240 replies to this topic

[Spamdy]

Soooo, I've recently decided that I was going to get a P. Imparis queen. A few questions:

 Where can you find them (specific location wise)

 When can you find them? (Months, time of day, or weather)

 Does my location even have them (I live in Houston, Texas)

 Finally, I read through this whole thread, thank you for making it btw   and I've heard many different sides to combine or not combine. Should I?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Goldsystem]

I really wasn't set up to take good pictures but I wanted to let everyone know that the year 2 eggs have hatched and are now larvae!

[noebl1]

@Spamdy You may have missed the P. imparis flights for the season if down in Texas.  They fly earlier in warmer areas than they do up here in the North (and also have a longer period of estivation down south as it gets hot).  Your best bet may be to find another member in Texas will to sell/give/trade you a queen.

 

This article posted  a couple times in this thread is a really good read about them;  http://www.bio.fsu.e...ions/1987-3.pdf

[Spamdy]

OK thanks, no rush, I'll get them next year.

Edited by Spamdy, January 31 2018 - 5:00 PM.

[Goldsystem]

An update on my p.imparis: they ate all but one of the eggs, and that egg is now a year 2 worker

Edited by Goldsystem, June 18 2017 - 12:58 PM.

[Klassien]

An update on my p.imparis: they ate all but one of the eggs, and that egg is now a year 2 worker

The red gasters look pretty cool against the white nest wall. Nice colony you got going; congrats on your first Year 2 worker!

 

This particular species, to me at least, seems intriguing and neat to keep. Hopefully when P. imparis season rolls around here in Indiana I can catch some queens.

[Martialis]

It already did! I  saw some males at Purdue in either April or march.

[Mettcollsuss]

These are one of the species that I'm considering, but many people say that they can be difficult past the first year and not all the queens survive, but they're still considered a beginner species. But they never really explain why they're hard past the first year. I would really like to get these ants as their hibernation schedule works out with me as I spend a lot of the summer traveling. I f someone knows the answer to this, please help!

[Kevin]

These are one of the species that I'm considering, but many people say that they can be difficult past the first year and not all the queens survive, but they're still considered a beginner species. But they never really explain why they're hard past the first year. I would really like to get these ants as their hibernation schedule works out with me as I spend a lot of the summer traveling. I f someone knows the answer to this, please help!

 

They often don't lay a second batch of eggs, thus the colony doesn't survive.

[Skwiggledork]

Kind of a necro thread, but I wanted to keep info together. Any ideas why they don't often lay a second batch of eggs?

[FeedTheAnts]

If I ever caught a queen of this species I would create a large natural terrarium for it. Simple reason why, all the colonies around my place that are in the wild are huge and flourishing, so maybe recreating there wild environment, except in captivity, would be the key.

[MegaMyrmex]

Just saying, I find P. Imparis queens hide in leaf litter. Check the little piles of leaves where the road meets the sidewaalk, and this yeilds much success when you look near a forest. Warm days help and about mid to end February yield lots of queens.

[YsTheAnt]

Might fly near San Jose CA on Sunday, it's going to be near 70's and males have been out and about for two weeks.

[YsTheAnt]

They flew today. I found four, but due to my dumb mistakes one escaped and one is injured the other two are fine, but one still has wings. Ill try captive breeding it, let everyone know how it goes.

[Bracchymyrmex]

Thanks for bringing the thread back! Looking forward to catching more of these in the coming months!

[Derpy]

Yeah, I caught a prenolepis imparis queen back in November, she is still alive, but no eggs:(

Edited by Derpy, January 31 2018 - 7:26 PM.

[YsTheAnt]

I'm going to do an experiment to see what these ants like. I know that heat kills them, so I'll be testing primarily cold, like diapause at room temperature, in fridge, etc. As for the escaped queen, she got killed by a spider

[Derpy]

Oof

[noebl1]

Yeah, I caught a prenolepis imparis queen back in November, she is still alive, but no eggs:(

 

You 100% on the ID?  November seems really really early for P. imparis, well, at least for us on the East coast, not sure what California flights are like.  The Fall here is all Lasius flights, which look super-similar to P. imparis.

Edited by noebl1, February 1 2018 - 12:11 PM.

[ZllGGY]

anyone near laramie, WY who happens to know where and when these will fly around here?