5 replies to this topic

[Lunanitic]

Greetings to the rest of the world from the midlands in the UK. At the moment i ama nanitic version of an ant keeper.

I've been a life long fan of anything that creeps or crawls, but only recently have i obtained a queen and a few subjects Pheidole pallidula, who, spend most of their day trying to fill the queens test tube with sand.

 

This week has seen quite a few nuptial flights, definitely not as many as previous years by a long way, I wonder if its been paused due to some inclement weather...

 

I did manage to score a couple of queens though, well it was three but one went toes up by the next day. One is definitely a Lasius Flavus, its a deep brown colour with a slightly lighter gaster. These must be the predominant species in the area because I only saw one Lasius Niger to probably 200 Flavus. unless my identification is incorrect.

 

I shows my commitment to the cause, the I caught the lasius niger in the middle of our towns main shopping street surrounded by scores of people and, oh no, it was not going to come quietly, feisty was not the word, it was running all over the place, dodging all my attempts to 'encourage' her into my test tube, at one point the damn thing ran up my arm and I still missed it. Eventually I caught the damn thing and beat a hasty retreat no making eye contact with any of the people who had been watching the show or ' the madman talking to the floor'.

 

Mike..

 

 

[T.C.]

Welcome. And yeah man, I've got queens and picked them up in public places. People always give you funny looks when your crawling on the ground chasing a "bug." However if you have a dog, then take it anting and no one will think anything out of the ordinary.

[Nathant2131]

Welcome to the forum!

 

When I see for example a dead alate in the Supermarker or something, I'll pretend to drop something like a hat, then when I bend down I'll quickly snatch the ant along with the "dropped" item , keeping the ant in my closed hand, until further inspection when the coast is clear.

[Byronicus1]

I have found a fellow English! Try to catch Mymrica Rubra, they are a fascinating species and found all over the Uk.

[lucas3431]

Welcome Lunanitic.

 

I wouldn't be to worried about other people, I get strange looks when I'm out and about taking photos of Noctilucent clouds during the hours of 11pm-4am, oddly enough I've seen people doing stranger things during those hours.

[Lunanitic]

I have found a fellow English! Try to catch Mymrica Rubra, they are a fascinating species and found all over the Uk.

Sorry that its took so long to answer, have been on my jolly holidays. One of my main 'things to do' this year was to catch one or several Mymrica Rubra, I've been out so many times looking but no luck. I've come away with 3 different species of queen who are now doing their thing in the airing cupboard. But, I have to confess I took the easy way out on Thursday just gone and bought a 50-60 colony with 2 queens. On the upside, the Mrs offered to pay for it as an anniversary present. And they say romance is dead haha.