June 15, 2023: The Pool Incident
So there I was, celebrating Father's Day weekend at the pool. "The weather's pretty humid, wish I could look for queen ants right now" I thought as I looked at my trusty weather app while walking to the chlorine filled waters. I hadn't stepped foot into a swimming pool in about 4 years. I don't think I remember how to swim either. As I lay floating there on my floatie, I see a small speck in the rippling waters. I could've sworn it was a queen ant, so I did everything in my power to cup it in my hands random people were passing by. My eyes didn't lie, a Solenopsis xyloni alate.
She looked like she was a goner, but I had hope and knew it would be best to keep her because I've caught ants before in the pool that looked dead but revive later on. Also knowing ants don't have lungs, if it was recent, it should still be alive. And right I was. My family and I had continued to catch these fire ant queens in the water, to the point where my hand was covered with what looked like dead ants. Such a funny and fun experience.
All of them were caught with wings, but as of now, all but 3-4 still have them.
June 21, 2023: Most have laid their first batch and 2 have died randomly since then.
June 26, 2023: Their egg piles have also grown even more.
Last time I had kept fire ants, they had grown really fast and were overwhelming to care for at the time. One time they had escaped and were all over my desk, so I'm going to be more careful this time around.
Edited by Ender Ants, July 2 2023 - 2:40 AM.