27 replies to this topic

[AnthonyP163]

In August, I caught a few  Lasius alienus  queens in my back yard. 

 

About a week ago, my queen got her workers. She now has about 10 of them. She even still has some pupae, larvae, and eggs. The colony is truly going well. The other queens that I got didn't make it since they ran out of water. 

 

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the surviving colony. I moved them into a mew tube, so they're alright now.

 

 

 

 

I'll update as it grows.

 

 

 

Edited by AnthonyP163, October 18 2024 - 7:55 PM.

[T.C.]

Nice, and great pictures! How can you tell they aren't lasius neoniger?

[AnthonyP163]

Nice, and great pictures! How can you tell they aren't lasius neoniger

Lasius alienus are much more common than Lasius neoniger  and these ants are too dark for  Lasius neoniger.

[noebl1]

I think time of year helps too. I caught my L. alienus at night in July here in MA attracted to lights.   The L. neoniger here flew much later in Sept/Oct, and were not seen at night.

[AnthonyP163]

I think time of year helps too. I caught my L. alienus at night in July here in MA attracted to lights.   The L. neoniger here flew much later in Sept/Oct, and were not seen at night.

I caught her beginning of August at about 6:00.

[AnthonyP163]

1/22/2018

 

It's been a while since I have been to this journal, and the colony from before was wiped out by a fungus in a matter of days. It must've had something to do with the substrate, which possibly could've helped it spread quickly. 

 

However, I have recently taken a few queens out of hibernation from last year. I put them into hibernation in October and took them out at the beginning of January. Some have larvae, others have only eggs. I am expecting workers for these queens soon. In all, there are 6 queens.

 

Here are some pictures.

 

 

This queens gaster is really big, I bet she'll lay soon.

 

This queen has some larvae and eggs.

 

This queen has a small batch of eggs.

 

I'll update this when they get workers.

[Mettcollsuss]

I had a Lasius alienus queen a few months back, but she died right before the first workers eclosed. I'm hoping to start again next year. This journal will definitely be useful for me.

[T.C.]

I just really wonder if this isn't Lasius neoniger?

[AnthonyP163]

I just really wonder if this isn't Lasius neoniger?

 Maybe it could be, but I saw colonies of  Lasius alienus flying on that night. Maybe I'm wrong, if I am then someone please call me out on this. Batspiderfish? I know I'll probably need much better pictures.

[AnthonyP163]

3/27/18

 

After emailing James Trager, and opening an ID thread, I have concluded I have another colony of Lasius alienus. This is the same colony I took brood from in order to start my Parasitic Lasius Journal.

 

The unusual thing about this colony is that they are extraordinarily small, and it has been suggested that it is a different genotype. I managed to catch them opening a pupa, you can see the workers gently tear away at the cocoon. here's the video with piano music in the background 

The whole process took an hour.

[AntsMaryland]

LUCKY!!! I have what I think is Lasius alienus. The queen was caught last August. They have about 7 workers and some really large larvae. I can't wait for them to turn into pupae!

 

TAKING TOO LONG!!!

 

Keep us updated!!!

 

-AntsMaryland

[AnthonyP163]

I found what appears to be a Lasius sp. queen under a stone with a few larvae and eggs. I captured her and all of her brood.

 

The small Lasius colony is doing well, with about 15 workers and a good amount of larvae.

[AnthonyP163]

I have 3 Lasius colonies at the moment, one is a Lasius alienus  queen with just a few pupae, another is a  Lasius neoniger  queen with just one worker and a few larvae, possibly some eggs. Then there's the large colony of Lasius alienus, at about 20 workers with more coming soon. I plan to move them as they are in a very moldy test tube. 

 

Here's the largest colonies brood

In this picture you can see the queen and part of a cricket they had last night. The mold on the cotton makes it very hard to see them.

 

Here's the queen with one worker and some brood

 

Here's the queen with just a few pupae

[AnthonyP163]

8-10-18

 

The Lasius americanus that had about 20 workers got over 40, and is now in a dirt setup at my Terrariums and Plants Journal.

 

The L. americanus that almost had workers was sold to another Wisconsin antkeeper. 

 

The L. neoniger colony lost both of their workers without the queen laying eggs, the queen soon died after. 

Edited by AnthonyP163, August 10 2018 - 3:35 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

8-30-18

 

A few days back, I caught about two dozen Lasius brevicornis queens, a few Lasius americanus and Lasius neoniger, and a Lasius latipes queen.

 

Some of the Lasius brevicornis queens were put into a dirt setup, a few in a test tube with dirt, and a few in test tubes. All of them are in groups of 2-5 queens. I don't expect eggs from these queens until after hibernation. 

 

The Lasius americanus and Lasius neoniger queens were put in their own test tubes. I don't expect eggs from them for a while, either.

 

The  Lasius latipes queen was rescued from a  Formica montana colony. She died mysteriously a day after being caught, possibly from injuries. She had two Lasius neoniger host workers.

 

I'll be updating this when I catch more queens (which is going to happen in September). 

 

Here are some Lasius brevicornis queens with varying colors

Edited by AnthonyP163, August 30 2018 - 5:39 PM.

[AnthonyP163]

9-29-18

 

In early September, there was flight of Lasius in southeastern Wisconsin. 

 

I found Lasius neoniger, Lasius brevicornis, Lasius crypticus, and Lasius americanus. 

 

Here's some pictures of the Lasius crypticus, they're very pretty. 

 

[AnthonyP163]

6/19/19

 

The queens from the latest update were either sold or died, except for 6 of the Lasius brevicornis queens, who got workers. I have a 4-queen colony of them today. The Lasius crypticus queen never laid any eggs and died after a few weeks out of hibernation. 

 

I also caught a Lasius americanus queen who now has pupae. 

[AnthonyP163]

9/11/2024

 

Seeing Ants_Dakota's journal made me think I should probably get back to updating mine. Though I have a ton of Lasius for sale on the shop, I do have plenty of personal colonies as well. Now that I have permits to contain non-native species of Lasius as a result of the shop, I have only become even more fascinated with them.

 

 

Lasius occidentalis

 

In June this year, I was flipping rocks in a hilly oak opening. I kept seeing what I assumed to be Lasius brevicornis workers, as they just resembled this rather strongly. One rock that I flipped showed a giant batch of eggs which immediately made me think the queen could've been nearby, but alas I did not find any Lasius brevicornis queens. Eventually, as I flipped a few more rocks, I realized this had to be something different. I was pretty sure they were subgenus Acanthomyops.  I mentioned to another keeper that I needed to redeem my once-a-decade 'Acanthomyops queen flip', and not more than a minute later I flip a rock to discover a tiny queen amongst the strange workers. I collected the queen carefully, and collected as much of the colony as I could, but it was a rather small colony and some workers did end up escaping. 

 

They had a rough start adjusting to captivity and lost around 10-20 workers, but they are now sitting comfortably at around 100-150 workers. This is very small for any Lasius colony, but I am hoping I can grow them back. Right now they have a decent pile of pupae. This colony has shown an actual appetite for protein unlike some other Lasius social parasites, so I'm rather optimistic about them. They'll be in hibernation shortly, as they have pupae and the queen hasn't laid any batches. They know it's time. The workers are about 3mm, so the queen can't be much bigger than 4-5mm.

 

Here's a short video: https://youtube.com/...o?feature=share

 

 

Lasius latipes

 

In the past, I have had plenty of success with initial introductions of Lasius latipes and her various forms. However, after that, there is usually something that goes wrong. I am hoping I can be successful this year and see the colonies through hibernation, which is usually the largest barrier (aside from collecting enough hosts). 

 

Lasius clavipes is the short way of saying 'Lasius latipes x claviger'. I currently have a queen of these introduced to around 300 L. americanus workers. It's a 'wait and see' sort of game with this colony. I will know if I have a real shot at getting this queen to workers in around 4-5 months. 

 

Aside from that clavipes queen, I have a two queen group of Lasius latipes introduced to around 15 neoniger hosts. Unfortunately this is far too little for success, but I'm doing my best to get host cocoons for them. I try to aim for at least 100 hosts, if I can't get 500 or more. Getting hundreds of hosts is the key to getting a successful colony going. This time of year, most of the Lasius neoniger have already hatched their last generation this far north.

 

I am hoping to receive a few more colonies of Lasius latipes from friends out west. I'll post those here if they arrive in good shape!

 

latipes video: https://youtube.com/...c?feature=share

 

clavipes video: https://youtube.com/...0?feature=share

 

Lasius subumbratus

 

I have a two-queen group of Lasius subumbratus which is currently introduced to around 200 hosts of Lasius crypticus and pallitarsis. They laid a lot of queens after I caught them in early August, but they have since all disappeared. I'm assuming these intend to wait until after hibernation to begin their colonies as well. 

 

Lasius neoniger, brevicornis, nearcticus, pallitarsis, ponderosae, crypticus

 

I currently have a variety of claustral Lasius, which I may group together until I single out a colony to keep as a personal colony. I have Lasius ponderosae from Utah, Lasius pallitarsis from Arizona, Lasius crypticus from Arizona, and Lasius neoniger, brevicornis, and nearcticus from here in Wisconsin. Having permits to receive non-native Lasius has only made me love this genus even more! 

 

I have young colonies of Lasius neoniger and brevicornis at workers. I also have multiple neoniger, brevicornis, and nearcticus that flew in the past two weeks which will be founding in the spring. I intend to do a few large founding groups of L. brevicornis, since they're often seen in the wild founding in huge groups (anywhere from 3 queens all the way to 60 queens!). 

 

The Lasius pallitarsis and crypticus all seem to be on track to get workers before hibernation, but many of the ponderosae seem to be holding out. This isn't what I expected, but it's alright. I'll see how they perform after hibernation. From my past experiences with Lasius pallitarsis, they tend to get very few nanitics (maybe 1-4?). This year, it seems like these western queens will be following that same trend. I am hoping that some colonies do well!

 

pallitarsis video: https://youtube.com/...M?feature=share

 

crypticus video: https://youtube.com/...?feature=share 

[Ants_Dakota]

9/11/2024

 

Seeing Ants_Dakota's journal made me think I should probably get back to updating mine. Though I have a ton of Lasius for sale on the shop, I do have plenty of personal colonies as well. Now that I have permits to contain non-native species of Lasius as a result of the shop, I have only become even more fascinated with them.

 

pallitarsis video: https://youtube.com/...M?feature=share

 

crypticus video: https://youtube.com/...?feature=share 

Wow I love that L. crypticus video! Seeing that many fat queens and larvae together just makes an ant keeper happy. Any tips for reliable ID's or is a stereo microscope the way to go? I am also in love with the genus, and thought my collection was impressive, but you just took that award. From my glance at Antwiki at L. ponderosae because you peaked my interest, it appears little has been studied about them, so I look forward to seeing your progress. Thanks for the journal update!

Edited by Ants_Dakota, September 11 2024 - 1:41 PM.

[SlimMilk]

9/11/2024

 

Seeing Ants_Dakota's journal made me think I should probably get back to updating mine. Though I have a ton of Lasius for sale on the shop, I do have plenty of personal colonies as well. Now that I have permits to contain non-native species of Lasius as a result of the shop, I have only become even more fascinated with them.

 

 

Lasius occidentalis

 

In June this year, I was flipping rocks in a hilly oak opening. I kept seeing what I assumed to be Lasius brevicornis workers, as they just resembled this rather strongly. One rock that I flipped showed a giant batch of eggs which immediately made me think the queen could've been nearby, but alas I did not find any Lasius brevicornis queens. Eventually, as I flipped a few more rocks, I realized this had to be something different. I was pretty sure they were subgenus Acanthomyops.  I mentioned to another keeper that I needed to redeem my once-a-decade 'Acanthomyops queen flip', and not more than a minute later I flip a rock to discover a tiny queen amongst the strange workers. I collected the queen carefully, and collected as much of the colony as I could, but it was a rather small colony and some workers did end up escaping. 

 

They had a rough start adjusting to captivity and lost around 10-20 workers, but they are now sitting comfortably at around 100-150 workers. This is very small for any Lasius colony, but I am hoping I can grow them back. Right now they have a decent pile of pupae. This colony has shown an actual appetite for protein unlike some other Lasius social parasites, so I'm rather optimistic about them. They'll be in hibernation shortly, as they have pupae and the queen hasn't laid any batches. They know it's time. The workers are about 3mm, so the queen can't be much bigger than 4-5mm.

 

Here's a short video: https://youtube.com/...o?feature=share

Man Occidentalis is going to have to go on my wishlist but would need it as a mature colony since there's no real way for me to be sourcing my own brood for it