# Ant Nuptial flight in Toronto?



## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Just wondering if anyone has seen this lately because of the temperature? I've been trying to find a queen for a start up colony but nothing so far. Any ant keepers out there? or better yet, anyone selling a queen/start colony.

Thanks


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey there Arc, I currently have a 8 month old Carpenter ant colony with about 6-8 workers and some larvae. I have a few other colonies so i am willing to sell em to ya if you like. I am near Barrie.

nuptial flights wont happen until june likely. Only the false honey pot ant P. imparis would fly around this time. But they are extremely rare ime. I have been keeping Ants for years now.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Thanks for the info Kelly, I'll have to pass on the Carpenter ants as I fear them getting out and starting a colony some where in the house. Can you give me a price list of the other species you have? Was hoping to get a single queen with a few workers or a small colony so I can watch them grow up.

Would it be possible to ship them in the mail as well? I'm not sure if their are any legal issues with this though. 

Thanks again


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

arc said:


> Thanks for the info Kelly, I'll have to pass on the Carpenter ants as I fear them getting out and starting a colony some where in the house. Can you give me a price list of the other species you have? Was hoping to get a single queen with a few workers or a small colony so I can watch them grow up.
> 
> Would it be possible to ship them in the mail as well? I'm not sure if their are any legal issues with this though.
> 
> Thanks again


No problem Arc, escapes are very rare. It depends on how you want to keep them. I have been keeping for years and only had a few workers escape and die off to spiders lol. Also, carpenter ants only get the name because they inhabit Rotting wood, they cant chew through normal wood very easily or at all. Termites are a different story. I currently only have the carpenter ant colony with 13 workers which i counted today. They are still a small colony and are a larger size, so easy to view. Id sell it for 15$ if your still interested. They will come in a Test tube as that is the best way to start a colony.

Also I believe you cant mail the ants. or import, there are too many invasive possibilities. And species differ by province.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Thanks Kelly, if I am going to be in the area in the future, I'll give you a message a few days in advance to see if I can take a look at the carpenter. 

Will be walking around parks with pill bottles in the next few months


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey Arc, there were some queens out int he past week and probably the few coming.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Thanks for the heads up, I most walk home so have been looking for the last few weeks. Issue is that I'm mostly in the city so random patch's of park and peoples lawns are my goto spots. Timing maybe any issue too since I'm looking at 5-6pm. Going to check out the larger park tomorrow.

I caught this today but I'm 99% sure she's a worker



Tropicana said:


> Hey Arc, there were some queens out int he past week and probably the few coming.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

arc said:


> Thanks for the heads up, I most walk home so have been looking for the last few weeks. Issue is that I'm mostly in the city so random patch's of park and peoples lawns are my goto spots. Timing maybe any issue too since I'm looking at 5-6pm. Going to check out the larger park tomorrow.
> 
> I caught this today but I'm 99% sure she's a worker


You are Correct, that is the worker of Camponotus pennsylvanicus. Carpenter ants have multiple classes of worker, so their workers vary in sizes, from nano(usually a queens first workers) - minor-media-major. If you see an ant check the Thorax(middle part) and it should be larger where it was full of wing muscle and has wing attachment areas.

One of my Older queens.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Wow, that is amazing size difference. Do you have any recommended times you look for them? My afternoon trips aren't yielding anything so I'm thinking of changing it up.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

I find the best times are after rain storms on humid days. Also around 3pm - 8pm in the evening when things are cooling down a bit is when they will be out looking for nesting areas after their nuptial flights. they aren't out all year round though, princess ants have large flights only a few times a year.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Have another one and I'm honestly confused if its one or not

-edit
nevermind, a hunting we go again



Tropicana said:


> I find the best times are after rain storms on humid days. Also around 3pm - 8pm in the evening when things are cooling down a bit is when they will be out looking for nesting areas after their nuptial flights. they aren't out all year round though, princess ants have large flights only a few times a year.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Haha yeah not quite there yet, it takes some time and once you get your first queen it really helps you Identify there characteristics. I have been lucky enough about a week ago I could have possible had 10 or so queens, lots of carpenter ant queens recently.

Good luck.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Randomly found a queen after weeks of looking and she has about 10-12 workers now. I'm thinking of buying an omni nest from ants Canada. For now though, do I need to feed them anything ? Just giving a bit honey water every few days for now

Thanks for any help


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Nice Arc, Looks like a tetramorium Queen, They would probably take a fly or small mosquito like insects right now. Other then that, Antscanada has some nice nests, once your colony gets around the 50 mark I would think about moving them.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Thanks for the confirmation about ant species, I was guessing tetramorium but wasn't sure. Can't wait to watch the colony grow and it's something of a small miracle finding her on the side walk. 

I'll have to try my luck out of the city for other queens as the 3 month search only yielded her.

Thanks again for the info


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

arc said:


> Thanks for the confirmation about ant species, I was guessing tetramorium but wasn't sure. Can't wait to watch the colony grow and it's something of a small miracle finding her on the side walk.
> 
> I'll have to try my luck out of the city for other queens as the 3 month search only yielded her.
> 
> Thanks again for the info


No problem! There was a massive nuptial flight the last two days where I live, hundreds of queens on the ground lol. I captured two different species of Lasius. One is Lasius niger the other is unknown to me until i see workers. I only kept 3 queens though.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

I just captured 3 Lasius sp queens a few days ago. One already has eggs! lol Hope your tetra queen is doing well.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

That's amazing, I'm hoping to spot some tomorrow on my way home at 5-6pm from work in the local park. Not looking good as Toronto seems like a bad area even after a rain storm tonight.

She's doing well I think, there are about 12 workers but I think some passed away since I counted more before. The good news is that there are 20+ of eggs/larvae. I've got honey, seeds and a fly in their outworld(testtub home in there) and hoping they feed when they need. Only thing they seem to go after is the grasshopper leg I ripped off. Thinking I may need to cut up their food into smaller pieces.

I'll have to see how large the colony gets as I'm afraid of hibernating them in acrylic if I have to move them into an Ants canada nest this winter


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

*they are all out today*

Full flight happening today but I could only find ones with wing and very close to their nest.

Got a few solo ones but all them have wings unfortunately. I'll see if there are any wingless ones in an hour


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Looks like you have a awesome Lasius neoniger queen, small brown ants 1-3mm. One of my favorite.

Here is a vid of an old queen of mine after a month or two.






Another common species. The queens look Extremely similar to workers.


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Hi Kelly,

Hope all is well, I've got a question which Google doesn't want to answer(Getting only how to kill ant infestations). I just took my queen out of hibernation(the cold room was too unstable in temperature now) and I'm seeing white mites moving around. I thought they were eggs but them seem to be eating the dead now. The colony is about 15+ now but they seem hiding now?

Are these mites normal?


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey Arc, The mites are usually a result of decay, they will go away if the environment is dry and free of dead insects and sugar. The ants will hopefully become more active in a few days. If they mites stay you can attach a new test tube setup with tape to the old one, the ants may move to the clean new tube.

Are their gastors full of food? If so they can survive for a few weeks while hiding. When the queen starts laying eggs again they will become much more active.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

One of my Queens from last fall, this is her a few days ago.

https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/h...=aab18a4fa26014e85b4a68149783d28a&oe=55744A6C


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

Looks great! Thanks again for your info from the post before. Are your test tubes getting black mild after like 6 months? I think placing honey in there is causing this for me


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Yeah they will produce mold over time with or without honey, the water goes stagnant. you can try to transfer them to a new tube or if you have a few workers say 15-20 into a formicarium(ant farm).


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

More nuptial flights this spring, saw a few queen carpenter ants recently. Just fyi


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## arc (Mar 11, 2010)

I hope this is good time, just after the rain, I found what I think is a queen or one of the biggest worker I've seen


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

arc said:


> I hope this is good time, just after the rain, I found what I think is a queen or one of the biggest worker I've seen


Definitely a queen! im 90% sure its Camponotus pennsylvanicus, Nice catch!

One of the larger ants and better to view in formicariums because of their size and the difference between worker casts. they have minors, medians and major type workers. small - medium - Large. Its pretty cool.

she will lay pale yellowish eggs in a week or so if you have a water parted ( -water- [cotton] -Queen ant- [cotton]) test tube setup.


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