30 replies to this topic

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

Loving this journal so far. I did happen to get a ton of Lasius this year, but since most tend to found after hibernation and have a pretty high founding mortality rate (especially brevicornis), I typically don't sell them until the end of founding or after getting nanitics. 

 

I currently have a lot of Lasius that I should be journaling about, but I rarely find time. I'll keep coming back to this journal frequently to see updates!

I am so glad you are enjoying it, and I am glad you found a lot of Lasius! I have been pretty down about their numbers recently due to the devastation by Tetramorium immigrans around my house recently, so glad your local area is still up and going. Did you catch a main flight, or do blacklights work for you? The hibernation mortality rate is definitely something I will look out for. If things don't go as well this year, I may think about skipping diapause for them next time, as that resulted in no mortality last year when I raised about 5 three-queen colonies. What species are you keeping? I totally get you are busy, especially running the largest ant business in the nation. Keep up the good work, and I especially appreciate your guides! Even though I don't buy ants, I do frequently keep tabs on the species you are selling. Also, I referenced your journal where you found a L. crypticus queen, what tipped you off to that not being americanus? I am just interested because I would love to create a layperson's guide to Lasius with pictures and measurements, something everyone can do. For example, in my ID thread here of a possible L. pallitarsis queen, I almost instantly noticed the size of the queen was different than L. neoniger, but this is never talked about on Antwiki (I do get size variations but I am just trying to find common trends). Again, thank you for taking the time to read, it is pretty lengthy and I know you have many responsibilities!
Ants_Dakota

 

I caught multiple main flights this year! Blacklights don't work so well for Lasius here.

 

I'm not sure what the queens that I used to call crypticus actually are, but they key out to neoniger. They seem to be consistently different from neoniger (this year I found a whole nest of them and took specimens) but I am unsure how to discern them, aside from coloration. It could be argued that they were some weird variant. Your journal actually inspired me to update mine so I listed everything I currently keep there. 

 

I'm not too sure about the queen you have - that could totally be pallitarsis. They are generally much bulkier, but it's tough to be able to confirm without seeing that offset basal tooth. Thanks for checking out the guides and your kind words in general!

 

Lucky! I just had a few smaller flights but it is ok, I don't need too many ants. That makes sense, I did notice the slightly yellowish hair on the abdomen, so that could be discernable with the naked eye. I am truly honored my journal can be inspiring to people, it is probably just as inspiring to myself to continue keeping ordinary ants in extraordinary ways!
Sadly, I am unsure how good of an angle I can get with the glass for that offset basal tooth, but I will definitely keep trying, and maybe sunlight will help.

[SlimMilk]

 

 

Firstly, thank you so much for creating an account and connecting with me! It is always wonderful to see new users and especially knowledgeable ones like yourself. Before making my L. brevicornis post, I did do a skim through the L. flavus journals on this forum, but it was a lot quicker than my look at the L. brevicornis labeled journals, so I definitely missed some. Nice that is some great growth! Do you heat your ants at all, and what do you use for their outworld? Last time I kept L. brevicornis every queen survived, although I actually did not hibernate them as I was really busy and didn't have a fridge. This year I am planning on doing some careful testing to ensure the fridge I now have is a good temperature for them. I did see stateside ants was out of stock of L. brevicornis, but usually Anthony would have them back in right now after a flight, which is why I lamented a little in the post above about the lack of availability of these amazing ants in the current ant market. Beautiful picture by the way!

Ants_Dakota

They're sitting in a test tube portal from Esthetic Ants right now but they're getting to the point where feeding them is a little difficult as they're currently using the outworld to house the cocoons. I am debating on upgrading their outworld but we shall see if they approach a difficult size before they have to go into hibernation. 

 

That is a good problems to have! I currently use a DIY outworld for my large L. neoniger colony and have yet to have ants escape or bunch around the top, which is great, although they definitely could in the future. What were you thinking of upgrading your outworld too? (also, your image is no longer working on your first post)

 

Yep fixed the image link in the first photo. Ended up moving them into a new outworld anyway since the original founding test tube they were in was almost out of water and it was turning yellow. I bought https://www.esthetic...dium-outworld-1 this outworld which looked pretty clean. The colony is actually treating their tube entrance now like a real entrance. There is around 5-10 workers now constantly at the front of the tube keeping guard with a couple of them scouting the outworld.

 

Loving this journal so far. I did happen to get a ton of Lasius this year, but since most tend to found after hibernation and have a pretty high founding mortality rate (especially brevicornis), I typically don't sell them until the end of founding or after getting nanitics. 

 

I currently have a lot of Lasius that I should be journaling about, but I rarely find time. I'll keep coming back to this journal frequently to see updates!

Actually happy to see you here Anthony as my brevicornis colony is from you directly haha! I might end up buying a neoniger from you post hibernation next year since I didn't have any luck finding a queen this year.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

 

Firstly, thank you so much for creating an account and connecting with me! It is always wonderful to see new users and especially knowledgeable ones like yourself. Before making my L. brevicornis post, I did do a skim through the L. flavus journals on this forum, but it was a lot quicker than my look at the L. brevicornis labeled journals, so I definitely missed some. Nice that is some great growth! Do you heat your ants at all, and what do you use for their outworld? Last time I kept L. brevicornis every queen survived, although I actually did not hibernate them as I was really busy and didn't have a fridge. This year I am planning on doing some careful testing to ensure the fridge I now have is a good temperature for them. I did see stateside ants was out of stock of L. brevicornis, but usually Anthony would have them back in right now after a flight, which is why I lamented a little in the post above about the lack of availability of these amazing ants in the current ant market. Beautiful picture by the way!

Ants_Dakota

They're sitting in a test tube portal from Esthetic Ants right now but they're getting to the point where feeding them is a little difficult as they're currently using the outworld to house the cocoons. I am debating on upgrading their outworld but we shall see if they approach a difficult size before they have to go into hibernation. 

 

That is a good problems to have! I currently use a DIY outworld for my large L. neoniger colony and have yet to have ants escape or bunch around the top, which is great, although they definitely could in the future. What were you thinking of upgrading your outworld too? (also, your image is no longer working on your first post)

 

Yep fixed the image link in the first photo. Ended up moving them into a new outworld anyway since the original founding test tube they were in was almost out of water and it was turning yellow. I bought https://www.esthetic...dium-outworld-1 this outworld which looked pretty clean. The colony is actually treating their tube entrance now like a real entrance. There is around 5-10 workers now constantly at the front of the tube keeping guard with a couple of them scouting the outworld.

 

Loving this journal so far. I did happen to get a ton of Lasius this year, but since most tend to found after hibernation and have a pretty high founding mortality rate (especially brevicornis), I typically don't sell them until the end of founding or after getting nanitics. 

 

I currently have a lot of Lasius that I should be journaling about, but I rarely find time. I'll keep coming back to this journal frequently to see updates!

Actually happy to see you here Anthony as my brevicornis colony is from you directly haha! I might end up buying a neoniger from you post hibernation next year since I didn't have any luck finding a queen this year.

 

Nice that is a cool outworld! It is a little plain though, I would recommend pouring a layer of sanded grout over it and than covering that with vermiculite. My lasius love it because they can remove the vermiculite to adjust the moisture output to their liking, and they are very good at that. Whenever I water their nest, they bring vermiculite into the nest to manage the moisture and decrease it, and than remove it as the water content slowly decreases with evaporation.
Here is my outworld, with some Black Hills bought rocks.

 

Not to dissuade you from buying from Anthony, but you could check to see if I have a permit for your state in my ant shop for Lasius in the coming months 

[SlimMilk]

Nice that is a cool outworld! It is a little plain though, I would recommend pouring a layer of sanded grout over it and than covering that with vermiculite. My lasius love it because they can remove the vermiculite to adjust the moisture output to their liking, and they are very good at that. Whenever I water their nest, they bring vermiculite into the nest to manage the moisture and decrease it, and than remove it as the water content slowly decreases with evaporation.

Here is my outworld, with some Black Hills bought rocks.

 

Not to dissuade you from buying from Anthony, but you could check to see if I have a permit for your state in my ant shop for Lasius in the coming months 

 

I thought it would be nicer to keep the outworld without a medium but yours definitely looks nice with at least a grout layer. I'll do some more research before deciding to do so. And unfortunately I'm located in NYC which you don't have permits for 

[Ants_Dakota]

 

Nice that is a cool outworld! It is a little plain though, I would recommend pouring a layer of sanded grout over it and than covering that with vermiculite. My lasius love it because they can remove the vermiculite to adjust the moisture output to their liking, and they are very good at that. Whenever I water their nest, they bring vermiculite into the nest to manage the moisture and decrease it, and than remove it as the water content slowly decreases with evaporation.

Here is my outworld, with some Black Hills bought rocks.

 

Not to dissuade you from buying from Anthony, but you could check to see if I have a permit for your state in my ant shop for Lasius in the coming months 

 

I thought it would be nicer to keep the outworld without a medium but yours definitely looks nice with at least a grout layer. I'll do some more research before deciding to do so. And unfortunately I'm located in NYC which you don't have permits for 

 

Research is always a must when designing an ant setup! Let me know what you find. I actually just received my New York permit, so I can now ship there

Edited by Ants_Dakota, September 16 2024 - 8:54 AM.

[SlimMilk]

 

Research is always a must when designing an ant setup! Let me know what you find. I actually just received my New York permit, so I can now ship there

 

Exciting! I will probably be waiting until after hibernation to decide if I want another colony or not. I actually had the craziest experience of finding a Camponotus Planatus queen in my fruit that I bought at my supermarket in NYC. She is a long way from home and its been about a month but she has yet to lay any eggs. I'm still holding out hope and keeping her with a heating cable to see if she eventually does lay. https://www.youtube....rts/AE9l5GRFTx8 (Volume warning possibly didn't realize it was picking up my AC so loudly on the video)

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

Research is always a must when designing an ant setup! Let me know what you find. I actually just received my New York permit, so I can now ship there

 

Exciting! I will probably be waiting until after hibernation to decide if I want another colony or not. I actually had the craziest experience of finding a Camponotus Planatus queen in my fruit that I bought at my supermarket in NYC. She is a long way from home and its been about a month but she has yet to lay any eggs. I'm still holding out hope and keeping her with a heating cable to see if she eventually does lay. https://www.youtube....rts/AE9l5GRFTx8 (Volume warning possibly didn't realize it was picking up my AC so loudly on the video)

 

Wow that is unusual. I can say I have never had that experience before haha. Good luck with the colonies you have until next spring!

[Ants_Dakota]

Ants_Dakota's Lasius sp. Journal

Entry 5: Lasius pallitarsis

9/17/2024

Background

As a micro-summary of Entry 3, this year I was doing some reading on the Lasius genus on Antwiki and came across the "neoniger/niger complex" of ants; species that are very similar and competitively nest in similar locations. Lasius pallitarsis, according to Wilson in 1955, nests almost exclusively in forested locations, replacing Lasius americanus in the north and west as the dominant woodland Lasius species. South Dakota has very few forested locations, so I was pretty lucky to catch this queen. L. pallitarsis, L. americanus, L. neoniger, and L. niger are, according to Antwiki, often hard to identify from each other. " the large-eyed Lasius americanus can be confused with either of the other three species in the niger group: Lasius pallitarsis, Lasius neoniger, or Lasius niger." However, the queens are each relatively distinct. I hope this can help others ID their Lasius queens.

 

Lasius neoniger/niger complex queen identification:

Let's start with the common one around South Dakota, Lasius neoniger. Here, they nest almost exclusively in the Plains regions, having distinct boundaries with Lasius americanus which nest in the woodlands. L. neoniger queens are medium-sized in the Lasius genus. They are light to mid-color brown, and, when fed or about to lay eggs, display pale lines on their abdomen that are key to distinguishing it from L. americanus, as seen in the second picture. They are slightly larger than L. americanus and smaller than L. pallitarsis

 

 

 

Lasius americanus is generally darker in color than L. neoniger and L. pallitarsis and is somewhat more "compact". By this, I mean its body is more shoved together and shorter. It also does not display the pale lines when full or about to lay eggs.

 

 

A reference image for the size difference between L. americanus (left) and L. neoniger (right).

 

 

Lasius pallitarsis is larger than either of the two previously mentioned, and noticeably so to an experienced ant-keeper. However, it can easily be mistaken for someone new to ants, which is why, when posting an ID, please use the ID template and measure the size of the queen accurately. It is "more buff" in the sense that its thorax is noticeably larger than L. neoniger, the queen it would be most likely to be confused with, as its coloration is nearly identical. Its thorax is also more shiny. An ID thread I posted can be found here, which contains more pictures as well as the key to IDing this species properly.

 

 

A reference image for the size difference between L. pallitarsis (left) and L. neoniger (right).

 

 

 

Lasius niger is an ant I have not yet found, so I am not qualified to speak to its ID.

 

Background journals

The only other person who has and is keeping Lasius pallitarsis on this forum is AnthonyP163, who posted about their colony recently here. I was thrilled to find another ant-keeper who was as in love with Lasius as I am!

 

As a final sidenote, I was justly challenged by OiledOlives about my usage of the term "neoniger complex," as AntWiki usually refers to it as the "niger complex," such as above. However, there is a reference to the use of the word "neoniger complex" in Antwiki. "This species is replaced in nearly every available habitat except woodland by the equally successful and abundant members of the Lasius neoniger complex." Therefore, moving forward, I will be referring to this group as the "neoniger/niger complex" for the benefit of North American ant-keepers unless I am disproven.

 

My Queen

I caught this queen on 9/10/24 in Brookings, SD, during the last few nuptial flights of the year. I caught her alongside L. neoniger and several Myrmica queens. Interestingly, she was immediately aggressive toward the L. neoniger, which she was temporarily housed with at the time, ultimately killing one of the queens (not immediately but the queen died several days later from either injuries or PTSD or something).

 

9/10/24

 

 

 

 

 

9/11/24

 

 

9/17/24

 

 

 

 

This is a very important photo for an ID. Check out the ID thread for L. pallitarsis posted above to learn why!

 

 

This wraps up the current species of Lasius that I own, and I hope to grow this collection in the future!

Edited by Ants_Dakota, December 6 2024 - 5:32 PM.

[Izzy]

Fantastic journal. Thanks for directing me here. I often get overwhelmed with how much content is on here and miss things. I resonate with that feeling of hoping your pictures and content are good enough and providing value, but I have to say this definitely is.

 

I recently moved, but the neighborhood I lived in previously for eight years I had never seen a Lasius ant, but I did find some parasitic queens running around this year so they must be around that area. You'll be happy to know the hills surrounding Utah county are absolutely full of them and I saw the biggest ant flight I've ever seen this year with thousands of both Lasius brevicornis and the other species I listed in my post, so they're at least still doing well here.

 

I've been very pleased with the Lasius colony I caught last year in the desert. I sold two single queens and kept the double queen for myself. I wasn't expecting much from them because people label them as the boring ant, but I've found them to have quite a fun and dare I even say cute personality. I don't know how else to explain it, they seem like really happy ants. Haha! They also come out in force to any food I provide and I find them quite enjoyable to watch.

 

Thanks again for your contributions. I'll definitely be watching this one and you've inspired me to keep one of the queens of the other bigger Lasius species I caught and add them to my collection!

[Ants_Dakota]

Fantastic journal. Thanks for directing me here. I often get overwhelmed with how much content is on here and miss things. I resonate with that feeling of hoping your pictures and content are good enough and providing value, but I have to say this definitely is.

 

I recently moved, but the neighborhood I lived in previously for eight years I had never seen a Lasius ant, but I did find some parasitic queens running around this year so they must be around that area. You'll be happy to know the hills surrounding Utah county are absolutely full of them and I saw the biggest ant flight I've ever seen this year with thousands of both Lasius brevicornis and the other species I listed in my post, so they're at least still doing well here.

 

I've been very pleased with the Lasius colony I caught last year in the desert. I sold two single queens and kept the double queen for myself. I wasn't expecting much from them because people label them as the boring ant, but I've found them to have quite a fun and dare I even say cute personality. I don't know how else to explain it, they seem like really happy ants. Haha! They also come out in force to any food I provide and I find them quite enjoyable to watch.

 

Thanks again for your contributions. I'll definitely be watching this one and you've inspired me to keep one of the queens of the other bigger Lasius species I caught and add them to my collection!

Wonderful! AnthonyP echoed that statement from Wisconsin, so it must just be my specific area that has been hit bad by Tetramorium immigrans. I agree with you, they have a super spunky and "cute" personality, and they really do love to send workers foraging, especially when just fed. They are probably the most active ants I have owned! I really appreciate the kind words! Collecting Lasius is such a fun thing to do because every species is so unique and quirky in its own way: they never get old!

[Ants_Dakota]

Ants_Dakota's Lasius sp. Journal

Update 1: Post Diapause

3/20/2025

Background

This is a long overdue update that I have been putting off for some time due to a busy life, but I am quite excited to share some of the progress that my colonies have made! They were taken out of diapause about a week ago and fared quite well mortality-wise compared to other years of raising this genus. There is one specific general observation that I have made over the past diapause. Lasius neoniger and americanus will overwinter brood, usually larvae, but Lasius brevicornis will not if the temperature drops below 50 degrees F. They will however, from past observation, continue to raise their colony in very cold conditions, such as if you keep them at 60 degrees F during winter. One of my Lasius neoniger and one of my Lasius brevicornis colonies managed to get a worker before diapause last year, but only due to me putting them in quite late. I theorize that heating your queens and keeping them out of diapause until the end of November will result in nanitics for both species. Anyway, let's get into the colonies!
 

Lasius neoniger

My 2-year flagship colony is doing well, although they are smaller than I would have wished due to underfeeding last year. Nevertheless, they are sitting around 50 workers and are housed in a Por Amor Array formicarium, likely the most affordable hybrid formicarium I have come across and one I highly recommend to anyone going with a "tubs and tubes" setup for cost efficiency and space. They overwintered between 30 and 40 small larvae, which are currently thriving, and I am hopeful that the queen will lay new eggs soon. They are currently taking in very little protein and the cut mealworms I have presented them go visibly unnoticed. They did, however, drag an old cricket leg from last year into the formicarium to feed the larvae and it is mostly gone at this point.

 

 

The queen surrounded by healthy small and medium larvae

 

 

I currently have a few single queen colonies as well which overwintered with no casualties that are for sale on my nationwide shop if you are interested. They all have eggs and small larvae and the queens are looking immensely fat. I would not be surprised if they lay eggs in a few weeks!

 

 

Her royal majesty preparing to lay new eggs

 

 

 

A small pile of overwintered larvae

 

 

Lasius brevicornis

I was surprised by the popularity of these queens this last year, as I sold out of every colony that I own! I had two diapause casualties that resulted in me combining my personal colony with another colony to form a larger four-queen colony which I gave to a customer. If I had known about these casualties I would have not sold for the colony but I found out too late and didn't want to sell a three-queen colony and be left with one queen for myself. What a waste of a highly polygynous species! I am quite hopeful that next year I will catch their flight again so I can keep a colony for myself. If you want to follow the progress of one of these colonies, you can read this excellent journal by MyrmecologyMaven!

Lasius pallitarsis

If you have been following this journal you will remember that this was a new and exciting catch for me last year, but unfortunately, the queen passed away before diapause, most likely due to being unmated. I was so excited to raise her but not every colony makes it that far. The research and IDing I was able to do for this colony though was amazing and I am so grateful to be able to have a firm understanding of what this colony looks like and how to ID here (check out this post to see the process I took to get a positive ID). Maybe I will be lucky enough to catch more this year!

Lasius nearcticus

I was lucky to also catch a Lasius nearcticus queen last year, another new find for me. The queen is still doing well, and I have been debating moving her into a Por Amor Cryptic Ant Insert for the past few days. I believe I will do so if she does not lay eggs in the next week. Her abdomen has increased in size since diapause, but no brood yet. 

 

Lasius nearcticus is a similar size to most parasitic Lasius species

 

 

Lasius americanus

My personal colony of Lasius americanus is doing well and at a similar stage to the founding Lasius neoniger. She has a small pile of larvae that she has likely had since October 2024. I am excited for her to get workers so I can finally 100% determine if she is indeed Lasius americanus or just a small Lasius neoniger queen.

 

 

Tenderly caring for her small larvae

 

 

 

Likely Lasius americanus but I am not completely convinced

 

Thank you for spending the time to read through this update! If you have any ID suggestions or observations make sure to reply!
Ants_Dakota