At around 5 PM on July 23, 2024 my friend JenC found some Polyergus queens during a nuptial flight. Heat seems to be their main trigger and they can be found wandering on trails in the late afternoon, looking for hosts. Of the 5 queens he obtained, he saved 2 for me, as well as a queen of their main hosts: Formica argentea. After asking around, Reign identified them as a subspecies of Polyergus mexicanus, which could eventually be its own distinct species as it seems to be genetically different enough from Polyergus mexicanus found in the Sierras. I was unfortunately unable to meet with JenC until July 27, and by then 4 of the 5 queens he caught perished as we were both unable to go looking for hosts that week. Luckily, I found a Formica argentea colony on the way back home and obtained around two dozen workers for the last remaining queen. After trying multiple different ways to introduce the queen to them, I was successfully able to get 8 of them together with the queen. She has been fed and should hopefully last long enough for me to obtain more workers, hopefully even brood if I'm able to get any.
Edited by bmb1bee, September 6 2024 - 1:41 PM.