20 replies to this topic

[Pepe1214]

Starting up a colony for the first time and was wondering if lasius neoniger or lasius niger were still available for the taking?? A bit late to start gaining an interest in the hobby i suppose:/. And also i got some ants but they're not lasius neo/niger and they're not impregnated. Please and thanks you, I live the Georgia, Atlanta metropolitan area of Norcross if those need to be specified.

[noebl1]

I've seen Lasius Neoniger alates at tunnel entrances looking to fly last week here in Massachusetts, and that was with upper 60s in temp.  Betting if you still have temps over 70s, probably still a chance.  Up here most of the big flights are long over and the social parasitic Lasius are plentiful.

[James C. Trager]

Note that if you catch Lasius queens from these late flights, you might as well set them up in a dark humid situation and refrigerate them till spring, because they won't lay eggs before then, anyway. 
However, though it's not completely impossible, I have some question as to whether ants from Norcross GA are Lasius, at all. Can you get us an image or two?

[Pepe1214]

http://m.imgur.com/gallery/TQs1z
Found these 2 days ago, not pregnant, not lasius, and I have 3 of them but they are all identical and from the same colony. And just out of curiosity, how can one tell if the princess isn't pregnant besudes the wings?? Thank you

[Batspiderfish]

Ahh, so this is the Camponotus from the other thread? If you take winged females from inside the nest, they are basically never mated. If you see dealates, with shed wings, there is a high probability they are mated, but it is never a sure thing. Alates found walking around by themselves have a decent chance of being mated (Camponotus at this time of year would be an exception, as their fall nuptial flights are a result of food shortages). The only way to be sure of a fertilized queen is to actually witness the mating.

[Pepe1214]

Ok thank you once again, I am really eager but can't find a starting point thought maybe I'd go and find some small nests just dug and see if I can get a queen but is there other ways of finding queens at this time of year? And as i was told I should just hibernate a queen if I catch one.
Currently 72 degrees if I may add.

Edited by Pepe1214, October 10 2016 - 9:19 AM.

[noebl1]

You sound like me the end of last year when I became interested too late in the season...      Digging up an established colony isn't really recommended; very often they fail for a many reasons.  I got too over excited and ignored this warning, found a small C. Americanus colony in the Spring with 5 workers.  Needless to say that did not thrive at all and I regretted not being more patient.  You're best bet is to wait for a nuptial flight or wait until Spring.  TBH not much is happening anyways right now until the Spring even if you found one today, so waiting isn't as bad as it sounds.   The only thing that stinks is if you really want a Lasius Neoniger or Alienus, need to wait until the end of summer to find a queen  However, if you can wait until Spring, P. Imparis (super early flyer) and Camponotus (May for me here) fly before you know it.

Edited by noebl1, October 10 2016 - 10:01 AM.

[Pepe1214]

Thanks a lot for the reply and yeah I was coming to that conclusion oh well Ill just spend time studying the species in my area and expand my knowledge. Thanks and thanks to everyone who helped me answer my questions:)

[Splat01]

I'm also pretty new the hobby and new to the north Atlanta area. Anyone know of any good places around here for anting? 

[Chandlerk]

If you still want to get a few queens check out some sellers from byformica and the GAN program.

There may be some people in your area you could get some queens from

[Pepe1214]

Ant selling on byformica for the Georgia area is nonexistent and there is only 1 seller in Georgia on the GAN project with only one species.

[Splat01]

Ha, everyone is so obsessed with queens I suppose I really only meant if there were places in north Atlanta that had a good diversity of ants in general, not just queens. 

[Splat01]

Note that if you catch Lasius queens from these late flights, you might as well set them up in a dark humid situation and refrigerate them till spring, because they won't lay eggs before then, anyway. 
However, though it's not completely impossible, I have some question as to whether ants from Norcross GA are Lasius, at all. Can you get us an image or two?

 

Just curious, but why do you question Lasius being in Norcross, GA?

[Enderz]

 

Note that if you catch Lasius queens from these late flights, you might as well set them up in a dark humid situation and refrigerate them till spring, because they won't lay eggs before then, anyway. 
However, though it's not completely impossible, I have some question as to whether ants from Norcross GA are Lasius, at all. Can you get us an image or two?

 

Just curious, but why do you question Lasius being in Norcross, GA?

 

Because he wants to know what the ant species is, it could be lasius or not be, and as we saw here it isn't.

[Splat01]

 

 

Note that if you catch Lasius queens from these late flights, you might as well set them up in a dark humid situation and refrigerate them till spring, because they won't lay eggs before then, anyway. 
However, though it's not completely impossible, I have some question as to whether ants from Norcross GA are Lasius, at all. Can you get us an image or two?

 

Just curious, but why do you question Lasius being in Norcross, GA?

 

Because he wants to know what the ant species is, it could be lasius or not be, and as we saw here it isn't.

 

 

Ah ok. It sounded like he didn't think Norcross was a good area for Lasius, I was curious as to why he thought so. I'm just starting to learn where to find certain species, so this interested me.

[James C. Trager]

I wondered about it being Lasius because Norcross is fairly well south of the part of the continent where Lasius  is abundant. They occur in Georgia, especially in the mountains, but are uncommon at lower elevations. 

[Splat01]

I wondered about it being Lasius because Norcross is fairly well south of the part of the continent where Lasius  is abundant. They occur in Georgia, especially in the mountains, but are uncommon at lower elevations. 

Ah, thanks for the info. I've been looking for Lasius this fall, but haven't seen anything. Not sure if I'm not looking in the right place, extreme lack of rain, or any combination of these or other things might have explained me not seeing anything. 

[Solenoqueen]

Come over here to SoCal, there has been more rain here recently

[SirAnticus]

In Socal where sprinkling is life threatening

[Serafine]

http://m.imgur.com/gallery/TQs1z
Found these 2 days ago, not pregnant, not lasius, and I have 3 of them but they are all identical and from the same colony. And just out of curiosity, how can one tell if the princess isn't pregnant besudes the wings?? Thank you

You can't. Even them still having wings doesn't mean anything, I've seen videos of queens that refused to cut off their wings for months, even when they already had a small colony running.

 

The ONLY way to be sure is if your queen lays eggs and the larvae turn into winged male alates (because haploid gen sets always lead to males).