Finding ant queens a few days after mating flights?

[scedd]

Hi there, I was away for a few days so missed the mating flights in my area by 3-4 days. I've had a look today but couldn't find any queens in my garden. I looked under plant pots mainly. Is there any chance I will be able to find a queen now or is it too late?

Cheers

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Scedd and welcome to the Ant Hill.

You should still be able to find newly mated queens, but may have to extend your hunting area a bit farther. Many young queens will have already dug a brood chamber by now and laid some eggs. If you don't find what you're after, some members including myself do sell new queens with brood at very low prices, so I hope that you do find what ant species you want, whether it is caught in the wild or you get it here on the forum. 

Good hunting, and please do ask any questions that you may have about this fascinating hobby, as we all love to help each other. 

[Jenny]

Hi Scedd and welcome here  As August comes to a close, you will find the chance of a flight very slim, sorry but we do not build false hopes here. You might be better buying a colony, for success. After the niger and flavus flights here, (End of July) I generally find the odd queen the following early morning, but after that not a chance of  seeing any of them, they just dig in and vanish. 

The closer to Autumn you get, the queens will need to have some brood and a worker or two, and have some food for reserve over Winter for themselves. All this ensures a Queen will have a good start for next Spring, so time is running out for the wild queens if they haven't mated already.

[Deleted]

I still have Lasius niger and flavus nests in my garden with alates all hanging around the nest entrances, so don't give up hope just yet.

[Black Ant]

It depends what species you want and what ants can be found where you live scedd? Ants that have flown down south may fly later up north, if you live in the UK that is. 

[Wood~Ant]

Aug 27, 2013 17:26:11 GMT Black Ant said:

It depends what species you want and what ants can be found where you live scedd? Ants that have flown down south may fly later up north, if you live in the UK that is. 

Good point, though most native British ant species will only have small numbers of alates left in the nest, if they still have any. Most Formica, Lasius and Myrmica will have had their biggest flights during July and up to mid August.
This doesn't mean that Scedd may not find any newly mated queens, it is likely to be harder to do so at this time of late summer. 

[Joona]

I can send you a Lasius Niger I got from the July flights, they should have there first workers any time now. If your in the uk and don't mind paying the postage.

Good luck with your hunts in the mean time.

[scedd]

Thanks for all your replies guys, I'll keep my eye out over the next week or so. In the mean time, could a moderator give me permission to check out the sales forum? Cheers

[Jenny]

Aug 27, 2013 18:49:50 GMT scedd said:

Thanks for all your replies guys, I'll keep my eye out over the next week or so. In the mean time, could a moderator give me permission to check out the sales forum? Cheers

Ant Land Sales are open on 6 posts or member Larva stage. 

[firebelly]

Hi there I'm very new to all of this - both being on a forum and ant keeping, so apologies if I post something in wrong place?! I have been reading lots of info on here and have been looking for colonies around where I live over the last month or two. There are always ants around in my garden, and must be lots just in the street as many people complain about them! But I have never seen a queen? Maybe I'm just not in the right place at the right time? I have seen what I presume to be alates ( winged larger ants) running around a crack in the tarmac right next to the beach not far from my house but none were flying? Sorry if this sounds really dumb - I've tried to read as much as possible to help but am a little confused!

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Firebelly, there is nothing dumb about asking questions as not everybody knows what a queen ant looks like. What you have seen were young males and females with wings Winged Ants and a queen ant is simply a mated female which has removed her wings, or she does so in most cases once she has successfully mated. 

How to identify a Queen Ant.

You will see from my site, and photos posted around the forum how much larger in general queens are compared to worker ants. For some, finding queen ants is easy, especially after a mating flight; but for others it can be a long hard hunt, as finding an ant nest may prove easy enough, but unless you know what a queen ant looks like you can miss her entirely.
This is a queen ant with her workers to give you some idea of what the size difference is in some ant species.

[scedd]

If many of the queens have already burrowed down, is there any way to be able to spot these nests?

[Wood~Ant]

Aug 28, 2013 9:35:48 GMT scedd said:

If many of the queens have already burrowed down, is there any way to be able to spot these nests?

Little mounds of newly excavated soil might be where a new ant nest has been founded, but as some other insects such as solitary bees and wasps do this, as well as worms, the chances are very slim of finding a new queen; and as a queen mated in the last week or more may have already laid her eggs, you could end up destroying her nest and brood and still end up with nothing.

[scedd]

Oh right I'll leave it then! I've had another look in my garden and looked at two Lasius niger nests, and I saw one male ant in each above the ground. Does this mean they haven't had/are having another mating flight?

[Wood~Ant]

Aug 28, 2013 14:42:08 GMT scedd said:

Oh right I'll leave it then! I've had another look in my garden and looked at two Lasius niger nests, and I saw one male ant in each above the ground. Does this mean they haven't had/are having another mating flight?

One male alone doesn't mean a lot, but if there are more winged males and females in the nest then they might have a late flight. What county or town are you in, as while ant flights are almost at an end in the south of England there might be a few still to come farther north; but I must stress that major flights are not likely to happen this late, so flying ants will be less obvious if, or when they occur.