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I captured a colony which is still inside the log. I need help identifying (I only have one picture at the moment):
http://i42.tinypic.com/72ub9t.jpg
I also need ideas as on how to remove the colony from the log. It is too hard for me to take apart, and if I hack it I will kill the ants for sure.
Hi, i can't help you identify them but my Polyharchis always try and go where the heat is so perhaps if you place a heatmat somewhere where you want them to go then they may oblige you.
Those ants belong to the genus Camponotus, not sure wich species since I´m not really an expert on Camponotus species of southern south America.^^
They remind me of a species I once saw pictures of in the past but at the moment I can´t remember the name.
Polyrhachis by the way only live in Asia and Australia.
EDIT: How hard is the wood they live in? If it really is too hard to take it apart then it might work to let it dry out. So that they can´t live in it anymore. After some time you give them a better place to make a nest and hope they move. That probably will work but some ants also stay in their nest so long that they die. Also giving them water too soon might blow the whole strategy because they maybe are able to drink water and spit it out in the nest.
You could freze some bottles of water and put them around the nest so that it will get cold. While that on the other side of the box you have them in you give them a heated nest. They should move then since most Camponotus (at least the ones I know) build their nests at the warmest avaidable spots.
That method is also used to get ants out of basins into the nest before hibernation and it workes pretty well so I think it might work for you as well. That way you shouldn´t hurt the ants very much and that won´t stress them as much as opening the nest.
However that could take the whole night!
Thanks for your inputs, lads.
Kaj, that does sound like an excellent idea. I'm just worried about one thing, the entrances are all very small and I've closed all entrances except one as I don't have a proper closed place to put them (that will be remedied today, I will buy a big plastic pot for them), so maybe the queen will not be able to get out? From what I have seen, Camponotus queens are always very much larger than wokers and soldiers, is it not so?
EDIT: The wood is too hard, so taking it apart is out of the question right now.
Camponotus arboreus?
One other thing I noticed, it gives off a strong musky odor when handled. Much stronger than any other ant. Not a stink, but a strong odor.
There are a few Camponotus species with golden gaster in South America, could be e.g. C. sericeiventris.
To dry out will probably not make the ants flee, the most wood-living species don't have any problems with dryness. Better do exactly the opposite: But the wood into a box with some water, but not too much! The wood will absorb the water and gets very wet inside, most ants dislike this and will flee (give them an alternative nest where they could settle). But it'll take some time until the wood absorbed enough water.
Greetings, Phil
Thanks for the tip, Phil. It is something to think about.
As for the correct species, sericeiventris are golden in their thorax as well. This one has a metal like dorsal part of its gaster only, it is not even gold, it's more silver. So it looks more like arboreus. But you are absolutely correct, it could even be some other subspecies.
hello would be the Camponotus sericeus?
Hi Camaross
I believe they are more likely to be Camponotus arboreus because the only part that has the gold/silver covering is the dorsal part on their gaster. Camponotus sericeus actually has a bit more, and also they are not to be found where I live, but arboreus are.