I love black lighting to catch queen ants! It doesn't work every night though. Where I live we get a ton of tiny little moths that fly in your face, so its a bit annoying to actually inspect the sheet for queens. One night a huge Pheidole flight was happening and I ended up catching over 30 queens that night! Unfortunately none of them were successful in founding a colony with me, but I hope something similar happens this year and I'm able to actually keep them.
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
That's really interesting. I agree that all the moths and things that fly around your face is pretty distracting
@themenagerie5247 Жыл бұрын
If you notice you get an abundance of ants it usually means they haven't had time to make yet, you can try scooping up as many queens and drones as possible and leaving them in a container to give them time to mate.
@lachtitefourmi79652 жыл бұрын
When I was a child, I was going with a bug hunter one night to catch buterflies with the same methode. I never imagine it could work with ants queen. Amazing 🥰 thanks for your work and excuse my English, I'm french 😅
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
votre anglais est parfait, encore meilleur que le mien. je suis content que vous ayez apprécié la vidéo. Merci d'avoir regardé! Using a black light really is so much fun!
@lachtitefourmi79652 жыл бұрын
@@TheAntKeeper 😁 Une réponse en français belle surprise, merci beaucoup 😉👍
@skyblock_mouse Жыл бұрын
@@TheAntKeeperI have moved into a new house and on the balcony there was a black light and the floor is white how can I use it
@aussieantkeeping28252 жыл бұрын
I definitely need to try black lighting one day
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
You definitely do! It's a lot of fun seeing what gets attracted
@antsinfinite32242 жыл бұрын
Great video loved the background music!
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it
@FigureTheSpookinator Жыл бұрын
The first time i catched a queen ant is when i was thinking: "hey why don't we go outside to catch some queens" and i agreed, now i turned on my powerful light i think 40watts and a queen ant landed an that was the time i realized: queens are attracted to bright lights.
@TheAntKeeper Жыл бұрын
It's a amazing feeling hey. That's so awesome!
@FigureTheSpookinator Жыл бұрын
@@TheAntKeeper btw why havent you been posting videos for quite a while
@TheAntKeeper Жыл бұрын
@@FigureTheSpookinator Heyy, mixture of reasons, I work a huge amount of hours, have a family, a business, many other responsibilities. Mostly been just stupid busy, working way too much
@antsandpets2 жыл бұрын
Black lighting is fun, great video
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
My only regret is I wish I tried it sooner!
@N710413 ай бұрын
Can I use a normal light? I don't have enough money to buy a black light
@mrrr39032 жыл бұрын
During fall It is really common to see big nuptial flights for termites but is still really cool even though they may bring my house down lol
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Oh man termites are scary! They nuptial flights are so much prettier compared to ant nuptial flights though.
@stangoh69312 жыл бұрын
So shocked it worked. Definitely need to test this out!!
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
I was surprised it worked this well. You should definitely give this a go!
@antsandpets2 жыл бұрын
congratulations to the winner of the giveaway
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Good luck for the next competition Ants and Pets!
@vinnie13672 жыл бұрын
2 of my 10 ant queens have shredded their wings!, still waiting for the rest to follow.
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Oooh! Super exciting times! What sp are they?
@vinnie13672 жыл бұрын
@@TheAntKeeper I think they might be Prolasius advenus but I'm still waiting for the first batch of nanitics to come out to fully identify them, Can't wait!!
@vinnie13672 жыл бұрын
@@TheAntKeeper I appreciate you're stuff keep it up man!
@jacobyopik63512 жыл бұрын
Thanks for another awesome video! What time of night did you set this up? And what time did you have the most success?
@jacobyopik63512 жыл бұрын
Turning an old bug zapper into the same kind of thing currently
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Thank you Jacob! I found setting up just at sunset and to work better and the best results happened just before a storm about 1 hour after sunset.
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Great recycling mate! I love that idea
@johnfogle20922 жыл бұрын
As me being ants cannadas 684 sub he is denfintly geting subs faster
@MarkCLehman2 жыл бұрын
What percentage of the winged queens are fertile ,,, your best guess ?
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Great question Mark! Probably 35% of the queen alates I catch are fertile - That’s a rough estimate. Hope that helps 😀
@faultyant2302 жыл бұрын
I love blacklisting but ty for showing me a new way!
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Awesome Thanks Faulty Ant!
@tylerkratzer39812 жыл бұрын
Awesome work. Out of curiosity. Finding Queen's this way would mean they are yet to be fertilised no? They can't start a colony till that happens?
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Great question! This is exactly what I was wondering. Around 75% of all the queens I have found using a black light have been fertile, most of white are established colonies now!
@finnion52102 жыл бұрын
I have a pale legged super ant queen right now
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Nice! They're a great Camponotus sp to keep!
@mantisswarm6763 Жыл бұрын
Last night i used one and caught 17 queens in one night. There were hundreds, but i only kept so many. There were at least 7 different species in that mix as well, spanning from trap jaw ants, all the way to fire ants. (I live in arizona)
@RepvertYT2 жыл бұрын
Yeah nice video I also want to buy a black light for next year
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
You so should! It's so much fun. Let me know how you go ;)
@judictus51782 жыл бұрын
Damn this is cool, didnt know you could do this but it makes sense
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
I know right! It feels like a cheat code for ant keepers! It really is so much fun seeing what gets attracted to the black light
@ThylineTheGay Жыл бұрын
What's the best time of year to try this out? (Also live in Australia)
@Anonymous..................... Жыл бұрын
Wow, thats awesome! Sounds like a good way to find queens. Just wondering though, is the white sheet necessary?
@TheAntKeeper Жыл бұрын
The white is reflective which makes the light easier to see. Also, without some sort of sheet/tarp/blanket, it would make indentifying and collecting specimens a lot harder.
@phantrom2 жыл бұрын
Do you think this would work in nz? I don't know if we have any night species.
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
I think it would be worth a go!
@vinnie13672 жыл бұрын
It would, About 2 weeks ago I caught 10 ant queens still waiting for species identification, I turned on my blacklight at 9pm and it wasn't windy. That's when I got my best results.
@vinnie13672 жыл бұрын
I think that they might be Linepithema humile.
@CGT25213 ай бұрын
It’s gonna be my first time doing a black light for insect so I really wanna see what I get and I have test tube if I get any queen ants
@aigar3172 жыл бұрын
For winter ants
@snowbean59712 жыл бұрын
can it also work on flashlights or phone flashlights
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
That's great to know! Thanks SnowBean
@airsoftnerd-xm9xd9 ай бұрын
im going to give this black lighting a try thanks
@snowbean59712 жыл бұрын
i killed a fly insect and realized it was a alate queen ant ;-;
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
That's the worst!
@snowbean59712 жыл бұрын
@@TheAntKeeper Ikr But My Friend Found A Queen Ant And Ill Try Finding One
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
@@snowbean5971 That’s great. Finding Queen Bull ants is such a rush!
@AllanGyllingOlsen2 жыл бұрын
Are they mated?
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
They all still alive and have dropped their wings. Some have layed eggs, others not yet.
@kaurkalevik12952 жыл бұрын
Nice video
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Thanks Kaur!
@CreepyPets_2 жыл бұрын
👍
@vinnie13672 жыл бұрын
I reckon you should make a discord server!
@TheAntKeeper2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the feedback Vinnie, I reckon your right!
@vinnie13672 жыл бұрын
@@TheAntKeeperI'd Love to join and talk with fellow ant keepers :)