How to Catch & House a Queen Ant

The days after a nuptial flight are the best time to start a colony for free. Newly mated queens are walking the pavements looking for a nest site, and with a little care you can house one and watch it grow. This guide covers finding her, confirming she’s a queen, and getting the founding setup right.

When and where to look

Flights happen on warm, humid, still days — see the nuptial flight calendar for timing. In the hours and days afterwards, search:

• Pavements, patios, and paths — especially light-coloured surfaces where dark queens stand out.
• Walls and fences — queens often climb before flying and land on them after.
• Around outdoor lights in the evening.

You’re looking for an ant walking alone, larger than the workers you usually see.

Confirming it’s a queen

• Size — clearly bigger than a worker of the same species.
• Thorax — bulky and boxy, because it held her wing muscles. This is the giveaway.
• Wings or wing scars — she may still have wings, or show small stubs where she has shed them. A wingless (dealate) queen found after a flight is very likely already mated.

A queen that has shed her wings has almost certainly mated — exactly what you want.

Collecting her safely

• Gently coax her into a small container or a test tube — don’t grab her.
• Keep her cool and out of direct sun; a hot pocket or car dashboard can kill a queen quickly.
• Take one queen per container unless you know the species tolerates co-founding.

Setting up the founding home

The test tube setup is the gold standard for founding queens, and it costs almost nothing:

1. Fill roughly one-third of a clean 16mm test tube with water.
2. Plug the water in tightly with cotton wool, leaving no gap — this becomes a humid reservoir.
3. Place the queen inside and plug the open end with a looser piece of cotton.
4. Wrap the tube in foil or a dark sleeve and put it somewhere dark, warm, and undisturbed.

Then the hardest part: leave her alone. Check no more than once a week, briefly, in dim light. Our queen care guide covers the founding timeline in detail, and the starter kit checklist lists everything else you’ll want.

To feed or not to feed

• Fully claustral species (most Lasius) raise their first workers on their own body reserves — do not feed until nanitics appear.
• Semi-claustral species (Myrmica, Formica) benefit from a little sugar and a small insect during founding. Check your species’ care card to see which it is.

If nothing happens

Patience. A queen may take weeks to lay, may be resting before winter, or — occasionally — may be unmated. Keep her dark, warm, and undisturbed, and give her time before giving up. Many common beginner mistakes come from checking a founding queen too often.

Legal note: Keep only UK-native or naturalised species, avoid protected species, and never release a colony — captive ants must stay contained for life.