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Queen ID - Friuli, Italy

Started By noobkeeper , May 7 2017 9:25 AM

Best Answer Batspiderfish , May 7 2017 - 9:27 AM

Myrmica sp.

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8 replies to this topic

#1 Offline noobkeeper - Posted May 7 2017 - 9:25 AM

noobkeeper

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Hello everyone,
today I found this ant wandering around on the concrete next to my doorsteps.

I found her at about 18:30 and she looks like a queen to me.

If she's a queen she really looks like Aphaenogaster subterranea, but I can't understand if she's simply a worker or not. The faster is relatively small. If she stretches out She's 7mm long. On her back there are some brown textures, darker than the red of the head.

The pictures are a bit shaky, she doesn't want to stay still.
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Thanks everyone!

1x Tapinoma nigerrimum (4 queens) ~200 workers

9x Lasius sp. (founding)

#2 Offline Batspiderfish - Posted May 7 2017 - 9:27 AM   Best Answer

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Myrmica sp.


If you've enjoyed using my expertise and identifications, please do not create undue ecological risk by releasing your ants. The environment which we keep our pet insects is alien and oftentimes unsanitary, so ensure that wild populations stay safe by giving your ants the best care you can manage for the rest of their lives, as we must do with any other pet.

 

Exotic ants are for those who think that vibrant diversity is something you need to pay money to see. It is illegal to transport live ants across state lines.

 

----

Black lives still matter.

#3 Offline noobkeeper - Posted May 7 2017 - 9:33 AM

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Thanks for the quick ID, so it's sure she's a queen?


1x Tapinoma nigerrimum (4 queens) ~200 workers

9x Lasius sp. (founding)

#4 Offline Batspiderfish - Posted May 7 2017 - 9:35 AM

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Yes, probably from the year before. They are semi-claustral, and so forage for their brood in the spring. She will need small insects like Drosophila and sugar water, along with space to forage.


If you've enjoyed using my expertise and identifications, please do not create undue ecological risk by releasing your ants. The environment which we keep our pet insects is alien and oftentimes unsanitary, so ensure that wild populations stay safe by giving your ants the best care you can manage for the rest of their lives, as we must do with any other pet.

 

Exotic ants are for those who think that vibrant diversity is something you need to pay money to see. It is illegal to transport live ants across state lines.

 

----

Black lives still matter.

#5 Offline noobkeeper - Posted May 7 2017 - 9:44 AM

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Thank you very much. Is a second test tube attached to the first one (nest) be enough for an outworld?


1x Tapinoma nigerrimum (4 queens) ~200 workers

9x Lasius sp. (founding)

#6 Offline Batspiderfish - Posted May 7 2017 - 10:03 AM

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Thank you very much. Is a second test tube attached to the first one (nest) be enough for an outworld?

 

Nope! She will need a dry, open space. Offering insects inside the humid test-tube environment will cause problems.


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If you've enjoyed using my expertise and identifications, please do not create undue ecological risk by releasing your ants. The environment which we keep our pet insects is alien and oftentimes unsanitary, so ensure that wild populations stay safe by giving your ants the best care you can manage for the rest of their lives, as we must do with any other pet.

 

Exotic ants are for those who think that vibrant diversity is something you need to pay money to see. It is illegal to transport live ants across state lines.

 

----

Black lives still matter.

#7 Offline Jonathan21700 - Posted May 7 2017 - 12:30 PM

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Make sure to give her a small opening of the nest to the outworld. Otherwise she might feel insecure and not lay eggs. 

Example for what I used for a Myrmica sp. queen and it worked to the first workers. I still don't recommend exactly this one as the humidity levels where too low most of the time and relocating the colony to a new nest would be hard. 

20150402 230233 

 

 
 
 

 


Edited by Jonathan21700, May 7 2017 - 12:33 PM.

#8 Offline noobkeeper - Posted May 8 2017 - 9:51 AM

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Well I put her in an open test tube (the opening is like 6mm wide) inside an outworld.

She seems really annoyed and runs everywhere. There's no way to make her go in the test tube. I guess she won't be laying anything...  :(


1x Tapinoma nigerrimum (4 queens) ~200 workers

9x Lasius sp. (founding)

#9 Offline Batspiderfish - Posted May 8 2017 - 10:08 AM

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She is probably trying to find her original founding nest. Myrmica queens at this time of year are out foraging for their brood.


If you've enjoyed using my expertise and identifications, please do not create undue ecological risk by releasing your ants. The environment which we keep our pet insects is alien and oftentimes unsanitary, so ensure that wild populations stay safe by giving your ants the best care you can manage for the rest of their lives, as we must do with any other pet.

 

Exotic ants are for those who think that vibrant diversity is something you need to pay money to see. It is illegal to transport live ants across state lines.

 

----

Black lives still matter.

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