19 replies to this topic

[Manitobant]

As the weather gets colder and the 2022 anting season comes to a close, it is once again time for the yearly highlights thread detailing our greatest catches, discoveries, achievements and overall highlights of the season.

Once again, i will start:


2022 has definitely been an exciting year for me. Probably the most notable event was catching formica bradleyi and exsectoides, two species i have been trying to obtain for years but haven’t been able to catch due to the park where i find them being closed. In addition to that, I successfully raised lasius latipes to biological workers, collected over 30 slave making formica queens and ended my last hunt of the season with around 200 parasitic lasius queens, including 50 interjectus.

Edited by Manitobant, September 30 2022 - 12:15 PM.

[ANTdrew]

My highlights were seeing my Pheidole, Nylanderia, and Crematogaster colonies raise alates for the second season. I also found Crematogaster ashmeadi and lots of cerasi. Founding a new Monomorium minimum colony with dual queens has been fun. It was a good season.

[OiledOlives]

This year, I got Pheidole morrisii, Pheidole bicarinata, Pheidole pilifera, Aphaenogaster treatae, Aphaenogaster tennesseensis, Aphaenogaster lamellidens, Aphaenogaster picea, and some other species. I got the Pheidole bicarinata to alates, which is a first for me. I also got not one, but two colonies of Lasius aphidicola to biological workers.

[NicholasP]

The highlights for me this year were documenting flight triggers and flight times of several Lasius and Acanthomyops species. My favorite catches of this year were my Camponotus novaeboracensis, Lasius latipes, and Formica sanguinea group queens. My favorite range extension I did this year was extend the range of C. subbarbatus by 10-15 miles further north of current records for Michigan. Not much this year though since I'm still having a hard time adjusting from the usual flight triggers in AZ to the flight triggers in Michigan. I see ants in Michigan are less reliant on rain and more on little wind and nice temperatures.

Edited by NicholasP, September 30 2022 - 2:20 PM.

[NickAnter]

For me, my most favorite find was my late Temnothorax arboreus queen. A range extension of hundreds of miles, and I am the only person to have found a queen of that species. Finding neogagates group Formica queens was pretty cool too, as I have wanted those for a while. And last but not least, finding Myrmecocystus testaceus queens in August.

[bmb1bee]

I was able to seriously get into antkeeping this year. I began to get more experience raising colonies of ants I'd always wanted, like Pheidole and Solenopsis (xyloni, not invicta). My first Acromyrmex colony is also doing pretty well, and I hope they continue to grow. Catching Prenolepis queens in February and Tetramorium queens in May-July were some of my favorite memories of this year. I was also able to find ants I'd never seen before in the area. Whether they're common or not, it's still pretty cool to find new ants. It was hard to imagine finding Hypoponera alates in front of my house, and I had no idea Cardiocondyla could be that common in my neighborhood.

But the craziest thing this year was the discovery of a winged Camponotus semitestaceus queen just a couple days ago, and right in front of my school!!! Didn't know they could be found in a suburban neighborhood and I'd never seen Camponotus anywhere around the area before, since Linepithema and Tetramorium were the most abundant ants around. This queen may or may not be fertile, but she taught me never to say never... 

Edited by bmb1bee, October 1 2022 - 11:48 AM.

[dspdrew]

This was probably the best ant season I've had in my 10 years of doing this. I've got lots of content to post on my Socal anting thread when I get the time.

[DevinTheAntKeeper]

My Highlight was getting my first pheidole quuen

[NicholasP]

I was able to seriously get into antkeeping this year. I began to get more experience raising colonies of ants I'd always wanted, like Pheidole and Solenopsis (xyloni, not invicta). My first Acromyrmex colony is also doing pretty well, and I hope they continue to grow. Catching Prenolepis queens in February and Tetramorium queens in May-July were some of my favorite memories of this year. I was also able to find ants I'd never seen before in the area. Whether they're common or not, it's still pretty cool to find new ants. It was hard to imagine finding Hypoponera alates in front of my house, and I had no idea Cardiocondyla could be that common in my neighborhood.

But the craziest thing this year was the discovery of a winged Camponotus semitestaceus queen just a couple days ago, and right in front of my school!!! Didn't know they could be found in a suburban neighborhood and I'd never seen Camponotus anywhere around the area before, since Linepithema and Tetramorium were the most abundant ants around. This queen may or may not be fertile, but she taught me never to say never... 

Trust me they can be in neighborhoods. I was bouncing off the walls when I found my first ocreatus queen walking down the street in front of my house.

[ColAnt735]

This year was the year where ant keeping really kicked off for me. I joined this forum, caught a lot of the queens of the species I wanted like Camponotus novaeboracensis, Myrmica, and Solenopsis molesta, and I raised many ant colonies successfully. I also went out and found lots of ant species in my area I hadn't seen before, like Monomorium minimum and Formica aserva. This forum has had a huge role to play in my ability to keep ants so I just want to thank you all for being such a great community.

[AntsCali098]

My highlights were probably catching hypoponera queens for the first time, and keeping honeypots for the first time, Myrmecocystus testaceus

[bmb1bee]

Trust me they can be in neighborhoods. I was bouncing off the walls when I found my first ocreatus queen walking down the street in front of my house.

I was quite literally jumping up and down within a few seconds of finding her haha. Thank goodness I had a container on hand, or else I would've had a mental breakdown. 

[DevinTheAntKeeper]

 

Trust me they can be in neighborhoods. I was bouncing off the walls when I found my first ocreatus queen walking down the street in front of my house.

I was quite literally jumping up and down within a few seconds of finding her haha. Thank goodness I had a container on hand, or else I would've had a mental breakdown. 

 

You got lucky cause once i saw 10 fire ant queens but i only had a water bottle.

[AntBoi3030]

My highlight was over summer. I was visiting Colorado and I was in a valley where I could see everything. The sun was setting and all of a sudden swarms of Lasius were flying everywhere. Some clouds of ants were so thick it was hard to see through it. It was crazy.

[bmb1bee]

You got lucky cause once i saw 10 fire ant queens but i only had a water bottle.

Lol, the "container" on hand was really a ziplock bag that I had to keep in my locker for the rest of the day until I got home. I had a lot of fun freaking out and chasing my friends with an 18 mm long winged queen ant.

[Ants_Dakota]

My highlight was catching 6 different species of formica(most to be identified, but one is neorufibarbus), raising my formica colony from a couple of years ago to ~100 workers, and catching the lasius neoniger and brevicornis flights again finally after like 3 years of missing it.

[aznphenom]

Mine was seeing an actual flight of atta during my last day of my trip to Texas. Sadly, none of the queen was fertile. 

[ZTYguy]

My highlights included seeing a Nievamyrmex raid and overall having the best anting season in my few years of anting.

[That_one_ant_guy]

This was the first year I really got into ant keeping, and my best catch was a aphaenogaster megommata Queen

[B_rad0806]

Only got better for me this year. People now consider me a top 10 collector in the state now after this season. Was probably in the top 3 and possibly 1st place this summer for most Myrmecocystus caught. Caught Myrmecocystus mexicanus, navajo, placodops, kennedyi-group, (romaniei looking species), (2 others which I could not ID), Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Pogonomyrmex imberbiculus. I sadly did not catch Novomessor cockerelli and Aphaenogaster megommata which for some reason just did not decide to fly during my trip out there. Hobby just keeps on getting easier and easier each year.