6 replies to this topic

[AntBoy]

Hello,

 

Requesting help in identifying ants. I am mom to 12 year old son who loves ants. We bought a queen with some brood/workers (?) a couple of months ago. We were told it was the type Formica. I went to the forum with sheets on types of ants to hopefully gather more information on exactly what they like to eat, and if they need to hibernate (it was suggested to us that the type we purchased might not require hibernation). There were multiple types of Formica Ant care sheets and I'm not sure which to look at, or if the original ID was correct.

 

I want my son to be successful at this and do what's right for the ants, any help is appreciated. I don't know where they were collected and I don't have any measurements. I have attached 3 pictures and I hope they help. The third picture is in 3/8" tubing so maybe that helps approximate the size of the queen.

 

I apologize for not having any of the other details the pinned post requested. We are in early days of ants.

 

Thank you,

 -leslie

Attached Files

•  Ant3.pdf   434.31KB   99 downloads
•  Ant1.pdf   383.28KB   84 downloads
•  Ant2.pdf   362.57KB   99 downloads

[Jean]

I am new to this also, and I have only seen pictures of formica not the actual ants. The queen and workers do look like formica. I would guess Formica Fusca, which is totally a guess. Are they completely black?

 

A place I find helpful where there are ant photos - truly incredible, close-up ant photos - is Alexander Wild's website alexanderwild.com. If you click on "ants" you can look them up by genus … you will find Formica there. It hasn't include every genus but many of the common ones.

[Ferox_Formicae]

I'm positive that these are a member of the genus Formica, maybe Formica manni? I'm not entirely certain, but the coloration matches pretty well.

[gcsnelling]

Please oh please post the images directly into your post,  many people, myself included will not click on outside links to view images.

[AntBoy]

Thanks for the information all of you. I'll check those out with my son.  gcsnelling  - I was having trouble figuring out how to add the pics to the post, I just clicked on the attach files option and used that. 

 

Regards all and thanks for responding,

 -leslie

[AntBoy]

I am new to this also, and I have only seen pictures of formica not the actual ants. The queen and workers do look like formica. I would guess Formica Fusca, which is totally a guess. Are they completely black?

 

A place I find helpful where there are ant photos - truly incredible, close-up ant photos - is Alexander Wild's website alexanderwild.com. If you click on "ants" you can look them up by genus … you will find Formica there. It hasn't include every genus but many of the common ones.

Ah, my son is going to LIKE alexanderwild.com. Thanks for telling me about this site.

[FSTP]

Thanks for the information all of you. I'll check those out with my son.  gcsnelling  - I was having trouble figuring out how to add the pics to the post, I just clicked on the attach files option and used that. 

 

Regards all and thanks for responding,

 -leslie

 

 

Welcome to the forum! I wish you suscces in you and your sons ant adventures. If you're having trouble posting pictures, perhaps reviewing this thread will help. http://www.formicult...to-post-photos/

Edited by FSTP, November 18 2018 - 7:42 PM.