Pogo Mama

I’ve been really unlucky for a few years finding a fertile Harvester Ant queen.  It is primarily due to the fact that I just don’t have either the time or maybe the passion to commit to driving out to areas where they are plentiful.  Or it may be since they are fairly common right here in the LA basin that it seems ridiculous to go out to the desert searching for them. 

Well that misfortune has been interrupted for the time being.  My oldest son stumbled across such a queen a few weeks ago in where else but my mom’s drive way.  Low and behold, there she was one hot day, just excavating a newly found nest in a crack in the drive.

We quickly, though patiently scooped her up and brought her home.  I’ve always felt odd about gathering ants from their natural habitats and bringing them into captivity, though I am fairly certain, a colony in that location had a very minimal chance of survival.

However, her chances may not be much improved as captive ants require a lot of patience, attention and luck just the same.  So, without further ado, here is the lovely lady we brought home.  I’ll detail her setup another time.