22 replies to this topic

[JasperNeedsHelp]

Today I found this lovely lady (my first queen!) in my very own front yard, and I almost thought she was a worker until I noticed she looked odd. I was wandering down my little brick walkway where lots of ants usually make their way and spotted her and had to pick her up. I got her settled into a very temporary jar setup, and I will be moving her to a tube as soon as I can get one. The pictures are a bit blurry and don't do her a lot of justice as she didn't like to sit still and I'm still getting used to my phone camera, but she's a pretty deep shade of reddish brown to her gaster, which is a much darker, almost black shade of reddish brown and has a few lightish colored hairs. She's got a v-shaped pattern on her backside, and she's got visible wing scars from what I can see. She's about two centimeters long or so, I haven't gotten an exact measurement of her yet but she's rather small.





The thing is, I don't know if she's been mated or not because I found her today. Which I thought was odd, I wasn't expecting to find anything for a few months, hence my lack of preparation for her. Could she have a colony elsewhere perhaps? Or are there queens in flight that I'm just unaware of? My apologies for my many questions, I am new to the hobby!

Edited by JasperNeedsHelp, March 8 2022 - 9:58 PM.

[ANTS_KL]

Welcome to the community! Your queen looks to be a species in the genus Solenopsis. I cannot give you an exact species because I don't know much about Solenopsis. She is probably walking around after a nuptial flight that happened earlier. Good luck!


 

[ColAnt735]

This queen is a Solenopsis species and is most likely Solenopsis invicta (Or Red Imported Fire Ant, RIFA for short )based on the V shaped markings on the thorax and that the head is not bulky enough for Solenopsis geminata. We would need to see the mandibles in order to count the mandibular teeth if there are three mandibular teeth this queen is Solenopsis invicta two mandibular teeth this queen is Solenopsis xyloni. These ants are apparently very easy to keep  ( I can't confirm through personal experience because we don't have RIFA in Canada) these ants also grow super fast.

Edited by ColAnt735, March 9 2022 - 5:48 AM.

[JasperNeedsHelp]

This queen is a Solenopsis species this is most likely Solenopsis invicta (Or Red Imported Fire Ant, RIFA for short )based on the V shaped markings on the thorax and that the head is not bulky enough for Solenopsis geminata. We would need to see the mandibles in order to count the mandibular teeth if there are three mandibular teeth this queen is Solenopsis invicta two mandibular teeth this queen is Solenopsis xyloni.

I don't suppose this image would help any?

I might have to wait until tomorrow morning to take some more pictures of her, and I can try to get some close-ups of her head if that would be more efficient?

Anyways, thank you both very much for your input so far! It's been extremely helpful already!

[CheetoLord02]

Definitely Solenopsis invicta. I am sorry for your loss.

[JasperNeedsHelp]

Definitely Solenopsis invicta. I am sorry for your loss.

My loss?? Why would she be a loss? :')

[ColAnt735]

These pictures clarify it. That is Solenopsis invicta a major pest and explode in population but fun to keep none the less. 

Edited by ColAnt735, March 9 2022 - 10:49 AM.

[CheetoLord02]

 

Definitely Solenopsis invicta. I am sorry for your loss.

My loss?? Why would she be a loss? :')

 

They can be a nightmare to keep. Extremely fast growth, huge colonies, and very aggressive with a painful sting. If they get out of control it can be quite unfortunate, and it's very easy for them to get out of control

[antgallery]

Sorry for your loss is exactly what I thought when I saw the first picture. Probably not the best first species to keep.

[TennesseeAnts]

 

 

Definitely Solenopsis invicta. I am sorry for your loss.

My loss?? Why would she be a loss? :')

 

They can be a nightmare to keep. Extremely fast growth, huge colonies, and very aggressive with a painful sting. If they get out of control it can be quite unfortunate, and it's very easy for them to get out of control

 

I think you misspelled "when".

[azzaaazzzz00]

LOL, it took me a while to relize what you meant    

Edited by azzaaazzzz00, March 9 2022 - 3:53 PM.

[RushmoreAnts]

 

Definitely Solenopsis invicta. I am sorry for your loss.

My loss?? Why would she be a loss? :')

 

The species is notorious for being ravenous, aggressive, unmanageable for ant keepers, and destructive to crops and the ecosystem (I wouldn't be surprised if this species alone is partially responsible for all ants being classified as "plant pests" and thus banned from inter-state travel without a permit).

[ZTYguy]

Invicta sucks, that species alone has caused this community of ant keepers more strife and hardship than any battle of power between people in this hobby. As AntsDakota said previously, this species is the main antagonist to this hobby.

[JasperNeedsHelp]

So what in summary should I do with her? I guess it won't be beneficial to keep her as you guys mentioned, but what should be done with her? Should I maybe exterminate her since she's a considerable pest? Or just release her, which isn't what I'm thinking tbh... I don't know if she'd even be worth a trade either, I'm kinda bummed the first queen wasn't really a keeper-worthy species

Edited by JasperNeedsHelp, March 10 2022 - 9:45 AM.

[United-Ants]

keep her   how i control any ant  sp is to limit  there protein and give them more sugar water  limit the heat    

[TacticalHandleGaming]

If acquiring/building bigger nests for you isn't an issue... Why not keep her? Just limit food accordingly and you can keep them from getting too out of control. While I personally wouldn't keep her, don't let people discourage you from doing so. 

 

Just know they are escape artists, and can be very aggressive. 

Edited by TacticalHandleGaming, March 10 2022 - 11:44 AM.

[Manitobant]

So what in summary should I do with her? I guess it won't be beneficial to keep her as you guys mentioned, but what should be done with her? Should I maybe exterminate her since she's a considerable pest? Or just release her, which isn't what I'm thinking tbh... I don't know if she'd even be worth a trade either, I'm kinda bummed the first queen wasn't really a keeper-worthy species

i personally wouldn’t listen to what the others here said. While invicta can get out of control very quickly, you can always freeze the colony if they start to cause problems. Invicta are also very hard to kill, meaning they are perfect for learning the basics of ant care.

[RushmoreAnts]

You can keep her if you want; it's not doing anyone any harm (except maybe you if you get stung or they start escaping). Just DO NOT release them. You'll do your local native ants a favor. If you really don't want to deal with that, you can freeze her, but you don't have to.

[Chickalo]

"Sorry for your lost," final last words

 

Basically what everybody else already said, plus a couple side notes.

 

First, the whole "not easy to kill" thing is kinda a blursing, because on one hand it's not a "Whoops, I overwatered my colony and now they're drowning," but on the other hand it's also a "Whoops, I let my colony get out of control and now they're taking over the greater Tampa area."  Again, do be careful with how much you feed them.  I do recommend you keep them, but I also don't.  If you are going to keep them, prepare to buy a god's worth of fluon and make sure you have pest control on speed dial in a worst case scenarios (good luck explaining that one).  

 

You've already heard it all, don't let them escape, don't overfeed them, etc etc.

 

Edit:  I'm realising now I said "First," without having a second...

Edited by Chickalo, March 10 2022 - 1:31 PM.

[Manitobant]

As i said, he can always freeze them if the colony gets out of control. Invicta are actually quite fun to keep until they suddenly aren’t…