Where to Find Ants: Ants are easiest to collect during warmer months when they are active and their movements are more easily observed. Since ant nests are found in diverse terrestrial locations, it is wise to visit as mnay habitats as possible. Many nests are found in soil, particularly under rocks or near plants. Some species prefer to live in preformed plant cavities (such as hollow stems, or last year's walnuts or acorns). Often, nests are found in leaf litter (particularly where it collects in sheltered places). Other ants are only found in rotten logs.

Collecting Equipment: An aspirator or forceps (available from various biological supply houses) is needed to collect ants. I prfer th blow-type aspirator to avoid inhaling spores and dust alon gwith noxious defensive chemicals of some ants. I do not recommend collecting ants with bare hands. Smaller specimens are easily crushed and some larger specimens can bite or deliver a painful sting. Each nest of aants collected should be placed in a separate vial containing alcohol (either ethanol or ispropoanol). I require 15 to 20 vials on short excursions. A garden trowel or small spade is helpful for excavating nests. After collecting, always replace the disturbed material. A field notebook should be used to record specific locality (including distance and direction from nearest city), date of collection, and collector. Information should also be written in indelible ink (or pencil) and placed in each vial. Other useful information includes habitat description, nest description, air and soil temperature, and current weather conditions.

Since many nests in a given area may look similar, several should be examined to determine if multiple species are present. Several "parasitic" ant species (such as Harpagoxenus americanus or Polyergus breviceps) may be present in a few nests. The odds of encountering such species by opening one nest are quite small.

I recommend pinning a small sample (3 to 6 individuals) from each vial and retaining the rest in alchol (immature stages should never be pinned). Always use paper points and glue the ants to the edge. Insect pins and points can be obtained from biological supply houses. Refer to "Making an Insect Collection" KSN Vol. 35, No. 1, Oct. 1988 (page 4). I usually include a unique cross reference number between each vial and corresponding samples.

Based upon my study of the ants of Kansas, I determined the species most frequently encountered. These are listed along with the number of collections (nests) for each species. Over 3,700 nests were sampled.

Crematogaster punctulata (317)
Monomorium minimum (265)
Forelius pruinosus (206)
Lasius neoniger (185)

Over 50,000 ants were collected during the course of this study. Of that total, the following were teh species with the highest number of individuals collected.

Monomorium minimum (8,250)
Crematogaster punctulata (265)
Forelius pruinosus analis (3,057)
Pogonomyrmex occidentalis (2,607)

Based on the above numbers, I believe the first three species are the most common and most abundant ant species across the state of Kansas.