|
|
Post by daviant on Mar 29, 2008 19:12:30 GMT
Hey, I haven't been on this site for AGES and to be perfectly honest, I haven't been giving my ants too much attention. Anyway, I have made a mistake by transferring them from an ant farm to ant world. But I have joined them up with tubes but as I have seen in the site the ant world middle thingy holes are too small and that would explain the problem of them not coming up to the top. So, I would like to know when would be a good time to go out and catch a colony and start again. So seems as though its early spring now, will they be out or will I have to wait till mid or late spring? Thanks  , Daviant. |
|
|
|
Post by Shawn on Mar 29, 2008 19:24:14 GMT
Well you can buy them now from AntStore or Edu-Sci links are at top of the home page. But you will have to wait till late summer for the mating flights so you can catch a wild queen.
Shawn
|
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Mar 29, 2008 19:44:26 GMT
During the warm sunny days of mid spring, young mated queens can be also found under rocks absorbing the heat of the rock. It is during this time that a young colony can be found.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shawn on Mar 29, 2008 19:50:04 GMT
During the warm sunny days of mid spring, young mated queens can be also found under rocks absorbing the heat of the rock. It is during this time that a young colony can be found. Ah didn't know that I'll have to have a look out myself  Shawn |
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Mar 29, 2008 19:55:51 GMT
Yes, it is quite good practice to start lifting small rocks and looking underneath, once the weather warms up. You also need to have a small container or two in your pocket. If you do find a queen and some workers, collect from the same spot, and don't mix them with others from another rock or other species which is obvious They all have their own colony scent, and will fight to the death. This is what you can find by lifting rocks queenant.proboards82.com/index.cgi?board=hunt&action=display&thread=1145205017 |
|
|
|
Post by Shawn on Mar 29, 2008 20:12:40 GMT
I lifted a large pebble in my back garden last week and it had about 12 or so workers under it, I didn't think to look for a queen   Shawn |
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Mar 30, 2008 7:55:34 GMT
So, I would like to know when would be a good time to go out and catch a colony and start again. So seems as though its early spring now, will they be out or will I have to wait till mid or late spring? Thanks , Daviant. From my experience as an ant hunter, and of collecting ants over the past 47 years, the best time to obtain a colony with the queen(s) is from mid April until early June; at least in Britain anyway  Before April it is usually too cold for queens to be found near the surface of the nest, as they come up to warm themselves in the warm spring sunshine. After the month of June they retreat down once more into the depths of their nests, as the queens do not seem to like the heat of high summer so much, although you will still find that the worker nurses will bring larvae and pupae up to the top, as heat speeds up the development of brood. Depending on genus and species, mating flights will occur from mid June right up until October; but for most ant species it will be July/August as you probably already know from reading the info on both my own ant site and others such as Myrm's  |
|
,
