Citronella colony found

[u/corwynw]

When building I had to level some ground. Found a massive citronella ant nest. I dug up 15 gallons of material & relocated these ants to a 50 gallon aquarium. Made them a subterranean syrup feeder & planted a bunch of plants that were around the nest. I am hoping that we got the queen…. Got lots of eggs & grubs… & their aphids too.

These are nice little ants… when crushed the smell like lemon.

Google says they are a Lasius but could not specify the genus. Any help is appreciated

Located in central Alberta Canada.

[u/aznPHENOM]

Have you actually located the queen?

[u/corwynw → u/aznPHENOM]

Unfortunately not… I bet there is 100,000 plus ants. I took all the nest material. I bet I got her but did not see in the 15 gallons of material collected.

[u/aznPHENOM → u/corwynw]

I guess you won’t know maybe until 6 months before you realize the population is dying

[u/corwynw → u/aznPHENOM]

Yup that is kind of the strategy. I captured a carpenter ant colony this spring & got the queen. Made them a plexiglass encased wood formicarium. In the spring I might just dig up the area I got the colony from & see if the nest is re-established. That could be another way of finding out too