Finding a queen ant is the first step in setting up your anthill. This insect can be quite elusive and difficult to catch, but if you know what and how to look for you can be able to catch your queen ant with a little time and patience.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Wait for a Queen Ant to Found a New Colony
Step 1. Contact an expert to find out when is the best time
The queen ants already settled in the colonies at certain times of the year venture outside to create new ones. Local entomologists (those who study insects) or pest control companies surely know the best time of year to find a queen ant looking for new colonies to build.
The length of the day, the temperatures and the degree of rainfall are just some of the variables to take into consideration to know when the queen will move in your area. If you live in a rather dry climate, such as the south, usually the best time is in spring, while in other regions another time of the year may be ideal
Step 2. Find an area where there are already several active ant colonies
The more colonies you can control during the appropriate period, the more likely you are to find a queen ant. Often this tries to build a new anthill in an area where there are already prosperous ones, so the best thing is to turn your attention to those areas not yet occupied but a short distance from other colonies.
Step 3. Look for the queen ant
The queen ants and the males they mate with don't just fly out of the entrance to the parent colony already knowing where to go. During the favorable period, you can also see some of them strolling near the entrance to the mother colony. In fact, in this period they are testing the climate to decide the right time to start a new colony.
- Since you are looking for a queen, you need to know how to recognize her from the others in the anthill. At this stage, you notice the difference because it has wings. However, even after this period in which it shows its wings, you can identify it for its much larger size than the other specimens. This is especially noticeable in the thoracic area, which is the central section of the body between the head and abdomen. If you want to have more details you can read this article.
- If you just want a queen ant, this is the perfect time to catch her. However, if you want to get one in order to start your own ant colony, then know that the time is not yet right. The winged queen ants have not yet mated in this phase of building the new colony.
Step 4. Wait until you see her wandering around irregularly
Once the queen mates, she will search for a new site to create the colony. Unlike the predetermined routes of most ants, the queen tends to wander around checking for cracks and crevices, changing directions, and adopting an attitude similar to that of tourists when they get lost in a big city. His erratic behavior is justified simply by the fact that he is looking for the ideal place to start his new anthill.
Another sign that the queen ant has already mated is when it loses its wings. When he chooses a general area, he sheds his wings so that he is less noticeable, while still walking around trying to find the perfect position in his chosen area
Step 5. Handle your new queen ant very carefully
Once it has no wings, it is much easier to catch it, but be sure to touch it gently. If you want to relocate it to start your own anthill, a small container like the one for camera rolls is fine. You need to provide her with enough water by placing a damp cotton ball inside the container.
If you want to build an anthill, also be sure to take a few handfuls of soil from the area where you captured the queen, so that she can begin nesting once you move her to the place you want
Method 2 of 2: Dig for the Queen Ant
Step 1. Use a spade to create a trench around the ant colony
This method requires more work, but it is not necessary to wait for the right time. Start by digging with a spade to create a pit of about 6 to 8 inches around the entrance to the anthill.
Step 2. Use a large shovel to pick up the colony's ants
Once the trench is finished, start shoveling the area inside the trench, which will contain most of the ant colony.
Step 3. Transfer the soil to twenty liter buckets
You will have to dig a lot of earth to reach all the various chambers of the colony, so have two 20-liter buckets handy and put the soil in them.
- Try to keep the clods of earth intact as much as possible so as not to destroy the ant tunnels.
- Also you have to find a way to cover the buckets and prevent the ants and the queen from escaping.
- If you follow this method by digging into a new colony where the queen has just mated and is still building her nest, you probably don't need too much work and you definitely won't have to search far to find her. To understand if you have found a colony under construction, pay attention to a small entrance hole with a small mound of fresh earth next to it that has not yet become a mound.
Step 4. Follow the chambers and tunnels where possible
It may be difficult to spot them if you work hastily, but it would be important to follow them into the ground during the excavation operations. Keep collecting specimens until you see that there are very few ants left in the hole.
Step 5. Search the buckets
After you have collected the colony, you have to do some sorting work in the soil present in the buckets to find the queen. Use a spoon to sift the soil and separate the ants.
- You can transfer the ants to smaller containers as you separate them from the ground.
- For obvious reasons, there is no need to do this work inside the house.
Step 6. Locate the queen
You will have to do painstaking work, but in the end you will finally be able to find it, since you have searched for it throughout the colony. If you are not sure what exactly you are looking for, know that the queen is the largest insect present in the colony and its central section - the thorax - is particularly pronounced. You can check out this wikiHow tutorial for more details.
Advice
- Wear gloves when digging to catch ants.
- Put on your boots to prevent ants from getting under your clothes.
- Don't grieve, it's hard to catch a queen ant.
- Wear a long-sleeved shirt for digging.
- Don't injure your back when digging too curved. Try to keep your back as straight as possible.
- While it's not nearly as exciting as catching the queen ant yourself, you can eventually purchase one to start your own anthill.
