I fell into the rabbit hole of types of formicariums, species identification. I settled on my "favourite" specy that I wanted to have that was endemic to my region. I bought a queen + 3 workers from a reputed seller, but they waited a week before sending the test tube and when they sent it it the queen was dead on arrival :(

So I decided to just look for signs of nuptials flights in my city and look for a queen myself, it was a really fun summer! Always looking at the pavement when walking outside, keeping test tubes in my bag, taking long walks in the morning after it rained because it was the ideal conditions for some of the species I wanted.

In the end, one afternoon I found that dozens and dozens of queens had taken their nuptials flights all over the city, it was awesome to notice this for the first time.

So I got a queen of one of the most numerous and unremarkable species in the region, it's been two years and it's been really fun. A really not that expensive hobby! If even if you're not into diy (like I am) you need only a test tube to get started, and then later when the first workers arrive a foraging area that can just be a plastic container.

Really recommend it, and I'm not interested at all in buying exotic species. Sure, leafcutter ants look awesome, but I wouldn't keep a snake in my house either!

https://bugsincyberspace.com/about/

glad to say search shows no "queen" results, though idk if that means anything

i never got the appeal of having someone else do the only interesting part of anything for you

https://theonion.com/ant-farm-teaches-children-about-toil-de...

I don’t understand why people would build an entire industry around insect trafficking just to watch ants for a few days before getting bored of them.