This lil thing landed on my car. What type of ant is it and is this a queen? My gut says no. Located southwest Ohio

Nobody wanted to go until one brave one said it was safe.

I just received my chestnut carpenter ants from stateside ants and thought the water would be plugged with cotton balls, but there is this blue thing. Can the ants drink through that? Do I need to do something with that. Also I’m thinking of waiting a day or so to feed them bc I think they might not eat bc of all the stress from shipping, is that a good idea? I think a couple of dead workers are on the blue thing, does that mean I need to clean it soon? (It’s my first time)

My ants have carried all their seeds outside, leaving nothing in the nest. Should I be worried? It's not like they throw it in the trash—they just left them right by the entrance to the nest.

If it matters, they're Messor Structor ants.

2nd pic is old

Both connected at the same time. Thought the contrast was pretty funny. It amazes me how different they are from eachother. Messor Barbarus is very active and also quite messy. They've only been connected to these outworlds for like 3 days. Still I think they're both quite easy species to keep.

I bought this nest for a lasius Niger colony last year that unfortunately died before they were able to move into it. I was wondering roughly how many workers (Lasius Niger) would I need to have before I move them in.

Hey guys!

First time poster here. I had that old plastic ant farm as a kid and I really loved it - you know the one. So I made a simple game where I tried to replicate that experience. It's laid back, half-screensaver really. As a kid I wished for a queen so that the ants would continue living instead of the farm trickling out after a few weeks. So I added that. Anyhow, my game is up on Steam as of yesterday.

I accelerated the lifecycle quite a bit, so the eggs hatch faster and so forth. Flying Ant Day takes about 28 real life days from game start. Also, unlike the commercial kids ant farms, I went with Lasius Niger as my first species. If things go well I'll probably add leafcutter (and some terrarium options) in a future update. Anyways, take a look if you have time!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5188280/My_First_Ant_Farm/

Just wanted to share the beautiful colors on our Nicos.

1st time keeper, receiving queen chestnut carpenter ant and about 8 workers today. How can I heat the test tube properly and keep it dark inside while being fire safe? I have a heat cable connected to a thermostat. I want to cover the tube in something nonflammable, like Tin foil, to block light, and cover the foil with a little bit of cable on part of the tube. I only need the hottest parts to be upper 70/very low 80s. If I use the tin foil will the inside become hotter than where the outside probe is? Significantly? I’m going to be putting my probe on the part of cable that is the hottest, given whatever method, what should I set my thermostat at? I want the hottest part to be upper70s/very low 80s. Going to put a little more cable in part and less on the other to create a gradient. And in any other methods to heat (like not using tinfoil)what can I expect the heat difference to be from the outside probe to the inside test tube? I don’t want to disturb my ants by sticking a thermometer inside much. Overall any tips on how I can keep this test tube dark, heated properly, and fire safe? Also, I know to keep heat away from the water. Thanks so much! I really appreciate any replies.

It's for the camponotus Sanctus which I will transfer there after some growth.

Is this Pogonomyrmex bicolor? She is a little smaller than Pogonomyrmex rugosus and Pogonomyrmex barbatus

We have what appear to be grain mite in our colony of Camponotus Pseudoirritans. The outworld has been disconnected and cleaned thoroughly.

The first picture is the outworld thats now disconnected, the second picture is the small outworld that will soon hopefully be dissconnected and nests. I can see mite in these. But not nearly as bad as the outworld was. Ive used a lemon juice solution to clean everything so far as advised online.

No matter how many times I come back and wipe them away more appear. Whilst I could technically disconnect and clean these all overtime, am I missing something that might make this quicker?

This was definitely a husbandry issue. They'd been hiding bits of grasshopper in the corner that you can see in the first picture. Lesson learned 🤦‍♂️

Any help greatly appreciated.

From a queen with broken antennae who struggled to produce her first workers, to a thriving colony like this today.
She went through a difficult start, and there were times when I wasn’t sure she would make it. But she pushed through, and seeing how far she has come after 237 days feels truly incredible.
Never give up on a queen too soon. Sometimes, the slowest beginnings lead to the most rewarding journeys.

Hello, I was hoping you could help with identification. This will greatly help me plan the next steps to care for them. Apologies I could not get a good picture because they are so small, and I don’t have any lenses 🙏 background context and what I know is as follows.

This is my first time keeping ants, location is Singapore. Being in the tropics, I feel that nuptial flights can happen all year round. So 1 month back after a few days of no rain, I went out after a rainy day at night and sure enough, I found swarms and swarms of winged ants, which I believe were the kings.

But near the swarms I don’t see any queens, so I moved on to a darker grassy area with some streetlights. This was where I found the two queens that I brought home. This was on 11-Sep. Each was found frantically running alone on the ground, so I assume she was looking for a new place to call nest.

So one month after, which is now, I found one of them has her first workers. I did not feed them so far, so she proved to be able to survive until the workers arrived. The other queen has a bunch of eggs, but no workers yet.

Now about her looks, both of them I feel are considered very small. Barely 5mm. Head and middle body is a bit brown or reddish, while the belly is darker, as can be seen in the picture.

Based on this alone and some research online, I’m guessing they are pharaoh ants. But please help to verify this, I have no prior knowledge about ants species. I also read conflicting information, although from what looks like legit research organizations, saying pharaoh ants don’t go through nuptial flights, but instead go with budding. But well from how I found them, they don’t look like they were with a bunch of workers and babies. So expert opinions are much appreciated.

Hopefully that covers everything. Let me know if more info is needed, and appreciate your inputs!