When to Catch Queen Ants: Nuptial Flight Schedules | AntsCanada Tutorial #36
Summary
TLDRThis video tutorial from Ants Canada offers tips on capturing queen ants during their nuptial flights, highlighting the best times and methods for North America, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It covers essential advice, such as not mixing queens and seeking permission for collection, and provides a guide to the flight schedules of common ant species.
Takeaways
- 🐜 The best part of ant keeping is catching a queen and raising a thriving colony from its originating queen.
- 🌍 Nuptial flight schedules for common ant species are provided for North America, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
- 🕒 Queens can be found at all times of the day, but the afternoon is preferred, and a black light can help attract them.
- 🔍 Always carry snap cap vials and a business card or playing card for capturing queen ants.
- ⚠ Do not mix queen ants as they may fight and use formic acid, which can be deadly in an enclosed space.
- 🚫 Catching queens with wings is not an indicator of a successful capture; they may still break off wings later.
- 🏠 Always get permission when collecting on private or public property and secure necessary permits.
- 🌧 The best time to find queen ants is after a rainstorm and in warm, humid weather.
- 🏠 Do not catch queens near their nest; instead, search a block away to encourage genetic diversity.
- 📦 Collect as many queen ants as you like, but consider joining the gang project for excess colonies.
- 🌱 With persistence, beginners can find queen ants, and climate change may affect nuptial flight schedules.
Q & A
What is the most rewarding part of ant keeping according to the video?
-The most rewarding part of ant keeping is catching a queen ant, nurturing her through the nuptial flight, and caring for her as she produces her thriving ant colony. The bond formed with the pet and colony is unique.
What are the best months to look for queen ants in North America, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia?
-The best months vary by region: North America has specific months for different species, Europe generally has flights from April to October, Australia's ant season is opposite with flights in spring (September to November), and Southeast Asia mostly has flights at the beginning of the rainy season, typically May to July.
What are some tips for hunting queen ants during their nuptial flights?
-Tips include looking for queens at all times of the day with preference for afternoons, using a black light to attract them, always carrying snap cap vials, not mixing caught queens, and catching queens even if they still have their wings.
Why should you not mix caught queen ants?
-You should not mix caught queen ants because they may fight, and if they are formic acid sprayers, they may spray each other to death, which is especially disastrous in an enclosed space like a snap cap vial or bottle.
What should you do if you are collecting ants on private property or government land?
-You should always get formal permission if collecting on private property or secure the necessary permits if collecting on government or public property.
Why is it recommended not to catch queen ants near their origin nest?
-It's recommended not to catch queen ants near their origin nest because ants generally fly and mate away from their origin nest, which helps mix the gene pool and prevents sibling mating.
What is the GAM project mentioned in the video, and how can it help ant keepers?
-The GAM project is a community effort to help ant keepers sell or give away their colonies to others who are interested. It promotes the ant keeping hobby and helps connect keepers worldwide.
How can climate change affect the nuptial flight schedules of ants?
-Climate change can cause high degrees of change in the nuptial flight schedules of ants, making them less predictable as the climate becomes more unstable.
What are some common ant species to look for in North America during their nuptial flights?
-Some common ant species in North America include Pheidole, Camponotus, Tetramorium, Formica, and Lasius, with specific species like Camponotus Noveborusque and Lasius neoniger being favorites for beginners.
What is the best time to look for queen ants according to the video?
-The best time to look for queen ants is the day or two after a rainstorm and during warm, humid days. They are also more likely to be spotted in countryside, suburban, or field areas.
How can ant keepers contribute to protecting the planet and maintaining stable ecosystems?
-Ant keepers can contribute by doing their part to protect the planet, such as reducing waste, conserving resources, and raising awareness about the importance of biodiversity and climate stability.
Outlines
🐜 Ant Keeping 101: Nuptial Flights and Queen Collection
This paragraph introduces the video's focus on ant keeping, emphasizing the unique bond formed with a queen ant and her colony. It outlines the best times to find queen ants, the importance of being prepared with collection tools, and the necessity of not mixing different queen ants to avoid conflict. It also touches on the legal aspects of collecting on private or public land and suggests joining a group project for those with excess colonies.
🌍 Nuptial Flight Schedules for Ants Across the Globe
The paragraph provides a comprehensive guide to the nuptial flight schedules of various common ant species in North America, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It details the specific months and conditions under which different species are most likely to be found, including the preferred times of day and environmental factors that increase the chances of spotting queen ants. The video also recommends certain beginner-friendly species and notes the importance of collecting queens away from their nests to promote genetic diversity.
🌱 Seasonal Variations and Climate Impact on Ant Nuptial Flights
This paragraph discusses the impact of regional climates on ant nuptial flight schedules and acknowledges the changes observed due to climate variability. It emphasizes the importance of adaptability for ant keepers and the need for environmental stewardship. The speaker also invites viewers to share their experiences and knowledge about ant species and their flight schedules in regions not covered in the video, such as Africa, South America, and the Middle East. The paragraph concludes with an invitation to join the ant keeping community and participate in the group project for buying, selling, or giving away ant colonies.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Ant Keeping
💡Nuptial Flight
💡Queen Ants
💡Polygynous
💡Formic Acid
💡Snap Cap Vials
💡Private Property
💡Rainstorm
💡Gene Pool
💡Ant Species
💡Climate Change
Highlights
The best part of ant keeping is catching a queen and caring for her as she produces her own thriving ant colony.
The bond formed with a pet and colony raised from its originating queen is unique.
Springtime is the beginning of ant season, and many people are asking about the best months to look for queen ants.
You can look for queen ants at all times of the day, with afternoons being preferred.
Using a black light can help attract queen ants during the night.
Always carry snap cap vials and a business card or playing card for capturing queen ants.
Do not mix queen ants as they may fight and use formic acid spray, which can be deadly in enclosed spaces.
Catch queen ants even if they still have their wings, as wings are not the best indicator of a queen's readiness.
Always get formal permission when collecting on private property or secure necessary permits for government or public property.
The best time to look for queen ants is the day or two after a rainstorm and during warm, humid days.
Avoid catching queen ants near their nest to promote genetic diversity and prevent inbreeding.
Collect as many queen ants as you like, but be prepared for not all to make it to the worker stage.
Join the gang project for those with more ant colonies than they can handle, to sell or give away colonies.
Persistence is key in finding queen ants, and beginners often find multiple queens in their first year.
Nuptial flight schedules for common ants in North America include Penile Epis in February to April, and Camponotus ants from April to July.
In Europe, look out for various species of Camponotus ants from April to August, and Lasius Niger from July to August.
In Australia, Iridum irmak species fly in spring from September to November, and Camponotus species in summer from December to February.
In Southeast Asia, queen ants can be found year-round, but mostly at the beginning of the rainy season.
Climate change is impacting nuptial flight schedules, showing high degrees of change each year.
Ant keeping is a wonderful hobby that requires patience and love, and with the right tools and knowledge, you can grow the ant colony of your dreams.
Transcripts
hello innkeepers welcome to another ads
Canada video the best part of the end
keeping experience in my opinion is
catching a queen and during the optional
flight and caring for her as she
produces her own thriving ant colony the
bond you formed with a pet and colony
that you have raised from just its
originating queen is unlike any other in
north america and europe it's now
springtime and the beginning of ant
season Assam so many of you have begun
to write to us asking when the best
months are to look for queen ants so
this is a special video tutorial we will
break down for you the nuptial flight
schedules of some of the most common ant
species for North America Europe
Australia and Southeast Asia ok so
before I go into the schedules let's go
over the 10 things you need to know when
hunting for queen ants during nuptial
flights one you can look for Queens at
all times of the day I prefer looking in
the afternoons but you can literally
find queen ants wandering from dusk till
dawn and you can find queen elates in
the night what's especially helpful is
if you have a black light this tends to
attract some queen heads too you never
know where you'll find a queen end so
always have snap cap vials with you on
hand every time you leave the house it
also helps to carry a business card or a
playing card that you can slip
underneath the Queen and when you've
trapped her under your vial or bottle 3
when you catch your queen ants do not
mix them as they may fight and if there
are formic acid sprayer then they may
formic acid spray each other to death
and in an enclosed space like in a snap
cap vial or bottle this can be
disastrous for when you test tube the
Queen's test tube them separately even
if they are known to be polygynous
polygyny happens in the wild but for
whatever reason in captivity they
usually go as far as plio mattresss only
where they raise their brood
cooperatively and then they end up
fighting to death leading to one or all
Queen's dying 5 be sure to catch the
Queen ants even if they still have their
wings wings are not the best indicator
that a queen ant has made it prior to
her capture
sometimes the Queen's will break off
their wings inside the test tube or they
keep their wings on entirely throughout
the process of colony founding 6
always get formal permission if you are
collecting on private property or
secured the necessary permits if
collecting on government or public
property seven the best time to go
looking for Queen elates
are the day or two after a rainstorm and
during warm humid dates also you'll have
a better chance of spotting queen ants
in the countryside suburbs or field
areas 8 do not catch a queen a late
inside or in the immediate area of her
nest if you happen to see an ant nest
with Queen and male elates boiling out
from the entrances do not catch those
Queens instead walk a block away in any
direction and search there the reason is
because ants generally fly and mate away
from their origin nest this is nature's
way of helping mix the gene pool up and
it keeps sibling elates from mating with
each other 9
feel free to collect as many queen ants
as you like as not all of the Queens
will make it to the worker stage but
don't go overboard I also highly suggest
you join our gang project if you have
more ant colonies than you can handle
and we can help find aspiring and
keepers in your area to buy these
colonies off you or we can find people
to whom you can give them away it helps
promote the and keeping hobby in your
region and helps make you some extra
cash doing what you love for more
information on buying and selling ants
through our gam project visit our
website and click on Queen ants for sale
and finally ten if you can't find the
queen ant right away don't lose hope if
you see ants crawling around in your
area then you can be sure that there are
definitely quinol aids flying at some
point of the year with persistence you
will eventually find a queen ant and
most beginners actually end up finding
at least two or three in their first
year ok so let's start with nuptial
flight schedules for common ants in
North America the first ants to fly in
the year all across North America are
penile Epis in Paris also known as
winter ends look out for them from
February to April
they are elusive and there's usually a
small window of opportunity each year to
find them when you do you're lucky they
will even fly when there's frost on the
ground hence their name next look out
carpenter ants known scientifically as
camponotus ends camponotus ants can be
caught from April to July with the bulk
of them flying in May the Queen's are
easy to spot due to their size and they
make great pets
remember that camponotus ants take a
long time to mature so it takes about
two months minimum for an egg to develop
into a worker one of my favorite ends to
keep in North America is camponotus Nova
Bora Kansas you can check out some of
our camponotus November Kansas videos on
this channel then look out for Tetra
more iam species e another awesome
beginner species now these small and
easy to care for and fast-growing
species of ants fly from May to July
with the bulk of them flying in June the
nuptial flights happen in early morning
from 4 to 6 a.m. but I do recommend
looking for them in the afternoon when
they have already made it and are out
looking for suitable places to start a
nest next the month of July is Formica
month you can find Formica fusca and the
larger Formica sub-servicer Queens
throughout July the elusive
crematogaster Queens with their
heart-shaped casters can be found from
August to September this is a very
sought-after genus so if you happen to
find them good on you finally lay seus
ants fly from July to October with the
bulk of them flying from late August to
early September look out for Laci s neo
Niger the Labor Day ant named after the
fact that they fly around Labor Day
these ants are great pets and have a lot
of energy now all of these ants
mentioned are my favorite and I do
recommend them for beginners and in my
experience based on you guys writing in
to us they are the most commonly kept in
North America as well other ends to look
out for depending on where in north
america you live are Tappin alma Susilo
in may to june if you're lucky enough to
live in Texas Louisiana or northeastern
Mexico you can find a detects ana in May
those are fungus growers next look out
for solenopsis species also known as
fire ants from April to July pagana
mirmix species also known as harvester
ants fly from June to July from June to
August you can also find fake doli ends
which are very polymorphic ends
with really tiny workers two very big
super majors from June to September you
can find Tenma thorax curvy spinosus
also known as acorn ants they literally
create colonies in acorns and in
September look out for a fennel gaster
now if you want a challenge and want to
try keeping semi claustral species
Panera and murica ants fly later in the
year usually right before it gets kinda
chilly anywhere between August and
November now moving on to Europe wow
I've never been to Europe so I had to do
my research on this and I'd like to give
credit to Hugo Dara's west Phaeton Simon
Theodore Svendsen and na marabunta org
now Europe has a pretty diverse range of
climates and therefore aunt nuptial
flight schedules but here are some of
the main nuptial flight schedules for
the most common ant species the Queen's
of Messer ends which are sort of a type
of harvester ant can be found from April
to May and September to October
depending on the species and your region
look out for various species of
camponotus ants from April to August
with the bulk of them happening
somewhere in the middle touch amore my
spit on the European and Asian relative
of tetra Mauryan species II in North
America also fly from May to July next
look out for lacy s Niger the Golden
Retrievers of the ant world queens of
lacy s Niger can be found flying
anywhere from July to August throughout
Europe around two to three weeks after
lacy a snide reply you'll find Formica
ants flying so look out for those Queens
from July to September but also into
October depending on where in Europe you
live
finally crematogaster ants fly from July
to October with the bulk of them flying
in September and October let's move on
to Australia for this I'd like to credit
Jordan Dean from the YouTube channel
ants Australia Australia is in the
southern hemisphere so their seasons are
backwards from that of North America and
Europe for those of you in Australia be
sure to look out for Iridum irmak
species that fly in the spring from
September to November then look out for
Campanaro species in the summer which
fly from December to February finally
look up for fadela Queens in autumn
which fly from March to May now let's
move on to Southeast Asia
I currently live in the Philippines and
find it
lates has been a bit interesting much of
Southeast Asia have similar climates and
the general rule is you will find Queen
Anne's year-round but mostly at the
beginning of the rainy season the summer
and if different from the summer at the
start of the dry season however the bulk
of Queen elates can be found at the
beginning of rainy season for those of
you in Southeast Asia be sure to look up
for queens of eco Phyllis Mara Dina the
world-famous Weaver ants these can be
found at the beginning of the rainy
season usually around May to July also
from May to July you'll find Fay
delegate and I versus recently renamed
Cara bairdi versus these ads are
notoriously difficult to keep alive in
captivity but if you're successful
you're lucky next you can find Queens of
the famous or should I say infamous
salon obsessed Caminada now these ants
fly year-round but look particularly at
the start of rainy season around March
and May and also during the cooler
months of November to January queens of
camponotus ends fly year-round but
mostly towards the end of the year for
those of you lucky enough to be in
Sumatra Singapore Malaysia Borneo and
Thailand I hope you can find campaneris
gigas recently renamed Dynamics gigas
and it's one of the largest ants in
existence with Queens measuring up to
just under 2 inches long finally be sure
to look out for Queens of paracho kina
longer cornice also known as black crazy
ants now these ants also fly year-round
but you can find the most at the start
of the summer and that's it
sorry I couldn't include other regions
like Africa South America Middle East
other parts of Asia and the Pacific
Islands as the information out there
seems to be either scarce or conflicting
but if you're an ant keeper from any of
these places please do leave a comment
in the comment section and let us know
what ends to expect and when they have
their nuptial flights also keep in mind
that these dates are not absolute and
the schedules can vary depending on
region and climate of the year as a side
note throughout all of my year's event
keeping I've noticed that with climate
change impacting us more
more the nuptial flight schedules of
familiar ants are starting to show high
degrees of change as each year rolls in
so let's always remember guys to do our
part to protect the planet and to keep
the earth as stable as we can and
keeping is a wonderful hobby that takes
patience and love and with the right
tools and knowledge you'll eventually
grow the ant colony of your dreams it's
a great journey of discovery remember
guys to visit ants Canada Kong if you
need any and keeping gear we ship
worldwide and our products are designed
for a variety of different ant species
if you don't know what you need just
email us at info and ant canada calm and
remember if you have any young or old
ant colonies you would like to sell or
give away please join our gang project
everyone is invited it's totally free
totally risk-free easy to sign up and it
will help other end keepers in your
region keep pens to so many people
around the world are emailing us asking
where they can get an ant colony and
maybe you can be the one to help them as
well as make some extra money in return
for several years now we've been able to
connect thousands of egg keepers all
around the world so please consider the
GAM project thanks again for watching
guys and don't forget to subscribe and
leave a comment happy ending and good
luck on catching those Queens and love
forever thank you guys so much for
watching our new video and tutorial on
nuptial flight wishing you all the best
of luck this year on catching your queen
ants and don't forget to subscribe to
this channel if you like what you saw
and check out some of the other videos
on our channel visit us at ant canada
comm we've got tons of information there
lots of and keeping products and an
awesome and forum which can help you
connect to end keepers from all over the
world come join us
see ya
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