Q&A for How to Catch a Queen Ant

It depends on the type of ant. Some average thousands of eggs per day, which adds up to millions over their lifetime.

In certain cases, yes. Some queen ants are able to produce larvae even though they still have their wings. Queens that don't have wings can be infertle, though, so don't always assume they can produce larvae just because they have no wings.

If your garden has a pile, there could be a queen ant under the pile. So most likely, yes.

Because you caught her before she had a chance to fly and find a mate, she will not be fertile.

It depends on the species. Each species has nuptial flights during certain months of the year, and many fly during the summer months. Queens will often fly after a rainstorm, so be sure to look around if its rained recently to improve your chances.

Yes. Queen ants prefer a moist and dark home and will look in and under certain areas.

Except for special cases, queens and males will not mate together if they are from the same colony. In addition, even if they are from different colonies, it is very rare that ants will mate in captivity.

Yes, but it's not likely they will get to the queen. The worker ants will die protecting her and she will start a new colony.

Look in areas where there are multiple ant colonies nearby. In urban areas, queen ants can be easy to spotted on pavement or on buildings.

Male ants spawn in a colony and also come out during the nuptial flight. However, shortly after they have mated with a queen, they will die.

You could if they were in the same colony before they were queens.

It will probably be easier. Follow the trail all the way to the end and find the nest...The queen will be in the center laying her eggs.

No, the queen will only mate with male elates during nuptial flight. You can look online for nuptial flight months in your region.

If the fertilized eggs and pupae are well-nurtured, they could potentially become queens as well. Among ants who do not reproduce sexually, all of the members of the colony are female. The queen ant gives birth to every ant in a colony unless captured in a raid where they take the brood and raise it as their own.

It depends on the moisture of the nest, but the lower the queen is the safer she is so it is a good possibility that she could be in the bottom of the nest.

The queen ant's first worker ants, known as 'nanitics', usually arrive a few weeks after a queen is captured and stored, and it takes several months to a year for the colony to have a good number of worker ants.

Yes, however you would need to catch some starter ant workers, and acknowledge your endangering the rest of the colony.

If you don't mind their stingers, it is okay. They are fierce, but once you get used to the sting, it's not that bad.

They need to be fed every 6 hours or so, meaning you would need to leave them with a friend or reduce their home temperature to hibernation temperature (which varies from species to species), but keep in mind they don't hibernate forever, and some species don't at all.

They mate with male ants called alates who die shortly after mating.

Black garden ants live in many places, from gaps in the pavement to cracks in your house or anthills.

If it smells something like rotten coconuts, these are common ghost ants. All you need to do is put baited ant traps around your house where you've seen them.

Probably, as taking the queen ant from its home nest will result in the nest dying from lack of population. Finding a queen that is fertilized but has not settled in a nest is more environmentally friendly and also more satisfying.

No, you can't lure a queen out with lemon water. Food is not a lure for queens that already have a colony or nest, and winged queens are only looking for mates, not food. The only time a queen leaves an established colony is when the space the colony is in becomes unsuitable due to lack of food, seasonal floods, etc.

The size of your jar or ant farm depends on how large the ant species is, how large the colony is, and how long you would like to keep the colony there.

Ants feed on a large range of foods, from engine oil at the side of a road, to other ant species. Most ant species are omnivorous and eat seeds, nectar, and other invertebrates. Army ants are carnivorous, they hunt, kill and eat prey such as worms, spiders and even sometimes small vertebrates like lizards.

The queen has too low chances of being accepted to the new colony, so it's best to leave her with her own. Also, she has no chance if she is not the exact species of the colony you are trying to add her to.

Larvae hatch from eggs after a period of 7 to 14 days. The larvae are white and transparent in appearance and resemble maggots. They undergo repeated molting, and with each molt they grow hairs, some of which are hooked.

If the fertilized eggs and pupae are well-nurtured, they could potentially become queens as well. Among ants who do not reproduce sexually, all of the members of the colony are female, but do not lay eggs except when it is the queen. The queen ant gives birth to every ant in a colony unless captured in a raid where they take the brood and raise it as their own.

Yes, although they would probably fight to the death, so only one colony would likely remain.