Help please!

[TurtleDuDe48]

Could someone tell me what species of ant this is?
I’ve done some research on ant keeping and managed to catch an queen ant, who after a few days, laid some eggs which later hatched, and I really want to know what species it is, so I can provide for it better.

Here are some images of the ant:
https://i.imgur.com/OuIpzrv.jpg
That’s a picture of it online.
I found it while randomly scrolling around, but it didn’t display its name.
Here’s a picture of it in its test tube when I first caught it.
https://i.imgur.com/VAZghvb.jpg

 

[Serafine]

Can you please tell us at least the country that would help us immensely to narrow it down. I'm currently asking the antkeeping chat but it's a calm day so it may take a while to get an ID.

By the size of the gaster she's a fully claustral species which means she doesn't need any food until her first workers arrive. All she needs is a dark quiet place that's not too cold (20°C or higher should be fine, since she has already laid eggs I wouldn't heat her as it's generally not worth the risk of accidentally overheating the tube).

When they first workers hatch they need sugary liquids and proteins.
- Sugar water, diluted maple syrup and similar stuff works well for sugar supply.
- Best protein food for small colonies are soft-bodies dead arthropods like fruit flies, spiders or flies.

The eggs will probably take around 4-8 weeks to develop into workers, at the time those workers hatch it would be great to have an outworld as feeding in the tube usually doesn't really work well.

 

[TurtleDuDe48]

alright, so i caught the queen around early january, in newzealand, auckland.

any suggestions for what i could use as an outworld? i dont have too many things in my house currently

 

[Serafine]

You're in no hurry, you won't need an outworld for at least another 4 weeks (probably more like 6 weeks) after the queen laid first eggs, eggs take a pretty long time to develop into adult ants.

Plastic containers do fine for the start, you could also use an aquarium later.

Here are some helpful videos:
https://youtu.be/WErTN2e2eUk
https://youtu.be/JiD5Sx60CVA

Here's a good video on how to build a cheap nest:
https://youtu.be/8edRYbn65Oo

 

[Serafine]

Our NZ antkeepers say it is most likely some Iridomyrmex species.