12 replies to this topic

[AndreHouston]

Hi, I found a queen ant wondering outside my bedroom. I caught it and kept it in a Tupperware with vent holes and a moist q tip for water (I replace the q tip and air out the container every day or so). She hasn’t laid any eggs for about 2 weeks now, so I doubt she is pregnant. Sorry, I know very little about ants. What would be best for this queen? Should I release her into the wild? How do I identify her kind, and will her competitor species kill her? Keep her until she passes away? Is there anyone around Missouri City TX that wants to adopt her? Thanks

[AndreHouston]

[AndreHouston]

Album: FirstQueenAnt

1 images

0 comments

 

Hopefully this entry shows a picture of the ant

[Ants_Dakota]

I would encourage you to read this guide: https://www.formicul...-for-beginners/. You should have all of the information that you need!

Amazing colored queen by the way! I would keep her if you can. 

Edited by Ants_Dakota, October 4 2022 - 11:28 AM.

[Manitobant]

Holy sh*t, that is an EXTREMELY rare carebara longii queen!!! These are one of the rarest ants in the USA and is an absolutely incredible find. Carebara are very sensitive so try to keep disturbances to an absolute minimum while waiting for workers, though they are fully claustral otherwise. You are a really lucky guy so please take good care of her!

Edited by Manitobant, October 5 2022 - 6:24 AM.

[Mettcollsuss]

I'll disagree about them being *that* rare but yes, it's Carebara longii. I believe Carebara typically need soil nests, try giving her a test tube setup with some substrate, or at least some sort of setup with substrate.

Edited by Mettcollsuss, October 5 2022 - 6:46 AM.

[Manitobant]

Did something change recently? A few years ago everyone thought longii was very rare.

[That_one_ant_guy]

I don't want to come off sounding rude,but I would give her to someone more experienced, they are a pretty sensitive sp, as said above, and your arent as experienced as others, ( people will pay big bucks for something as rare as carebara longii)😉

Sorry if it sounds rude, it's not supposed to

Edited by That_one_ant_guy, October 5 2022 - 3:01 PM.

[AndreHouston]

I don't want to come off sounding rude,but I would give her to someone more experienced, they are a pretty sensitive sp, as said above, and your arent as experienced as others, ( people will pay big bucks for something as rare as carebara longii)

Sorry if it sounds rude, it's not supposed to

not rude at all!  I am very new to this and I did offer to give it to someone who knows how to mate her up with other workers or male ants. 

Thanks for the support everyone!  She is quite a beaut!

[Manitobant]

Dude she is likely already fertile and doesn’t need to be mated. She is just being kept in an improper setup and checked on frequently (as i said carebara are very sensitive ants)

[Ants_Dakota]

 

I don't want to come off sounding rude,but I would give her to someone more experienced, they are a pretty sensitive sp, as said above, and your arent as experienced as others, ( people will pay big bucks for something as rare as carebara longii)

Sorry if it sounds rude, it's not supposed to

not rude at all!  I am very new to this and I did offer to give it to someone who knows how to mate her up with other workers or male ants. 

Thanks for the support everyone!  She is quite a beaut!

 

you can keep her, just put her in a test tube setup, as in the link i posted above. She is almost definitely mated if she has lived this long, so just do some reading and research into queen founding.

[LowQualityAnts]

I didn't realize carebara lived in the US

[FinWins]

I have plenty of queens that refuse to lay in the first two weeks but after that they start to. It may be that she isn’t comfortable in her environment.