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twixster: Excavating (8. Jun 2007 23:49)

After about and hour of searching i found 2 separate nests of Messor's (I assume thats what they are as they are red colored and look the same as pictures i have seen of SoCal ants)
The first nest i found had 4 entrances,so i assume it is fairly large and established
The second one i found only had one entrance and did not look very large.

Both of these nests i found next to new houses that are being developed, so they will be destroyed soon =(.

I was thinking about excavating the smaller nest that only had one entrance.

I know it could be almost any depth, but how deep do you think this species nest is?Is there a good chance i will be able to capture the queen?

Any Tips on capturing the queen would be very helpful :P

(If captured successfully they will be put in a fairly large plaster nest i made)

JimmyVe: (9. Jun 2007 10:47)

It is not very easy to dig up a nest, but it is possible.
I'm not so found of doing it but if they are going to be destroyed soon, than you have my blessing. ;)

The best way to do it is dig, try to take every ant you can get (also the larva and eggs) make sure you have the queen and don't hurt here. Be where this species get stressed very easily and they could die.