Guide to Finding and Catching Ant Queens for a New Colony

category: “Antkeeping” Sure you could buy an ant colony starter queen but finding your own is more rewarding. Its also totally possible if you know how to find ant queen ants.

Lots of folks want to start an ant colony with a queen they find themselves. Its a cool project for sure. This guide tells you how to find and collect ant queens. Think of it like an ant queen search.

Understanding Nuptial Flights

The best way is during what scientists call nuptial flights. This is when winged male and female ants fly out to mate. The mated females become the ant queens. They fly then land, bite off their wings and look for a place to start a colony.

This is your chance to catch ant queen. Knowing about ant queen nuptial flight is key. The AntScout app can actually predict these nuptial flights in your area, making your queen hunt much more successful.

When and Where to Look

Finding queen ants location isnt just random. You gotta look at the right time and place. When to find ant queens? Often after rain especially during warm months. Its like the moisture cues them to fly. This is often the best time to find ant queens.

So what season is ant queen season? Usually late spring through fall depends on where you are and the type of ant. The warmer it is the better your chance.

Where to find ant queens? Look on sidewalks paths parking lots anywhere open they might land. Parks yards even rooftops after they fly down.

You can also check near lights at night nuptial flight ants are sometimes attracted to them. So yeah looking for ant queens involves patience and knowing spots. This is all part of collecting ant queens guide basics. Its basically ant queen hunting.

How to Spot a Queen Ant

Identifying ant queen is different from spotting workers. Queens are much bigger usually.

Look for the wings. Many queen ants still have them right after landing or youll see wing scars little bumps where the wings were. Workers dont have these. Queens also have a larger midsection called the thorax its chunkier it has bigger muscles for flying.

This is how to identify a queen ant. Size wings or scars big thorax thats it. Youre looking for that one special finding a queen ant to start colony.

Not sure what species you’ve found? The AntScout app has an ant identification feature that can help you determine exactly which queen you’ve caught – crucial for setting up the right environment for her.

The Collection Process

Once you spot one its time to collect ant queen. You need a small container. Like a test tube with a cap or even a small clean plastic container. Gently guide the queen into it. Dont just grab her shes fragile.

You want to safely catch ant queen. Being gentle is super important.

This is the simple part of the collecting nuptial flight queens process. Just need that container and careful hands. This is step one for finding queen ants for colony.

What To Do After Catching

After catching queen ants after rain or just during nuptial season get her home and into a proper setup fast. A standard setup for a single queen is a test tube with some water and a cotton ball barrier.

This provides humidity and a place for her. This is how to get an ant queen set up initially for a beginner ant colony setup queen. This little guide should help finding ant queens beginners get going.

Good luck on your search for queen ants.