11 replies to this topic

[IdioticMouse26]

Has anyone ever had that experience where queen ants would drown themselves in your neighbor's pool or any outdoor pools and your powerless to do anything but watch? Or finding the first queen ant of the year only to find out it's dead? 

 

Not complaining or anything(ok maybe a little), but...it happens to me all year. So many fascinating and wonderful queen ants drown themselves each year on my neighbor's pool! I'm always so saddend by that. I'm constantly tempted to get my net and scoop them out over the fences that seperate us. 

 

Btw, why are queen ants so attracted to waters and shiny surfaces? Is it like the same reason as moths are attracted to light?

[T.C.]

Pool collected queens are awesome. Know the time they are flying and it's a gold mine. I used to wait by pools on hot August afternoons to collect my Myrmica sp. and Lasius sp. queens.

[Stubyvast]

YES definetly. I once found almost 50 fertile Tetramorium Immigrans queens in my neighbor's pool. Caught so many and every single one laid eggs. Gave most of them to my friends haha.

[Artisan_Ants]

I heard it’s a very good method especially in Tetramorium season (right now). I should definitely go try that out.

[1tsm3jack]

Does the chlorine not kill them?

[Artisan_Ants]

Does the chlorine not kill them?

Good question. It can due to long exposure (but it’s mainly them drowning which is what kills them) but if saved fast enough from both then they will survive. You can also find them running along the edges and sides of pools so you don’t exactly have to use a net to get queens although it is better and more effective and generally provides way more queens than just looking for them.

[1tsm3jack]

 

Does the chlorine not kill them?

Good question. It can due to long exposure (but it’s mainly them drowning which is what kills them) but if saved fast enough from both then they will survive. You can also find them running along the edges and sides of pools so you don’t exactly have to use a net to get queens although it is better and more effective and generally provides way more queens than just looking for them.

 

Ok, thanks. Why are tetramorium queens so attracted to pools? And what time of day and under what conditions do they fly?

[ANTdrew]

A lit pool at night must look a lot like the moon to a night flying queen. Day flying queens just land on pools by accident I think. Ants are poor fliers and just sort of end up where they fall. Short exposure to chlorine will not kill them.

[bmb1bee]

They should be fine with chlorine for a while. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t most ants founded with tap water? That also has a fair amount of chlorine.

[ZATrippit]

A lit pool at night must look a lot like the moon to a night flying queen. Day flying queens just land on pools by accident I think. Ants are poor fliers and just sort of end up where they fall. Short exposure to chlorine will not kill them.

Not to mention pools are basically massive 3x6 pitfall traps. I think the mythos of queens loving pools can be atleast partially chalked up to perception bias.

[Serafine]

They might have the same issues as bees, which often drop into calm water surfaces because those screw up their optical flow navigation.

[Stubyvast]

Yep I think that because the moon is "up" ants like to fly in that direction, so they would naturally be attracted to moonlight reflecting off of the water's surface. As to Chlorine, I've kept t. immigrans captured in my neighbours' pool, and they'd been in it for almost an hour, if I am correct, and did not suffer any negative effects. I did notice, however, that they cut off their wings later than queens who had not been captured in the pool. Coincidence?