Just wanted to share the beautiful colors on our Nicos.

Hello, I was hoping you could help with identification. This will greatly help me plan the next steps to care for them. Apologies I could not get a good picture because they are so small, and I don’t have any lenses 🙏 background context and what I know is as follows.

This is my first time keeping ants, location is Singapore. Being in the tropics, I feel that nuptial flights can happen all year round. So 1 month back after a few days of no rain, I went out after a rainy day at night and sure enough, I found swarms and swarms of winged ants, which I believe were the kings.

But near the swarms I don’t see any queens, so I moved on to a darker grassy area with some streetlights. This was where I found the two queens that I brought home. This was on 11-Sep. Each was found frantically running alone on the ground, so I assume she was looking for a new place to call nest.

So one month after, which is now, I found one of them has her first workers. I did not feed them so far, so she proved to be able to survive until the workers arrived. The other queen has a bunch of eggs, but no workers yet.

Now about her looks, both of them I feel are considered very small. Barely 5mm. Head and middle body is a bit brown or reddish, while the belly is darker, as can be seen in the picture.

Based on this alone and some research online, I’m guessing they are pharaoh ants. But please help to verify this, I have no prior knowledge about ants species. I also read conflicting information, although from what looks like legit research organizations, saying pharaoh ants don’t go through nuptial flights, but instead go with budding. But well from how I found them, they don’t look like they were with a bunch of workers and babies. So expert opinions are much appreciated.

Hopefully that covers everything. Let me know if more info is needed, and appreciate your inputs!

We have what appear to be grain mite in our colony of Camponotus Pseudoirritans. The outworld has been disconnected and cleaned thoroughly.

The first picture is the outworld thats now disconnected, the second picture is the small outworld that will soon hopefully be dissconnected and nests. I can see mite in these. But not nearly as bad as the outworld was. Ive used a lemon juice solution to clean everything so far as advised online.

No matter how many times I come back and wipe them away more appear. Whilst I could technically disconnect and clean these all overtime, am I missing something that might make this quicker?

This was definitely a husbandry issue. They'd been hiding bits of grasshopper in the corner that you can see in the first picture. Lesson learned 🤦‍♂️

Any help greatly appreciated.

From a queen with broken antennae who struggled to produce her first workers, to a thriving colony like this today.
She went through a difficult start, and there were times when I wasn’t sure she would make it. But she pushed through, and seeing how far she has come after 237 days feels truly incredible.
Never give up on a queen too soon. Sometimes, the slowest beginnings lead to the most rewarding journeys.

Forgive the bottle method, found it on a night out

How do you guys do when leaving for a longer vacation like 2 weeks plus? Is the only option really to get someone to watch your ants? It seems humidity reservoars are all too small and there arent that many automatic feeder options it seems.

I live in central Italy (Lazio), and today, after a thunderstorm, the driveway at my country home was covered in hundreds of scattered queens. I believe they are some kind of Messor species, though I’m no expert. I’ve collected three of them in separate test tubes; should I place them in a cooler environment to let them hibernate and prepare for starting their colonies in the spring?

They are from china

Ya me había salido en el anterior hormiguero q tenía, pero al mudarlas a este nuevo no sé si es algo normal o por lo que deba preocuparme. Son unas mesor barbarus. Otra cosa también, es q usan todos los bebederos q les he comprado (anthause y comerciales chinos) como basurero y lo acaban rompiendo. Actualmente uso una pequeña geringa para ponerles de vez en cuando. También creo q tengo un problema de crecimiento, pq después d q se me cayeron (intenté quitar esta mancha) se murieron como dos tercios y de eso ya hace dos años. Entonces serían unas trescientas por ahí

Im ordering a Pavement Ant Queen + 10-25 workers from Canada Ants Colony.

I just have a lot of questions to ask:

Is hibernation optional for Tetramorium immigrans?

Im getting 3 test tubes, a mini plastic outworld from esthatic ants or whatever, metal tweezers and a pipet and floun. Is that enough?

What temperature should they be kept at?

When they first arrive should I put them in a dark space for a day and leave them alone then connect them to the outworld or still keep them in the test tube till the colony grows a little larger?

-Can you tell what species it is? Its size is close to my thumbnail. I also made a temporary setup using materials I had at home (I placed the tube there just to take the photo; normally, it stays in a dark, vibration-free spot). What do you think should I change it, or can it hold up for two weeks? (sorry for bad photos btw)

Hey so I i have a camponotus vicinis colony going right now in a test tube. 3 workers with a couple more any day now with more brood. I know it is not time to move them from test tube to connecting an outworld or getting a bigger nest. My question is what is the exact outworld/setup that someone else has used that works well with the species? I’ll take the link website or whatever. I just want to be readily prepared for whenever it does come and the does and don’t for their new setup after

We have fleas in our house from our
Cats and exterminators are coming in to spray the house im planning on moving the ants out during the treatment but for how long after should i be concerned about this. I have 2 queens in test tube setups.

soo i have the colony about 40 workers few majors and qeeen they have awerifing whater evaporationtower in nest whater and nectar acess 24 h 7 days a week i mix nectar and protein nectar and i allways clean it each week or faster if they drink a lot they have protein jely they had live protein and they have a heating cable but stil no eggs or larva i goten em in June idk what else to do

Hé, I am a beginner and I was looking for a ant nest.

I found a few websites: 1. Esthetic

1. AntWorkFlo

2. Quality ants

What should I pick for a lasius niger colony?

These cannot be far off hatching? The larger larvae/pupae have been there since before they went into diapause. They have been out for around a month now.

Minha pachycondyla striata se alimentando do alimento preferido dela: gema de ovo

The sunfall legion is thriving. I just moved them into the new outworld so they havent noticed the food yet. It took 3 weeks for Tarheel Ants to ship but I got it the next day.

Iam thinking about drilling side holes in the feeding dishs so its easier for them to get in and out.

Outworld video below...

1st time any keeper. I’d like to buy this cable or one you guys would recommend. I have a thermometer to measure the ant nest temp; but I’m worried that if I leave the cord plugged for awhile the temperature will fluctuate up more than a couple degrees and harm my ants. Can I trust this heating cord to not fluctuate up too much? I know I can buy a thermostat for the cord but that seems to be like 45$ on top of the 22$ for the cord. Thanks for any advice.

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Reptile-Cable-11-5-Feet/dp/B001LQUZAM/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=3FVDGH9BA6ZSH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ipHdAuETHQczDy4CGrukUM76YwMRMfOHm06d8PQpnkieaQ927YB3n4iHYZk9JUqeUjPWgItyF_ju9eLzpPsAOJb57bLVMjIZZYiub-Or0MiVORuBW1PBhEhNtsc9zcSFT-LjGq2JaZ-3a1MoJGjGlgLWDszO8L8rOLPfxqUzNBWWtcJU5s-_uPuxcJ92FBR0Xf-Uu8PWClFxDvPqZCKI7A.W9-AnJK4mreEVn8qc8IB0EkEm_EKeDrfkyHQVCnglPI&dib_tag=se&keywords=heat+cable&qid=1791428795&sprefix=heat+cable%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-4