240 replies to this topic

[Bracchymyrmex]

As this topic has become quite popular over the past couple weeks I have decided to make a thread for it. This will allow for an organized compilation of advice and updates from around the US. Use this forum to share Prenolepis questions, concerns and whatever else you wish to share. Thank you!

 

 

In Pennsylvania, we are experiencing a particular warm front (heat wave?) with a high of 74 Fahrenheit tomorrow. I'm expecting a flight.

[rarankhan]

What's the best type of habitat to find these guys?

[Jamie_Garrison]

This is some information I found W.R. TSCHINKEL did a great publication on these ants

 

http://www.bio.fsu.e...ions/1987-3.pdf

 

 

 

[Nathant2131]

It was 69 degrees F and sunny at one point here in Northern MA but there was not one ant. There was still some snow on the ground and it was still a little cool for them so I think that was the problem.

[Nathant2131]

What's the best type of habitat to find these guys?

At the bases of hardwood trees or in tree stumps in very young open forests, or basically anywhere where there are at least a few trees grouped together. This is where I find them in MA anyways.

[rarankhan]

 

What's the best type of habitat to find these guys?

At the bases of hardwood trees or in tree stumps in very young open forests, or basically anywhere where there are at least a few trees grouped together. This is where I find them in MA anyways.

 

 

I live in a city, so are city parks a decent place to find them?

[Nathant2131]

What's the best type of habitat to find these guys?

At the bases of hardwood trees or in tree stumps in very young open forests, or basically anywhere where there are at least a few trees grouped together. This is where I find them in MA anyways.

 
I live in a city, so are city parks a decent place to find them?

I live in the suburbs so I wouldn't know. As long as there are trees.

[Goldsystem]

I live in Portland and most p impairs here are in or around walls, that's were I found a lot of queens nearby those nests aswell last spring.

Edited by Goldsystem, February 23 2017 - 1:18 PM.

[Kevin]

Lot of males here, no queens to be found..

[Bracchymyrmex]

Thank you Jamie, I will look for some more websites to post here to help people learn more about Prenolepis.

 

http://www.schoolofants.org/species/96check this one out for a brief background on Prenolepis.

 

This is what the queens typically look like from a distance, no they are not mine I wish they were:

 

 

http://s50.photobuck...t]=1&sort=1&o=0

Edited by Bracchymyrmex, February 23 2017 - 2:37 PM.

[VoidElecent]

Lot of males here, no queens to be found..

 

Bracc. and I searched around our school's campus today in search for Prenolepis flights. Our school, which is in an urban environment, has two meadow-like smal forests. There was a flight in one of them, but we too, only spotted male alates. We don't really know what's up but we'll be looking in the same spot tomorrow.

[Jamie_Garrison]

Can you just put say three queens together if you find them all in the same day

[Bracchymyrmex]

I'm not quite sure, I am aware that Prenolepis can have polygynous colonies but I am not sure how to introduce the queens to each other. I'd recommend digging into some research. 

 

Congrats on another catch!

 

Still waiting for some queens to show up here....

[Canadian anter]

I'm not quite sure, I am aware that Prenolepis can have polygynous colonies but I am not sure how to introduce the queens to each other. I'd recommend digging into some research. 

 

Congrats on another catch!

 

Still waiting for some queens to show up here....

Actually they are pleometrophic and eventually kill each other

[noebl1]

I'm trying to find an email from another member on here I had met locally who kept P. Imparis.  I thought he mentioned he had kept three queens together for several months, then they killed each other off until one remained.  

 

Update below on this

Edited by noebl1, February 24 2017 - 8:43 AM.

[BMM]

I recall someone describing how they started a polygynous Prenolepis imparis colony. They kept the queens separate until they had their first few workers. After that they opened up the test tubes and let the workers mingle. Apparently providing ample food is key, probably to keep competition down. After the workers became acclimated to each other, they eventually merged into a single colony. This probably isn't guaranteed to work, but it might be better than keeping the queens together from the start. If anyone's lucky enough to catch a bunch of queens, it might be an interesting experiment to try.

[Nathant2131]

I recall someone describing how they started a polygynous Prenolepis imparis colony. They kept the queens separate until they had their first few workers. After that they opened up the test tubes and let the workers mingle. Apparently providing ample food is key, probably to keep competition down. After the workers became acclimated to each other, they eventually merged into a single colony. This probably isn't guaranteed to work, but it might be better than keeping the queens together from the start. If anyone's lucky enough to catch a bunch of queens, it might be an interesting experiment to try.

If I catch enough to spare, I will be up to that.

[Jamie_Garrison]

I read in a lot of publications that here in Florida they surveyed and excavated 10 ant mounds 8 of 10 were over seven years old and had over 5 queens in each

Edited by Jamie_Garrison, February 23 2017 - 7:01 PM.

[Jamie_Garrison]

https://imgur.com/a/PIpuW
Can someone make this a viewable pic my phone is acting up

Edited by Jamie_Garrison, February 23 2017 - 7:01 PM.

[noebl1]

I got an email from my friend who said he saw this thread so updated my post above, but account here is locked so couldn't post:

 "From my experience and another youtubers two queens is usually a strong percent of success from immediate capture. Any more and the difficulty gets increased. The reason why it gets difficult IMO is that one queen becomes the true queen and the rest of them do not move. When I transfer them to a new setup, the main queen will move but the rest WILL not. The ants have to force them to come by pulling but they give up after a while and they just abandon them"