ANTSTORE World of Ants

[R3dFox]

Hey guys. sorry i havent been on for a few er...months lol....Been busy with college etc.

Anyway, as you may remember my colony all died.

Well...I was cutting the grass in my grandmothers garden and i noticed she had 3 huge nests of red ants. So i am going to go there during the week and take a few for myself.

So just a few questions.

1) what species are the red ants found in England? they look like Lasius flavus

and 2) Would i be likely to find any queens in the nest or would any come out if i disturbed the nest? Or... what time of year could i expect queens to come out of the nest for mateing or whatever.

I noticed them because i accidentally disturbed a nest while mowing. And i saw a few workers with lava and cocoons, any chance of them turning into queens?

It is summer holidays over here now so need to fund myself a job anyway, so when i do i will be buying some more stuff off ant store. Like i still need new lot of clay and sand/loam...So i will keep these ants just in the arena for the time being.

Oh and one more question.... I dont have the test tube that my lasius niger came in. So any suggestions for what i could use as a home for these new ants?

[miszt]

if you find a colony with lava etc, and u can see the wingless Queen, you could coloct the whole colony

otherwise the mating flights are under way at the moment, so keep ur eyes open

be careful, they have a nasty sting, one is ok, but 10 isnt lol

[R3dFox]

lol i will keep that in mind.

Well ill be going to back to my nans this week some time. Armed with my tweezers, gloved and a container of some kind.

I just hope i get lucky and catch them in flight.

If i find a wingless queen that would be perfect. If not i might take a few workers and eggs/larva and keep checking back for a queen.

Definatly need to get myself a summer job tho lol i want to buy a bigger basin and maybe a cork or ytong nest aswell..among other things.

[Azzer]

Three most common species in the UK (there are many, these are just the three 'general' ones in most peoples' gardens... some sub-species may differ);
Black ants: Lasius Niger
Smaller orange/yellow "Meadow" ants: Lasius flavus*
Slightly larger, dark red ants: Myrmica [rubra, ruginodis]*.(I'm not going in to all the other spcies found in Britan or the sub-species of those genuses etc.)

I have to say that your absolute best bet is to wait for the mating flight (tell your Nan all about how it works and ask her to keep an eye out on her paths and pavements around/near the house for lot's of "beetley looking creatures" - many non-ant people mistake the wingless queens after their mating flights as small beetles!), and capture a wingless queen away from the nests - one that has landed and shed it's wings (which shows it has mated) that is wandering around on the paths. Usually you will get hundreds and thousands in even small areas (coming from all the other nests in the area, not just the one in your Nan's garden - there will be others all over!)... place it in a test-tube (with sugar-water at the bottom packed in with a bit of cotton wool), and let it develop from scratch. As many will tell you, a new colony raised in captivity like this is much more suited to a life of "captivity"... but you should catch a few queens in seperate test-tubes as obviously not all will survive/develop.

The only alternate is to very carefully dig up the nest and hope, through some luck and good eyesight, you find a wingless queen in the nest already (usually will be near/around the eggs and brood, but not always). Be very careful, be sure to get plenty of workers and brood with her, and keep her somewhere dark and moist and do not disturb her for a while after capture. The sudden "Panic" of a nest being torn up and the queen relocated can kill a queen.

Don't simply grab a few random workers and eggs, even if you hope to come back for the queen later. This is only good for small "science/school projects", as the ants will die off before too long (and not be very "Happy"!). Either go for the queen of a nest, or don't disturb the nest at all.

Also, be aware that particularly in the Myrmica rubra* species, the queen ant is not much bigger than the workers (twice the size at best), so can be much harder to spot than say, a lasius niger queen amongst lasius niger workers.

Good luck!

* Edit uta

[R3dFox]

Thanks for that Azzer. The ants were quite bright (orangy yellow) so i would say lasius flavus. I would prefer some Myrmica rubra tho, they develop quite fast dont they?

Ill proberly just wait for the mating flight then. I saw a few winged queens walking around the top of the nest so ill take that as a good sign? maybe they will be mating soon?

Is it safe to keep queens together at all?

also Azzer, i really like the set up for your colony. How much did that cost? and what size basin you got cause it looks quite big. I would like a set up similar to that so what did you get from antstore n what from else where? did it come easy to set up?

[Azzer]

Seeing a few out like that is a good sign. They are "stretching their legs", other ants will be scoutingthe local area, and they are waiting for the perfect weather condition (they are good weather predictors!). Depending on how the weather turns (it's been like 4 weeks of almost non-stop rain up here in Yorkshire!), it could be very very soon, the mating flight.

I would keep the queens in seperate test-tubes/as seperate colonies, not together.

I spent a wee bit on my setup - I got everything from antstore pretty much, but it's better quality/more suited stuff... you could set up an equivalent system much cheaper if you were on a tight budget by going to local DIY stores (B&Q is great) and the like for your stuff. The basin I have in my setup is 30x20x20 cm. If you need any advice on how to setup a ytong, check the sticky thread in the general discussion, it's a guide I made on setting up a ytong nest, hopefully some good advice/tips there for you!
http://www.antstore.net/viewtopic.php?t=5737

[Varban]

Myrmica Rubra can have more than one queen per colony so if they are myrmica rubras you could keep them in the same test tube and they will help eachother raising a new colony.
I'd suggest the panoramic display type setups sold at antstore for a more natural setup, but most people here prefer y-tong. Keeps us updated on how your new colony is going

[R3dFox]

Cheers again azzer. I like how you got the tube going though the basin to the floor. How did you do that? my basin from antstorehas a male connector on the outside so cant get the tube inside..

But like how you done that... Once i got the money ill get the sutff i want off antstore...Ill proberly get the cheeper version of yours lol. I like the ytong nests just how to keep these nests moist confuses me.

i might get a small cork nest aswell for another colony and share the basin.....maybe anyway lol.

And @ Varban....Dont lasius flavus sometimes have more than one queen aswell?

[miszt]

You dont want to colonys sharing the same basin, they will fight constantly, and one is sure to loose the battle

[R3dFox]

Interesting to watch tho. Just to see how the live together...Just like in the wild.

[nepenthes_ak]

L. niger have queens in the beginning but then dominate kills the weaker one when workers develop., or the workers kill the weaker queen I forget.

[JimmyVe]

That is true (also for Lasius flavus) the queens will fight and if you are lucky the strongest one will survive, is she is not hurt to bad.

Not many species can live together (some can), you can not do this like in nature, in nature they will avoid each other but in captivity they have not much space and they will fight for food and room.

[R3dFox]

how would a colony of lasius flavus get on with L. Niger?

The weather has been poor all week here so i still havent been over to my nans...

Depending on the weather i may go tomorrow....So ill let you all know

[JimmyVe]

if they have enough room and enough food there will not be many problems but Lasius niger are very aggressive against other ants if they come to close (you would not say because of there size, but they are )

[R3dFox]

Really? I would have thought that L. Flavus were the more aggressive?