11 replies to this topic

[Aewhistory]

So my son has been bitten by the ant bug (in a good way). He LOVES ants and is constantly trying to bring wild ants into our house. He has even wanted to find some Termites to bring home but, thankfully, I have convinced him that this may not be wise.

Anyway, we have ordered him a small formicarium that has some holes to be expanded. It will arrive next week, but now we need to figure out what to keep in it. I’ve put out some feelers at different places (including here a little) to get a colony, but I’m not really sure what species I should be aiming for. I’m just barely educated enough to know that the parasitic ants are usually not a good starter ant and I won’t have termites* in my house. That only leaves, what, around 8,000 species of ants?

I forgot to mention that I’m also aware that it is best to only keep ant species native to one’s area (New Jersey in my case). Finding a complete-ish list for NJ has been harder than I thought and even then I don’t really know what I am looking at. So I’d love some help. Any feedback would be welcome!

*-apologies to board termite keepers but you all must live in cement boxes in order to sleep at night.

[Manitobant]

For an easy species I would recommend tetramorium immigrans which are flying now. They are fast growers that are very forgiving to mistakes.

[Canadian anter]

List of NJ species

• Aphaenogaster carolinensis
• Aphaenogaster fulva
• Aphaenogaster lamellidens
• Aphaenogaster picea
• Aphaenogaster rudis
• Aphaenogaster tennesseensis
• Aphaenogaster treatae
• Brachymyrmex depilis
• Camponotus americanus
• Camponotus caryae
• Camponotus castaneus
• Camponotus chromaiodes
• Camponotus herculeanus
• Camponotus nearcticus
• Camponotus novaeboracensis
• Camponotus pennsylvanicus
• Camponotus subbarbatus
• Colobopsis mississippiensis
• Crematogaster cerasi
• Crematogaster laeviuscula
• Crematogaster lineolata
• Crematogaster pilosa
• Dolichoderus mariae
• Dolichoderus plagiatus
• Dolichoderus pustulatus
• Dolichoderus taschenbergi
• Dorymyrmex bureni
• Dorymyrmex grandulus
• Forelius pruinosus
• Formica difficilis
• Formica dolosa
• Formica exsectoides
• Formica incerta
• Formica integra
• Formica neogagates
• Formica neorufibarbis
• Formica obscuripes
• Formica obscuriventris
• Formica pallidefulva
• Formica pergandei
• Formica querquetulana
• Formica rubicunda
• Formica subaenescens
• Formica subintegra
• Formica subsericea
• Lasius americanus
• Lasius aphidicola
• Lasius brevicornis
• Lasius claviger
• Lasius interjectus
• Lasius latipes
• Lasius minutus
• Lasius murphyi
• Lasius nearcticus
• Lasius neoniger
• Lasius speculiventris
• Lasius subglaber
• Monomorium emarginatum
• Monomorium minimum
• Monomorium viridum
• Myrmecina americana
• Myrmica americana
• Myrmica fracticornis
• Myrmica incompleta
• Myrmica latifrons
• Myrmica pinetorum
• Myrmica punctiventris
• Myrmica spatulata
• Nylanderia arenivaga
• Nylanderia faisonensis
• Nylanderia parvula
• Pheidole bicarinata
• Pheidole davisi
• Pheidole morrisii
• Pheidole pilifera
• Pheidole tysoni
• Polyergus lucidus
• Polyergus sanwaldi
• Ponera pennsylvanica
• Prenolepis imparis
• Proceratium crassicorne
• Proceratium pergandei
• Proceratium silaceum
• Pseudomyrmex pallidus
• Solenopsis carolinensis
• Solenopsis molesta
• Stenamma brevicorne
• Stenamma impar
• Stigmatomma pallipes
• Strumigenys clypeata
• Strumigenys ohioensis
• Strumigenys pulchella
• Strumigenys rostrata
• Strumigenys talpa
• Strumigenys wrayi
• Tapinoma sessile
• Temnothorax ambiguus
• Temnothorax americanus
• Temnothorax curvispinosus
• Temnothorax longispinosus
• Temnothorax pergandei
• Temnothorax schaumii
• Temnothorax texanus
• Trachymyrmex septentrionalis

List of ants suitable for beginners in NJ

• Aphaenogaster carolinensis
• Aphaenogaster fulva
• Aphaenogaster lamellidens
• Aphaenogaster picea
• Aphaenogaster rudis
• Aphaenogaster treatae
• Brachymyrmex depilis
• Camponotus americanus
• Camponotus caryae
• Camponotus castaneus
• Camponotus chromaiodes
• Camponotus herculeanus
• Camponotus nearcticus
• Camponotus novaeboracensis
• Camponotus pennsylvanicus
• Camponotus subbarbatus
• Colobopsis mississippiensis
• Crematogaster cerasi
• Crematogaster laeviuscula
• Crematogaster lineolata
• Crematogaster pilosa
• Dorymyrmex bureni
• Dorymyrmex grandulus
• Forelius pruinosus
• Formica difficilis
• Formica dolosa
• Formica incerta
• Formica integra
• Formica neogagates
• Formica neorufibarbis
• Formica pallidefulva
• Formica querquetulana
• Formica subaenescens
• Formica subsericea
• Lasius americanus
• Lasius brevicornis
• Lasius nearcticus
• Lasius neoniger
• Monomorium emarginatum
• Monomorium minimum
• Monomorium viridum
• Myrmecina americana
• Myrmica americana
• Myrmica fracticornis
• Myrmica incompleta
• Myrmica latifrons
• Myrmica pinetorum
• Myrmica punctiventris
• Myrmica spatulata
• Nylanderia arenivaga
• Nylanderia faisonensis
• Nylanderia parvula
• Pheidole bicarinata
• Pheidole davisi
• Pheidole morrisii
• Pheidole pilifera
• Pheidole tysoni
• Ponera pennsylvanica
• Prenolepis imparis
• Solenopsis molesta
• Tapinoma sessile
• Temnothorax ambiguus
• Temnothorax americanus
• Temnothorax curvispinosus
• Temnothorax schaumii
• Temnothorax texanus

[Aewhistory]

For an easy species I would recommend tetramorium immigrans which are flying now. They are fast growers that are very forgiving to mistakes.

  

Nice! I will read up on them immediately. Thanks!

List of NJ species

• Aphaenogaster carolinensis
• Aphaenogaster fulva
• Aphaenogaster lamellidens
  ..........
• Temnothorax schaumii
• Temnothorax texanus

Well, I was hoping for a large list, but that’ll do.

I kid, I kid; that list is amazing! Thank you so much. Did you compile this yourself or were you able to source it from someone else? I ask because I tried googling ‘ants new jersey’ and stuff like that. Mostly what came up were extermination services with a very modest list of ant species in NJ.

[PacificNorthWestern]

I would suggests camponotus or formica, 2 of my favorite genres of ants. Camponotus is a slow growing species of ant that is very easy to keep and is very large for an ant, which is good for observations. Formica is a faster growing slightly smaller species of ant, faster than camponotus. or temnothorax which usually lives under the bark or branches or fallen logs. I would not recommend tetramorium as they are very fast growing and hard to contain, and not that fun to watch.

[PacificNorthWestern]

 

For an easy species I would recommend tetramorium immigrans which are flying now. They are fast growers that are very forgiving to mistakes.

  

Nice! I will read up on them immediately. Thanks!

List of NJ species

• Aphaenogaster carolinensis
• Aphaenogaster fulva
• Aphaenogaster lamellidens
  ..........
• Temnothorax schaumii
• Temnothorax texanus

Well, I was hoping for a large list, but that’ll do.

I kid, I kid; that list is amazing! Thank you so much. Did you compile this yourself or were you able to source it from someone else? I ask because I tried googling ‘ants new jersey’ and stuff like that. Mostly what came up were extermination services with a very modest list of ant species in NJ.

 

He most likely copy and pasted it from AntMaps which is a web site that records which species are from what state/region

[Canadian anter]

 

 

For an easy species I would recommend tetramorium immigrans which are flying now. They are fast growers that are very forgiving to mistakes.

  

Nice! I will read up on them immediately. Thanks!

List of NJ species

• Aphaenogaster carolinensis
• Aphaenogaster fulva
• Aphaenogaster lamellidens
  ..........
• Temnothorax schaumii
• Temnothorax texanus

Well, I was hoping for a large list, but that’ll do.

I kid, I kid; that list is amazing! Thank you so much. Did you compile this yourself or were you able to source it from someone else? I ask because I tried googling ‘ants new jersey’ and stuff like that. Mostly what came up were extermination services with a very modest list of ant species in NJ.

 

He most likely copy and pasted it from AntMaps which is a web site that records which species are from what state/region

 

Yup. Antmaps isn't the most reliable though, so I took the liberties of removing species that I believed would be dubious at best. Of course, the list doesn't encompass nonnative species, but I think it should work very well for you

[Mercutia]

Easy and commonly found species I would recommend:

 

Tetramorium sp.E/imigrans: The common pavement ant, these can be found on sidewalks having mass wars with other T. imigrans colonies. Very easy to keep, very hardy, and very common. They are on the small side but are very prolific and have a short incubation period from egg to ant. Uncannily they can also go without a dormant winter season (so you can keep them active all year around) however they do better with a yearly period of dormancy.

 

Camponotus pennslycanicus: The black carpenter ant. These are also very common and are one of the bigger sized ants in your area. These are great for young children because the bigger size of the queen and workers makes the easier to observer with the naked eye. They too are a very hardy species of ant however their incubation times take much longer than say, Tetramoriums. Unlike Tetramoriums however, they do REQUIRE a period of winter dormancy. That is easily simulated by putting them in a warmer part of your fridge.

 

Camponotus novaborecensis: Like their pennsylvanicus cousin, pretty much everything is the same however these have red/burgundy thoraxes which makes them a more colorful option to their pennsylvanicus cousin.

[RushmoreAnts]

I wouldn't recommend Camponotus for a seven-year-old. They require lots of patience. I would recommend Tetramorium immigrans, or any Formica species if you cannot find any. Both have fast life cycles, yet Tetramorium colonies actually grow much faster as a whole.

[PacificNorthWestern]

I wouldn't recommend Camponotus for a seven-year-old. They require lots of patience. I would recommend Tetramorium immigrans, or any Formica species if you cannot find any. Both have fast life cycles, yet Tetramorium colonies actually grow much faster as a whole.

true, but a camponotus colony would make it containable in a test tube or a small formicarium and are good ants for a budget as they require less space despite there size. they are fun to watch and can get big majors which are cool to look at.

[Unfrozen]

for a beginner id say lasius neoniger

[RushmoreAnts]

for a beginner id say lasius neoniger

That would work as well, although they don't fly until around Labor Day. Lasius americanus fly in August, though. The two are pretty much the same as far as care goes. They just look slightly different.