Hello ,

Anting season is in full swing! Thus, if you want to begin ant keeping now is the perfect time to start your own colony!

All you need is a test tube (plastic or glass will do, or even an old pill bottle could work), some cotton wool, water, and a queen ant!

Yes, it is that simple! If you would like to learn how to setup your test tube, go watch this video, where I explain how to set up a test tube to keep ants in!

All that you still need then is your queen ant. The question you most likely have at this point is where do you find a queen ant? And more important, how do you identify an ant queen?

A queen ant will possibly still have wings when you find her. If she doesn’t, she will have wing scars that one will be able to see by using a magnifying glass.

Along with wing scars most true ant queens will have an enlarged mesothorax, which increases the size of the thorax significantly! The mesothorax is enlarged in queens to accommodate the large wing muscles that are required for the nuptial flight, during which the queen will mate with one or multiple males. The wing muscles are then metabolised during the founding process, and the nutrients from it are used to raise the first generation of worker ants.

Queen ants usually fly after some decent rain had fell, just after sunset. The best place to find these queens that are flying is close to an outside light, as the queens are positively phototactic, meaning they are attracted to light.

If you find a queen that hasn’t yet dropped off her wings, do not be dismayed, as some queens do not shed their wings at all, but still manage to successfully found a colony and live for many years.

If you would like to send me a message with your answers, feel free to do so on Instagram @abugmanslife or via email to [email protected].

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