7 replies to this topic

[drawpositive]

I found two (I believe) queen ants roaming around on a trail in Newark, Delaware on 6-13-2021.  They are an orangish-reddish color and somewhat hairy.  They have a little spine in front of their gasters.  They both have ommatidia and (I believe) wing scars.

 

Could anyone confirm/weigh-in on the following:

 

1.). Am I correct in saying that these ants have wing scars?

2.) What is the identification (at least the genus) of these ants?

3.) If they are queens, are they fully claustral, partially claustral, or non-claustral?

 

 

Sorry for the quality of these photos, they are very quick and hard to focus on when taking photos.

Thank you in advance

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[Manitobant]

Lasius interjectus. She is a social parasite and will need host workers.

[Mettcollsuss]

1. Yes, they have wing scars. They're definitely queens.

2. I'm not great at Lasius identification, but I'm fairly comfortable saying that's Lasius interjectus.

3. They're parasitic. Here's a good thread for information on raising social parasites.

Edited by Mettcollsuss, June 13 2021 - 5:25 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Not a good species to start with if you’re starting out.

[drawpositive]

Thank you for the quick and precise responses.

 

...I am sad that this species is considered not a "beginner species."

 

On another note, I do have another founding Lasius sp. queen.  Her nanitic workers have not yet emerged, but they should be coming out soon.  

 

How long will the Lasius interjectus queens survive without parasitizing another Lasius sp. colony?

 

Would it be possible to have them live alone for a few weeks and then "sacrifice" a few of the non-parasitic Lasius workers to a Lasius interjectus queen?  I'm thinking that could be playing it a little fast and loose, but I'd still like to know...

 

Could anyone help with the identification of my already-founding Lasius sp. queen? She was found in southern New Jersey last August (2020)

Edited by drawpositive, June 13 2021 - 7:24 PM.

[UtahAnts]

Lasius neoniger, very common and easy species of ant

[Manitobant]

 
How long will the Lasius interjectus queens survive without parasitizing another Lasius sp. colony?

They can survive quite a while, as long as they are fed

 
Would it be possible to have them live alone for a few weeks and then "sacrifice" a few of the non-parasitic Lasius workers to a Lasius interjectus queen?  I'm thinking that could be playing it a little fast and loose, but I'd still like to know...

I would collect callow workers from a wild colony instead of taking ones from your own colony. You can find these pale-colored workers under rocks, and they are the easiest type of worker to introduce to a queen.

[CheetoLord02]

A young colony won't provide enough host workers for a parasite. Parasitic Lasius struggle to succeed with less than 30 host workers, and personally I recommend at least 100. You can achieve this a bit more easily by introducing just a few workers and a lot of host pupae to the queen. Also, L. interjectus are parasitic, so you can have multiple queens in one colony. Do the introduction all in one go, with all queens introduced to the same hosts at the same time.