, and true to my name, I had ants in my pants yesterday. Ouch!

 

Later in the day yesterday I used a 3-foot long wrecking bar to rip open the bark of a fallen tree and caught 3 Camponotus modoc queens (black body, reddish legs). Without the forceps I had to coax the queen out with a makeshift probe using whatever I could find on the ground. Looking back, I should have attached the forceps to my neck with a chain. Now I have to cough up $6.99 to purchase another one. Double Ouch !!

 

do like i do pull ur socks over your pants (just b sure fix it back when ur done, as people will look at u funny, trust me)

[antsinmypants]

Oh, this is just great.....mutant zombie ants.....one of the C. vicinus queens has a mite infestation. I've isolated the whole formicarium by placing it in a different room in my house, etc. Unfortunately, she's not the only one with it. Some of the workers have it too. Should I keep the colony and see if life can find a way or just destroy them now? Triple Ouch !!!

Edited by antsinmypants, June 26 2015 - 4:26 PM.

[Ants4fun]

Oh, this is just great.....mutant zombie ants.....one of the C. vicinus queens has a mite infestation. I've isolated the whole formicarium by placing it in a different room in my house, etc. Unfortunately, she's not the only one with it. Some of the workers have it too. Should I keep the colony and see if life can find a way or just destroy them now? Triple Ouch !!!

I guess I would be guilty if I collected a colony from the wild, only to kill it. If anything just let them go where you found them, instead of just killing them. In the wild they deal with mites all the time. The only reason their deadly, is in a closed space, where the ants can't escape. And the ants are stressed on top of that. So if anything let them go.

[AntsTexas]

we will eat your brains, a tiny bit at a time... lol

 

 

sorry 4 the mites problem 

Edited by AntsTexas, June 26 2015 - 5:48 PM.