2 replies to this topic

[michiganantsinmyyard]

I caught a myrmica queen of unidentified species during September. I currently have her housed in a test tube setup, with an outworld, and she is currently in hibernation. 

 

All care guides and forums on myrmica are about the european myrmica rubra, which is definitely not the species I have caught.

 

I've already tried identification on reddit, and many people have already said identification is impossible without a microscope, so I am fine not knowing the exact species.

 

If anyone has experience with North American myrmica, please share! I am excited to care for this little queen.

[DRpepper]

These guys are really easy. They don't even need an out world when founding just keep her 70f-80f and feed her protein and sugar once a week and she will do great. Obviously clean out any food she doesn't eat. Once she gets workers they act as any other colony. 

[rptraut]

Hello Michiganantsinmyyard;

I ran into the same identification problem when I caught a number of Myrmica queens a couple of years ago.  I think I have three different kinds but they all act relatively the same.   They are probably the easiest ants to look after that I have.  They eat almost anything, including chicken, liver, turkey, raw pork, as well as most insects.  Their favorite of all is dog food.  The canned stuff you buy at the dollar store.   These ants are usually all business.  They don't seem to waste a lot of time foraging when they know that every night, I bring them something to eat, at which point they swarm out of every hole in their nest to see what I've brought.  Once they've packed it off to the nest, they go back to tending their brood.  

 

They're very calm in the nest while being observed.  In the outworld, if they're surprised and they can't quickly hide, they'll freeze.  They'll also play dead.  They aren't determined to escape every minute and mineral oil keeps them very well contained.   Good luck with yours.

RPT