Found a queen ant on Park Ave. Looks like Prenolepis imparis, or the american winter ant. You can spot queens by their distinctive waddle. She was hustling along the side walk as if on her way to the Chanel store. Now she’s in one of my luxury ant condos— but don’t tell her I’ve moved her out to the Bronx.
Ethel is cute & round, settling in to her "Luxery ant condo" (It's a test tube.) She enjoyed a little sugar water, now she's in the darkness of the ant drawer. She looks very well-fed, so I think there is a good chance she will lay lots of eggs.
In four or five days I'll check on her again. Sometimes new queens just die. So, many don't like to name a queen until she has her first workers. But I'm cheering for this little urban ant.
Guess who laid eggs! It's Ethel, the Prenolepis imparis ant queen from Park Ave.
She ate the fruit fly I gave her a few days ago so I gave her another. We'll see how she is doing in a week. She lives in my wine fridge because this species likes the cold. They nest super deep underground and can be active and foraging at temperatures as low as 32F, 0C!
@futurebird
That's your wine fridge temperature?
In most British office buildings that's the thermostat setting (18 Celsius) 🤔
Maybe that explains our temperament 😎
There isn't any wine in it since I mostly use it for ants. It can be set a bit lower ... eg. 45F, but I'm trying to simulate 10feet underground in NY during the spring.
She is still doing well. I will leave her for another week or so then check again. She’s a lovely little queen and very fat. She mostly tends her eggs and rests. I hope they become larvae soon.
They can stay eggs for up to a month... or it can take as little as a few days for them to become larvae. I hope they progress soon since a whole week is a long time compared to my other ants... but not unheard of. And this is a slow to start species. They like the cold.
@futurebird
So you bring her home and she just... nests? Like, "luxury ant condo" sounds pretty nice, but is there a likeleyhood she'd want to keep looking?
Or is this just how you start a new home ant colony?
Pretty much! The best way to start a pet ant colony is to catch a newly mated queen and put her in conditions perfect for nesting. A dark small space with ideal humidity will calm her... and she kind of forgets that she didn't find it herself.
That humidity level is critical, as is the enclosed space and darkness. She will decide she must have found a good spot because it feels right and start laying eggs in a few days.
@futurebird Yeah, this is the big one. Prenolepis imparis for sure. Nice find! They're really cute. Never had much luck rearing them beyond the first workers, though.
Queens don't run around alone (or ever leave the nest at all really) unless they are newly mated and looking to start a colony. Especially this species that digs some of the deepest known nest in this region (Two meters deep!)
I can be confident she's looking for a safe place to lay eggs and has no daughters as of yet.
And since she has no wings she's likely already mated.