Harvester queen ants

[yen_saw]

Went out collecting queen ants for Pogonomyrmex barbatus, a species of harvester ant, since we had our first heavy rain in Summer. It was fun with some interesting observation.

Winged queen ants emerging from the nest

Mating ball

Queen ant digging up the hole

Queen ant trying to defend itself

Also found a grass mantis

Typical ant mount freshly dug up by harvester queen ant

Collected queens in test tubes

A short movie clip of the ant moving dirt out

 

[Mr.Mantid]

I have always wanted to collect some queens but haven't the time or the knowledge to do it yet.

 

[guapoalto049]

Haha Yen you must have some incredible sight to find that grass mantid! Great photos as always

 

[[email protected]]

Great phots! Where did you go to get the ants? If I had access to harvester ants I would keep Horny Toad lizards

 

[yen_saw]

I have always wanted to collect some queens but haven't the time or the knowledge to do it yet.

Completely understood! Besides, it is very much depend on luck, and feasible collecting period usually only last for few hours, after that the queen ants have dug deep where retrieving it will be lot more challenging.

Haha Yen you must have some incredible sight to find that grass mantid! Great photos as always

Thanks Chris. Knowing where to find the grass mantis helps but really it was luck and a pair of keen eyes that count the most.

Great phots! Where did you go to get the ants? If I had access to harvester ants I would keep Horny Toad lizards

Thanks Leeann. It is really not too far from the Hwy 6 Post Office, at Bear Creek Park next to the golf club. There are plenty of harvester ant nests around the park. But the ever annoyed fire ants are taking over their habitat. I saw many harvester queen ants being killed by fire ants during collecting, not a good sight.For anyone interested to read more. I have included some observations while collecting queen ants for this species.

http://usamantis.com/06-26-2011_Pbarbatus.html

http://usamantis.com/06-27-2011_Pbarbatus.html

 

[ismart]

Very nice finds! Good luck in starting some new colonies.

 

[yen_saw]

Very nice finds! Good luck in starting some new colonies.

Thanks Paul. I left some queens in cooler spot (~26 C) whlie the other queens in my garage which is constantly above 30C. The one with high temp. already have good size larvae in as little as 2 weeks while the eggs from queens in cooler area haven't hatched yet.Queen from cooler room.

Queens from warmer garage

I have also noted that queens will regurgitate to feed the larvae, pretty neat.

 

[d17oug18]

gross lol, looks like fly larva =P Seriously... thats pretty awesome what your doing =) I would love to see how one ant restarts its colony! Like watching a flower grow from a seed.

 

[ismart]

They are looking great Yen!

 

[yen_saw]

gross lol, looks like fly larva =P Seriously... thats pretty awesome what your doing =) I would love to see how one ant restarts its colony! Like watching a flower grow from a seed.

, thanks. It does look like fly larvae! I just want to see how they grow into a colony, and do some studies with variety of conditions to see that affect their colony development, and release it when the colony gets too large for me to handle.

 

[Survivor7]

I would love to take one of those off your hands if only I were able

 

[yen_saw]

The harvester ant queens have worker ants in only about a month time since nuptial flight. Now most colonies have 5-10 worker ants. Very low casualty rate for queens, less than 5%. Now I have close to 10 different ant species, it has been fun to keep both the cannibalistic mantis and highly social ant colony.

 

[Malti]

what is that liquid in the test tube?

 

[yen_saw]

what is that liquid in the test tube?

Water - for humidity and water supply.

 

[Malti]

thankyou where do you transfer them after the colony grows bigger? thinking of keeping some myself

 

[ismart]

Very nice! My girls are close to having there first workers. I should have probably kept them warmer, but i'm in no rush! Great photos btw!

 

[[email protected]]

That is fascinating! What tpye of setup are you keeping them in? What do they eat?

If you get too many, I know somebody that would take them off of your hands, he has horned lizards

 

[yen_saw]

thankyou where do you transfer them after the colony grows bigger? thinking of keeping some myself

I am thinking of building an ant farm when the colony get larger. But they usually do alright in the same container for the 1st year. This is what I took in the University of Houston biology lab. A one year olf colony of Pogonomyrmex barbatus.

and this is about 3-yr old

Very nice! My girls are close to having there first workers. I should have probably kept them warmer, but i'm in no rush! Great photos btw!

Thanks Paul. It will take longer for the larvae to develop into ant in cooler temp, but that gives you more time to prepare too.

That is fascinating! What tpye of setup are you keeping them in? What do they eat?

If you get too many, I know somebody that would take them off of your hands, he has horned lizards

I keep them in the tupperware right now, feeding seeds and honey.

 

[d17oug18]

is that just a big a$$ ice cube in there lol, That is so interesting on how your taking care of them! I would not dare bring those to my house, its already INFESTED all year round with the small black ones. There like a virus, now a bigger spread? and probably get loose and eat my family =P I would love to sit at someones house and just watch them all day!