11 replies to this topic

[Aewhistory]

So my son found an ant here in mercer county, nj.  We are fairly sure it is a queen, but not certain, and we have no idea what species.  I’ve taken two close up pictures, but they’re not great.  I will attach them here.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks!

 

Edit: I can take another pic to give scale.  My first guess was a carpenter ant, but it seems too small to be a queen, but the middle section seems like it has the hump where wings would’ve gone.  Anyway, thanks again.

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Edited by Aewhistory, October 22 2020 - 12:34 PM.

[TestSubjectOne]

Definitely a queen. It looks like it's in the genus Crematogaster, which is generally difficult to identify further.

[RushmoreAnts]

Definitely a queen. It looks like it's in the genus Crematogaster, which is generally difficult to identify further.

I second this.

[ANTdrew]

Third

[Aewhistory]

Okay, I took more pictures with my son.  These are better I think (at least I hope they are).

 

 

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[Aewhistory]

Thank you all!  She hasn’t laid any eggs in the few weeks we’ve had her, so we were starting to doubt our guess about her being a queen.  I just added a couple new pictures.  I don’t know if those will make any changes to your assessments, but thank you all for your help.  Now I need to read up on caring for Crematogaster!

 

edit: any suggestions on taking pictures of these little guys?  This is tough!

Edited by Aewhistory, October 22 2020 - 12:46 PM.

[Cephalotus]

Yes it's definitely a queen, no question about it. She may be infertile, or she may be waiting until the beginning of next season to start laying. She needs a winter hibernation

[Manitobant]

She will not lay until after hibernation. Stick her in the fridge for a few months and she will start laying after.

[ANTdrew]

Yes, she will not lay eggs until after hibernating. Put her in a standard test tube set up and put her in the fridge for 10-12 weeks.

[Aewhistory]

Hey folks, I just wanted to follow up.  It has been a tough winter for me.  My mom got very sick after I posted last and after a struggle she passed.  I have been a mess so I never hibernated the Crematogastor like you all suggested.  However, we did leave her alone in a dark space with a good water supply and a tiny amount of food.  She ignored the food (I figured she would but I can’t stop myself from leaving food.... it seems weird not to feed a pet) but when we next checked she had laid four eggs!  My son is thrilled as am I.  I’m still a bit worried that these might be “food” eggs queens lay, but I suppose time will tell.  Is there any way to tell the difference?  Do all queens Kay these “food” eggs for themselves and brood?

 

Thanks folks, you’ve all been wonderful.

Aaron

 

PS- should I post a follow up pic?

Edited by Aewhistory, February 18 2021 - 6:47 PM.

[ANTdrew]

I’m really sorry to hear about your struggles this year. Hopefully this queen can be a fun distraction from all the mess around us.
I’ve raised many, many Crematogaster queens now, and I’ve never had one that laid eggs fail to raise a colony. I think you can be optimistic at this point. They are exceedingly hardy queens.

[AleeGuy]

Sorry about the struggles, we hope ant keeping will help you get distracted(even if just a little) from that incident. True what ANTdrew says, he is really experienced crematomaster, so you can expect everything you hear what he says about Crematogaster be true.
Don't stress her, keep her calm and you'll see more heart butts in a few weeks(I know I'm bad at being cheerful and motivational haha lol)!