I was sitting on my porch one night last month and felt this beast of an insect crawl on my leg. I love collecting and identifying insects, so naturally I had a little jar to catch her with sitting within arm’s reach (I keep them in every room, both porches, and my car haha). Scooped her up thinking she was a wingless wasp and brought her to my microscope/insect ID area to inspect later. Forgot all about her for about 3 weeks after getting a herniated neck disc that night tho 🫢 cuz ow

The other day I got a good little chunk of moss and went to set up a tardigrade trap and saw her in the jar still ALIVE! Not just alive but tending to a small cluster of little eggies! I felt horrible and opened the lid to give her some air and a Q-tip soaked in diluted honey. Came back the next day and I had apparently stressed her out so badly she ate her eggs -.- After some research I believe she is C. Subbarbatus but please correct me if I am wrong so I can take the best possible care of her :)

Today I got new test tubes to give her a proper setup and noticed she had a new little batch of eggs. She was SO heckin fast that I was afraid to open the cotton back up to transfer her new eggs after I got her in the tube. :/ I feel awful. Do you think she will start a third batch of eggs, or did I make her waste all of her energy and nutritional reserves? Catching a queen ant has been a dream of mine ever since I was a child because my ant farms never lasted longer than 6 months and I want a fully functional colony to take care of for 10+ years (hopefully). This queen just sat on my leg grooming herself. I felt so incredibly lucky, but now I just feel so guilty and worried. 

She is currently in her test tube, bottled water added and plugged by cotton, cotton plugging the tube closed. I used gloves and tried to be as sterile as possible. The test tube is in a plastic container with a lid that has air holes just in case she pulls the cotton. As of about an hour ago she is on a dark, covered shelf that houses Dubia feeder roach colony tubs we raise in a controlled climate of about 78-80 degrees until the little heater pad comes in. Would it be better for her to be in 72-75 room temperature until then? 

Tldr: Is she C. Subb? Did I doom her? Is she safe in 78-80 degrees without a heat gradient? Bonus question: Isn’t she so cute?!

Queen ant chose me as her perch! (I think I messed up though)