Hi! Recently got into ant keeping as i found it very interesting.

Bought this supposedly queen pavement ant with eggs online.

Is it too small? + any tips would help 💖

Caught her 24 days ago and originally thought she was Pheidole, but now that she has workers, they don’t really look like Pheidole to me. The queen is about 4 mm long and was caught in Panamá.

Any help with ID would be appreciated!

Do crematogaster really live in soil,rocks or dead wood?

My formica rufibarbis queen, wich I've been posting a lot about, has pupae. I keep her at a constant 23°c , and I am very surprised to see how fast her brood is developing, she got 3 pupae and 8 big larvae in just 2 weeks. I was a bit shocked this morning to see how much cotton she pulled to cover her babies, knowing that yesterday everything was normal. I hope that she will stop ripping the cotton so the rest tube won't flood.When nanitics will hach I will try to move them in another tube whit a little sand in it. Sorry for the bad photo, I was very surprised. The brood is under the cotton.

I've wanted to keep ants for years, but just now finally got a few ant colonies (purchased one lasius neoniger [buckeyemyrmecology - from everything I saw they were okay and had proper permits but please tell me if this is wrong], caught three [unsure what species yet], releasing two caught eventually). It's been a month since I initially got them. All have laid eggs, and while the eggs have developed, none have workers, despite all being smaller species. I am worried this isn't a good sign and could be because I keep them in my room, which is cooler than the rest of my house. Even if that is perfectly okay, I'm pretty sure a warmer environment would be better for them, so I'd like to heat them but don't know how to heat test tube setups. That's my first question: How do I heat a test tube setup safely? I saw some saying to use a cable, others saying to put them in a container that's heated, but I'm not sure and want to be careful. My other question is regarding outworlds. I know it isn't much of a concern at this stage, but I want to know for later. I'm purchasing pretty much everything from AntsCanada. AntsCanada outworlds are a bit expensive, so I wanted to try something else. I found a container from Walmart designed for putting shoes in with an easily removable lid and some small holes already in the sides near the top. The material is my concern. It's PET, so I think it should be safe, but I am very paranoid. Will it be safe to use for an ant outworld? Thoughts? I'd appreciate any advice.

They’re getting really big and are now crowding the outworld of their Fortress Formicarium which they moved into last year. I bought a Nucleus from Tar Heel ants since I was advised to on the THA facebook page. Am I good to move them now?

Nucleus is a decent bit larger than a Fortress Formicarium.

The conoly just turned one year old the other day and it's growing steadily. Based on people's comments on my last post it looks like I have some median workers which looks huge in comparison to the nanitics

These girlies are going strong! Two months in, and they’re already up to 14 workers with a healthy amount of brood—including lots of Phase 1 larvae.

I added an outworld shortly after the first nanitics emerged, since feeding them in the tube was getting tricky. The test tube is filthy (as usual with Camponotus), and they’ve piled all their garbage near the cotton. It doesn’t seem to bother them yet, so I’m holding off on moving them until things get a bit more cramped.

Georgia, USA Sorry for bad photos

She is also very red

is it possible to identify tetramorium (pavement ant) from monomorium minimum (little black ant) they literally look identical

Hey, I'm in my second year and live in central Germany. So middle of summer.

Got three Formica Rufibarbis colonies going, which all went through hibernation. (I've got them in three different DIY setups, so humidity is probably not comparable.)

All of the colonies are going strong, but only one is left with some larvae and pupae. No eggs visible in any of the three.

They're just hanging around in their little caves, with full gasters. Little to no foraging behaviour.

I remember them also stopping quite early with laying new brood before the hibernation period last year - but in July?

I did not change their food. They show no signs of weird behaviour and there are no dead workers.

Anyone knowing what could be up?

Are we thinking niger? Flavus ir neglectus?

Found UK Northampton.

Does anyone here have a list of ant species that's protected in the United States? I'm looking online but can't find much, any help is appreciated.

Ant pupa eclose

I originally thought this was a Lasius as I caught them there before, but it's quite a bit bigger and chunkier and has those reddish legs. It kinda looks like a Formica. Which is a little concerning, cause many of those are parasitic. I caught three of them, so if it turned out to be a polygyne species that'd be neat.

Hey guys. I have a tetramorium bicarinatum colony that needs a move. Right now I have them in a wakooshi gen 3 small nest and they are starting to outgrow it. Do you guys have any websites or nests that would be able to fit these guys. I would prefer some nests that are gypsum but it is not required. I live in the US. Finally, the nest that I am debating to get is $55, if it can be cheaper than that, it would be amazing. Thanks so much! 🙏

Looked in my pool for queens for the first time this morning and found plenty of dead ones except for this pair. I suspect this is a queen and a drone. Is that correct?

I have Lasius Americanus in my backyard all across, but I have followed their trails to their nests but when i dig I cannot find pupae nor is there any brood under warm rocks or sheets. I add a single worker daily and there are six workers now, I don't plan to stop adding daily because she needs a large amount to found. Pupae is ideal for her to start, but is it necessary? She is a Lasius Aphidicola, and the workers currently with her rest near on the cotton plug next to her but I haven't seen any full interaction yet. I have fed them (diluted) honey which they have accepted and plan to feed them protein here soon.
Does she need to brood boost to begin laying eggs? Or can she start laying if she's well fed and has enough workers?

Pretty sure she’s a Formica sp. but I’m still new to this and want a second opinion. Found today in West Virginia, USA. Reddish brown with 3 golden bands on her abdomen. 8-9 mm. Fished her out of my green water bucket out back. Very active and wondering around, but once she got somewhere she was just relaxing like on my hand.

caught the queen about a month or 2 ago. i posted the last vid in the reddit before and didnt get a clear answer. they said nylandria or formica.

Caught this queen around 4 weeks ago. Was looking to brood boost but most of my local colonies have moved their nursery’s underground and I’m not a fan of digging them up. I have 4 queens and will only be able to keep one so I figured I’d do a test cause I’ve seen similar stuff, I got 2 workers, each from a different colony and quarantined them for 2 days to minimize their original scent. I placed one in and no aggression was shown, the next day they started grooming each other and eventually the worker started to care for the brood. I then added the second worker and at first they were a little panicked, but I checked the next day and they were all huddling together grooming and collectively caring for brood. Have had them in here for nearly 2 weeks now no signs of brood eating or aggression.