26 replies to this topic

[B_rad0806]

Welcome to Ant Paradise     

[Xanuri]

Welcome to Ant Paradise     

Thank you! I am glad to be here!

[Luke_in_AZ]

Here is a guide on the best ways to catch queens:http://www.formicult...tch-queen-ants/
And drew (the forum creator) has a guide to desert anting further down in the thread. The recent honeypots were located by digging up ant founding chambers (little funnels of dirt) with shovels. Using a blacklight or a mercury vapor bulb at night can also lure in queens and during monsoon season things will start to get crazy. Blacklights can be bought at any local party store and the more powerful mercury vapor bulbs can be bought at pet stores where they are used as heating lamps for reptiles. These lights can also be bought off sites like eBay if you can’t find one elsewhere. Lifting rocks can also yield queens and after a nuptial flight you can find tons under a single one. Even if nuptial flights haven’t occurred in a while you can still find some queens as in December I was able to locate two solenopsis queens in Palm Springs, CA. In case you don’t know where to look for queens, here are some of the best spots in and around the valley of the sun:

1. Phoenix Sonoran preserve

2. South mountain park

3. Phoenix mountains preserve

4. Tonto national forest (here you can find non desert species like camponotus, Formica and temnothorax)

5. White tank mountains regional park (this park has some mid elevation areas where you can find some of the above species)

Bonus:

1. Organ pipe cactus national monument (the best place in Arizona for anting because here and only here you can find atta mexicana, a leafcutting species that puts the locally common acromyrmex versicolor to shame

2. Chiricahua mountains (the best mountainous area for anting in Arizona with lots of unique species)

I'll be traveling by Gila Bend next week and could swing down to the Organ Pipe area and look for some Atta Mexicana but from what I've read, it would be pretty hard to catch a queen in the deep nest.  Is the only hope to try and be there when they fly?

Edited by Luke_in_AZ, June 29 2020 - 3:53 PM.

[Froggy]

 

Here is a guide on the best ways to catch queens:http://www.formicult...tch-queen-ants/
And drew (the forum creator) has a guide to desert anting further down in the thread. The recent honeypots were located by digging up ant founding chambers (little funnels of dirt) with shovels. Using a blacklight or a mercury vapor bulb at night can also lure in queens and during monsoon season things will start to get crazy. Blacklights can be bought at any local party store and the more powerful mercury vapor bulbs can be bought at pet stores where they are used as heating lamps for reptiles. These lights can also be bought off sites like eBay if you can’t find one elsewhere. Lifting rocks can also yield queens and after a nuptial flight you can find tons under a single one. Even if nuptial flights haven’t occurred in a while you can still find some queens as in December I was able to locate two solenopsis queens in Palm Springs, CA. In case you don’t know where to look for queens, here are some of the best spots in and around the valley of the sun:

1. Phoenix Sonoran preserve

2. South mountain park

3. Phoenix mountains preserve

4. Tonto national forest (here you can find non desert species like camponotus, Formica and temnothorax)

5. White tank mountains regional park (this park has some mid elevation areas where you can find some of the above species)

Bonus:

1. Organ pipe cactus national monument (the best place in Arizona for anting because here and only here you can find atta mexicana, a leafcutting species that puts the locally common acromyrmex versicolor to shame

2. Chiricahua mountains (the best mountainous area for anting in Arizona with lots of unique species)

I'll be traveling by Gila Bend next week and could swing down to the Organ Pipe area and look for some Atta Mexicana but from what I've read, it would be pretty hard to catch a queen in the deep nest.  Is the only hope to try and be there when they fly?

I'm pretty sure they fly early in the morning at sunrise after a rain, it would probably be best to wake up at first light though, and since it's monsoon season if it rains you probably have a good chance of seeing them

[Manitobant]

Here is a guide on the best ways to catch queens:http://www.formicult...tch-queen-ants/
And drew (the forum creator) has a guide to desert anting further down in the thread. The recent honeypots were located by digging up ant founding chambers (little funnels of dirt) with shovels. Using a blacklight or a mercury vapor bulb at night can also lure in queens and during monsoon season things will start to get crazy. Blacklights can be bought at any local party store and the more powerful mercury vapor bulbs can be bought at pet stores where they are used as heating lamps for reptiles. These lights can also be bought off sites like eBay if you can’t find one elsewhere. Lifting rocks can also yield queens and after a nuptial flight you can find tons under a single one. Even if nuptial flights haven’t occurred in a while you can still find some queens as in December I was able to locate two solenopsis queens in Palm Springs, CA. In case you don’t know where to look for queens, here are some of the best spots in and around the valley of the sun:
1. Phoenix Sonoran preserve
2. South mountain park
3. Phoenix mountains preserve
4. Tonto national forest (here you can find non desert species like camponotus, Formica and temnothorax)
5. White tank mountains regional park (this park has some mid elevation areas where you can find some of the above species)
Bonus:
1. Organ pipe cactus national monument (the best place in Arizona for anting because here and only here you can find atta mexicana, a leafcutting species that puts the locally common acromyrmex versicolor to shame
2. Chiricahua mountains (the best mountainous area for anting in Arizona with lots of unique species)

I'll be traveling by Gila Bend next week and could swing down to the Organ Pipe area and look for some Atta Mexicana but from what I've read, it would be pretty hard to catch a queen in the deep nest. Is the only hope to try and be there when they fly?

you could always try digging a small colony, as the colony hasnt expanded that deep yet. Also, here is an article i think you should look at that contains maps showing records of atta at organ pipe: https://www.nps.gov/...intzer_3876.htm

Edited by Manitobant, June 29 2020 - 5:07 PM.

[Luke_in_AZ]

you could always try digging a small colony, as the colony hasnt expanded that deep yet. Also, here is an article i think you should look at that contains maps showing records of atta at organ pipe: https://www.nps.gov/...intzer_3876.htm

 

 

Awesome article.  Good find!  Whenever I make it down there, I'll have to look around the edges of the park and see I can find anything.

[Manitobant]

you could always try digging a small colony, as the colony hasnt expanded that deep yet. Also, here is an article i think you should look at that contains maps showing records of atta at organ pipe: https://www.nps.gov/...intzer_3876.htm

 
Awesome article.  Good find!  Whenever I make it down there, I'll have to look around the edges of the park and see I can find anything.

id check the places on the map or at the very least that same habitat outside the park (washes on the border)