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plewi: Lasisus niger flying ants (15. Aug 2010 18:53)

Hi,

I've not had ants for a few years and when i did they didn't survive there first winter but today in my back garden we had a load of winged ants emerge from a colony there were two different sized winged ants and lots of workers rushing about every where i decided to collect some of the larger winged ants which i assume are queens. I collected three which i have temporarily put in seperate jam jars i want to know if i have done the right thing collecting as I'm not sure at what stage they get fertilised or do they emerge fertilised i do have a couple of the smaller winged ants in two of the jars the other is on her own.

im hoping they will be ok in the jars for the time being i have added a moistened ball of cotton wool for them to drink from if they need it but i will move one of them to a 30x20x20 ant basin i bought a few years back but i want to know if they are fertile and laying eggs first before i move one of them into her new home is this the right thing to do?

Thanks,

Paul.

Magicalsushi: Re: Lasisus niger flying ants (18. Aug 2010 13:11)

The smaller winged ants are males; the larger ones are females. However, they do not mate until they fly away from the nest. After this, their wings drop off. If you want to find fertile queens to start a colony, you must wait until a mating flight occurs, then catch queens *after* they have lost their wings.

I'm not sure what you should do with the ants you caught; perhaps it would be okay to try and return them to where you found them? Does anyone else know?