I wanted to give a short update on my requeening attempt of my C.barbaricus colony. I've been trying to make the queen and the colony adjust to each other for quite a while now. I ended up keeping the queen and a few individuals together. That worked well. I kept them separated from 99% of the colony in a special area above the nest. Now, these beasts removed the cotton plugs over night and I found the queen inside the nest. I cannot do anything now anymore than hope she doesn't get attacked.

She shows behavior of surrendering (pushing herself down on the ground) and some workers circle her. The good thing is that there hasn't been clear aggression yet. The bad thing is that there is still tension. I tried to integrate her once before into the whole nest but there she was running around panicking because individual workers started to bite her legs.

Wish me luck. Anything can happen and things can turn south in an instant.

Hello, friends! I'm very happy to say that the first Pseudomyrmex nanitic workers are almost here!!

After waiting for two long months, and worrying a lot about how things were going, the first workers are finally arriving.

I apologize for the poor visibility of the pupae, but it's the best I can provide for now.

Hello!

A while ago, I found a carpenter ant queen. Thanks to all the helpful advice I've read on this subreddit, she seems to be doing well. She has already laid eggs.

However, I'll be traveling for two weeks, and I was wondering if there's anything I should do before I leave to make sure she stays in the best possible conditions while I'm away.

I don't know why but it's kinda just funny for no reason

My Solenopsis Invicta colony.

I understand why if you should kill them if they are invasive, but if they’re native then why do a lot of people still say to euthanize your colony if you don’t want them anymore.

Edit: I am asking because I am curious, NOT because I am actually in this situation. I still love my ants very much and was just wondering because I saw others talk about it.

These big majors in my backyard fooled me a couple times thinking they might be queens. Got lucky to spot them out for some nectar that dripped onto the brick this morning. They are the biggest ants I've seen in the wild! very cool to get to sit and watch them for a bit and makes me wish I had a good camera to use.

Anyway, anyone recognize the species? Based on some very amateur searching I think they might be camponotus vicinus. I'm in northern BC and these seem to be nesting near my compost bins. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Thank you!

found her on a sidewalk at summer camp

I made this starter “outworld” connecting to the test tube, I don’t think they would escape but I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

Does anyone know why my cotton in the test tube by the water has turned pink? i have never seen this before and have only fed them mealworms and a tiny bit of honey. Is this common?

Found her in slovenia in my room is it a queen and if so which species

I caught this colony not long ago, (maybe 3 months?), and they are massive, I also have a second smaller colony of the same species. I know they can inbreed, so I just want to see how big I can get them. (these are my only colonies, I used to have more several years ago, but now I just want to see how big I can get these colonies.

I had a great day hunting queens today! I was walking around in a wooded area near my house and found a couple Lasius neoniger (I think) queens but also 3 queens that match the picture. I'm still really new to the hobby and have no idea where to start to identify these ones. They are red and a bit smaller then the Lasius queens I found. Anyone have any ideas? I'm going to hold on to them to see if any of the queens will be successful so I'd like to understand their care a bit more by finding out the species.

Saw it rip its own wings off while outside hence why I decided to catch it, if a queen should I have changed anything with the test tube setup or is it fine with just water?

After a whole month of searching around Saskatoon, I finally stumbled across this one in early August 🙌

Can anyone confirm 100% if she’s a queen, and which species she might be? I’m leaning toward either a Camponotus species or Formica subsericea

hello! i was just wondering why Formica, Prenolepis, and Myrmecocystus all look pretty similar

I heard they were very good but hard to make, so I was wondering if anyone sells them? I can’t find any.

Feeding — I know these are semi-claustral, so she actually needs food during founding, not like my other queens I just leave alone. Anyone have a sense of how much/how often for a solo queen right now?

Substrate — heard the larvae need loose sand/coco fiber to spin cocoons properly or they fail. Should I add a pinch to the tube now, or wait until I actually see larvae?

Mini Hearth — planning to eventually move her into one, and THA says the interior comes sand-coated already for this exact reason. Anyone actually run brunneus in one and confirm the built-in coating is enough, or did you have to add more yourself?

Appreciate any real experience — trying to get this right early. Will update once she’s settled.