
Introduction & Overview
Camponotus vicinus is one of the most common Camponotus in the western part of North America. They are slow in colony development but they make a great beginner species.
Camponotus vicinus have their nuptial flights between March and June each year depending on the location. They fly at night but can be found under rocks and logs weeks after the flight.
Most of the time, the queens are monogyne, but occasionally they can also be polygynous.
A queen can take up to a week to lay eggs and her gaster will expand. At at 82F (28C), the eggs will take 1-2 weeks to hatch into larvae. The larvae will take ~2 weeks to turn into cocoons, and the workers will enclose in 3 weeks. The queen won't be needing any food during the founding stage as they are fully claustral.
Depending on the location they are collected, some will need a fridge hibernation in the winter.
Queen Identification
Founding setup
Temperature
Humidity
Time to first workers
6 weeksheated
Sensitivity concerns