Hi from the suburbs of Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota! My interest in ant keeping began with carpenter ants eating their way into a room of my house. After I learned more about them, I decided it would be a great science project for my 7 year old daughter.
A summary of our limited journey:
We captured a Camponotus Pennsylvanicus queen and a Formica sp. queen in the summer of 2023. The Camponotus queen laid eggs and produced about 6 workers before hibernating in September or October. The Formica queen died after laying no eggs. We moved the Camponotus colony test tube into an outworld with attached formicarium. In late March they ended their hibernation (I was convinced they had died) by moving into the new formicarium. Today the colony numbers 9-10 workers after a new brood in the spring. Seems like a slow growing colony.
This spring and summer, we've additionally captured: one C. Pennysylvanicus which now has eggs and pupae, four Formica (species uncertain, candidates include neogagates, vinculans, incerta, pallidefulva) queens (three with eggs), and five T. Immigrans queens (three with eggs).
We have much to learn and excited to join this forum!
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Edited by Russoft, July 15 2024 - 10:59 AM.
