ANTSTORE World of Ants

[ratgreen]

i had a tree chopped down today, and while i was moving logs about i found this huge colony in the centre of a dead piece of wood. i tried to save the colony as it was in half when i found it so i split the wood in half frantically searching for the queen.sadly i did not find her i think this was because it was cut in half so the queen might be in the other bit of wood but i could find the other bit. i am hoping this species has one or more queen per colony so i can adopt one, seriously i was so happy when i found it and there is about 5000 ants in there see the pictures in a second.

the ants are same size as lasius niger, but have a reddish brown colour to them.

[ratgreen]

loads of them, are they formica rufa or fusca? no i doubt it but a guess, also can i add a queen to this colony.

[KiamCameron]

myrmica rubra or myrmica ruginodus ?

[mpir]

No way, this is looks like a formicinae and NOT Myrmicinae... so I doubt it is Myrmica.

More info on where the colony was found might help.

[ratgreen]

er well location wise, pretty much London UK and it was in the centre of a tree that was cut down, which was rotting wood.
i think i have found the other half of the nest so i will check tomorrow to see if i can find a queen.
if i cant find a queen does anyone know if i could adopt a new queen too this colony, if it is polygyny or not.

[Gaster]

Looks like Lasius brunneus or Lasius emarginatus. Both of them are monogynous.

[Sphecomyrmex]

I think it's a Lasius specie too, or another similar Formicinae ant...

[tail__]

Lasius for sure, I'm not 100% sure if it is emarginatus or brunneus, but i'd say brunneus, I think L. emarginatus has darker head and they probably don't live in UK. Unfortunately both species have only one queen.

[Messorus]

This is Lasius specie, brunneus or emarginatus, I know because I have them domesticated at our house, it is Lasius bruneus or L. eumarginatus, believe!

[JimmyVe]

I hope you find the queen it is worth a try to let them adopt a queen but i don't think it is going to work, the colony is to big.

[ratgreen]

bad news people, i couldnt find the queen. so this colony will last for about 6 months wont it.? that is so annoying i bet i was like 1cm away from her but just missed her. also i am not willing to pay €30 for a queen that might not even be acepted,AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

[tail__]

Maybe you will find new one in summer Workers can live even more than two years. Lasius brunneus and emarginatus colonies can also adopt Chthonolasius parasite queen.

[ratgreen]

i have moved them into a setup and already have made chambers for massive amouts of larvea i found(about 2 tablespoons of larvea and eggs). pictures later. they have been in their under an hour.

[SteveUK28]

i think they are probabily bruneus as i have emarginatus and mine are a tad darker... n look bigger... not that u can tell size from a pic lol
Nice find tho ratgreen.. id love to find somat like that in my garden Shame u couldnt find the queen tho... u wanna have a good look around ya garden today where the tree was cut down... maybe she is near by.

[miszt]

Can ya tell me exactly where you found them? PM if u like, very interested to see where they where, I've not found anything other than niger and flavus for several years now in London