23 replies to this topic

[steelplant]

What you need is a macro lens, to help you take better photos. These simply are too blurry to narrow it down to even a genus (no offense intended, of course). https://www.amazon.c...-diversity_1_11

 

Thanks AntsDakota - have ordered one so hopefully that'll help clear things up. I was wondering how people managed to get such great photos. 

 

Thanks VoidElecent - you answered my question just as I was typing it. I'll do just that. I've got some semi-claustral set-ups for Myrmica rubra so will get one of those sorted for her. Give her something sweet and a euthanised baby cricket. Maybe then she'll settle down better.

 

Thanks everyone for your continued efforts. I only expected/hoped to find Lasius niger and Myrmica rubra queens in July, so this has really opened my eyes to the awesomeness and mystery of ant worlds out there. 

What you need is a macro lens, to help you take better photos. These simply are too blurry to narrow it down to even a genus (no offense intended, of course). https://www.amazon.c...-diversity_1_11

 

Thanks AntsDakota - have ordered one so hopefully that'll help clear things up. In the meantime should I assume she's semi-claustral and give her something sweet and a baby cricket? I do have a semi-claustral rig (test tube leading into 7cm cube outworld) I could move her into rather than feeding her in the test tube. I'm worrying that maybe she was just out foraging when 

[VoidElecent]

Thanks VoidElecent - you answered my question just as I was typing it. I'll do just that. I've got some semi-claustral set-ups for Myrmica rubra so will get one of those sorted for her. Give her something sweet and a euthanised baby cricket. Maybe then she'll settle down better.

 

Thanks everyone for your continued efforts. I only expected/hoped to find Lasius niger and Myrmica rubra queens in July, so this has really opened my eyes to the awesomeness and mystery of ant worlds out there.  

 

Yeah, she'll appreciate the cricket. Since Myrmica are semi-claustral, in their second year of founding while their workers from the first year are still very young, queens will often forage in the springtime. This means there's a chance she flew last year, and you caught her as she was looking for food.

 

While it is unfortunate that she may have abandoned her previous colony, with the right care, you will by all means be able to re-found her and start from scratch. I've done it before—just takes some patience.

[steelplant]

 

Yeah, she'll appreciate the cricket. Since Myrmica are semi-claustral, in their second year of founding while their workers from the first year are still very young, queens will often forage in the springtime. This means there's a chance she flew last year, and you caught her as she was looking for food.

 

While it is unfortunate that she may have abandoned her previous colony, with the right care, you will by all means be able to re-found her and start from scratch. I've done it before—just takes some patience.

 

 

I've been worrying that maybe she was just out foraging and I snatched her away from her colony. Wondering whether to just put her back. But then there was the swarming excited pack of Lasius niger that attracted my attention in the first place. Either way I guess our fates are entwined now and I'll do the best I can for her.

 

Thanks for all the help and advice and I'll keep this thread updated with how it goes. 

[RushmoreAnts]

Yeah, she'll appreciate the cricket. Since Myrmica are semi-claustral, in their second year of founding while their workers from the first year are still very young, queens will often forage in the springtime. This means there's a chance she flew last year, and you caught her as she was looking for food.
 
While it is unfortunate that she may have abandoned her previous colony, with the right care, you will by all means be able to re-found her and start from scratch. I've done it before—just takes some patience.

 
I've been worrying that maybe she was just out foraging and I snatched her away from her colony. Wondering whether to just put her back. But then there was the swarming excited pack of Lasius niger that attracted my attention in the first place. Either way I guess our fates are entwined now and I'll do the best I can for her.
 
Thanks for all the help and advice and I'll keep this thread updated with how it goes.

Well, you probably couldn’t find her nest, anyways, though. I’d just keep her.