anquietas: unknown queen (13. Jun 2008 11:51)

i have found a queen last night and do not know the species could some one help i have enclosed the best pic i could get of her she is at least 2cm long what is she

SteveUK28: (13. Jun 2008 12:12)

Obviously a camponotus, not vagus, ligniperda or substitutus. so other than that.. ive no idea sorry ;)

Sphecomyrmex: (13. Jun 2008 12:15)

How long is she?

I think it's Camponotus pennsylvanicus, but also probably other Camponotus species...

anquietas: (13. Jun 2008 12:37)

i wana say camponotus is latin / scientific for carpenter then lol i will check all those o and will she nest in dirt? if not what is the best nest for her

p.s. i am prety sure she is Camponotus pennsylvanicus because the other 2 had some red on them and she is completly black

tail__: (13. Jun 2008 13:43)

Most Camponotus can nest in dirt if they haven't any choice, but they would choose dead wood if possible. I think the cork nest would be the most natural for them, though they also do well in ytong or gypsum nests.

anquietas: (13. Jun 2008 13:52)

ok ty very much now how long will it take for her to start laying eggs (shes in light becuase i wish her to get used to it and so when i put her in a dirt nest she will not block the tunnles) and how long before the eggs become micro workers aka starting workers and is she a good ant for begeners? o and do i feed her or not?

miszt: (13. Jun 2008 14:41)

Camponotus tend to make their nests initially in wood, but as the colony matures it spreads into the ground, they usually use a tree stump as a base for a colony and turn it into a honey comb structure, which they can put brood in during the summer to develop faster

depending on the species it culd be 2 months or longer, most european Camp are easy to look after :)

anquietas: (13. Jun 2008 14:53)

thank you so it will take 2 months or longer for her to start to lay eggs or 2 months or longer for the eggs to become micro workers? o and are they poly cuz i found 2 more plz say yes

kashmir79: (14. Jun 2008 19:24)

camponotouses are rarely Poly. dont put the queens together because once they lay eggs, they will fight to the death.

anquietas: (15. Jun 2008 02:39)

ok ty my first one has died :( and i cant figure out y is it because she chewed up her cotton balls or what? at least i have another one o and now another one has droped dead she was fine not even 2 min ago and now she is only twitching that makes 3/4 dead they are in the same elclosers my other queens were in and they are the only 3 i have lost