TRAP Jaaaawwwww!

[Galapoheros]

Me tired. Looked a long time today for the Trap Jaw. I found approx. one colony per hour. Strange ants. Sometimes I would find just one sitting under a rock. Then, three, just sitting together under a rock. Sometimes just two ants. No holes or any other places to hide or places/holes to escape too under the rock. Free spirit ants! I don't think they are so 'soldier' like as most other ants are. I think they are more individualistic. But I did see a colony that had maybe 50 ants in the colony. I haven't done allot of research on them. I haven't focused on ants real hard. All arthros are interesting to me. Well, I think I have found two queens. Thorax seems high in these two. Let me know if I'm off about this stuff. I'm not going by knowledge, just kind of going by my common sense. The wings worked by the muscles are there so just makes sense that the thorax would be bigger. The two ants I think are queens are a little bigger too. I've heard of 'drones' too but I can't remember what purpose they serve(?). I think I'll put them in my trop terr. Think the colony will produce more queens, or produce at all? I'm going to put them in the terr right now. Nice to find out they are not rare around here. I was a little concerned about that, but not anymore. A little hard to find, but not rare. Maybe I have seen these before and wrote them off as wood ants.

 

[Scolopendra55]

SWEET!!!! Get those bad boys (actually girls) on some substrate! An X-Large KritterKeeper with about 7-8 inches of substrate and some pieces of wood and some leaf litter should be good. See if you cant get some larvae! Jeesh I think I'm just about as excited as you

 

[Galapoheros]

SWEET!!!! Get those bad boys (actually girls) on some substrate! An X-Large KritterKeeper with about 7-8 inches of substrate and some pieces of wood and some leaf litter should be good. See if you cant get some larvae! Jeesh I think I'm just about as excited as you

Ha! Weeedooogggy! You kind of motivated me to go look again. I like the way it worked out. Well, they are in the terr right now. Just running around. Social unrest. Ha! Don't know who they are until they get organized somehow. Kind of reminds me of some people I know. Hehe. The only ones I don't see are the ones I thought were queens. Probably being protected somewhere by security guards. Maybe they will get some kind of stucture going by tomorrow and be grouped up somwhere in there.

 

[Scolopendra55]

What is the setup you have (substrate or any objects in the cage)? And how many did you get?

 

[Galapoheros]

What is the setup you have (substrate or any objects in the cage)? And how many did you get?

It's the same setup I posted in Myriapods. Here it is again. Maybe too humid in there. Has deep sub 3 to 5". A rock to get under or a stump to get in or next to. I will see how it works out. They are still running around but not as many. Wonder where they are starting to hide... Allot of places to hide. Sure do like to hide rather than attack. But I put a cricket in there when I only had one. That one was living in the stump. When the cricket would crawl on the stump, the ant would come out to see what was going on with jaws cocked. Seem real sensitive. I think I've got 20-25. I picked up all the ones I could find under one rock. I felt like I had a queen so I left the few other colonies I found there because I couldn't see the queen in those. They try to hide so fast, I could'nt tell. But pretty sure I have two queens. What you see in the white container is all I brought back. It's 10 gal.

 

[Jesse607]

Awesome find! Those two individuals definitely appear to be queens to me. I wish we had cool fauna such as that here in Indiana! Good luck keeping them going.

 

[Malhavoc's]

be sure to post if you have any offspring produced, I've had terrible luck with ant colonies...

 

[Galapoheros]

Well that was kind of dumb! Now I can't get them out of there if I wanted to. The excitement of finding them has settled down a little and I'm wondering if I should have put something else in there. They are digging and digging. They aren't eating anything yet:? . I tried a little cricket but one ant just killed it and left it there. I'm thinking I should have made an ant farm somehow just for these instead of putting them in a 10 gal. Oh well, just have to let it roll from here. I'll post anything new about them for the ant fans.

edit: I just put a little junk of brown sugar in there. One is real focused on it and coming back to it over and over again. Stashing it somewhere. The others just leave it alone. I'm sure they need protein though. I'll keep trying diff insects and maybe some raw chicken or steak. Pic is not actual size..haheha...that's for sure.

 

[Scolopendra55]

The ant stashing the brown sugar may be taking it to the queen. Also, make sure the crickets you give them are very small (small enough that an ant can eat it by itself). So their burrowing you say? Thats a good sign!! Man this is fascinating! Just be sure to keep me (and the other ant lovers) fully informed on any new changes

 

[Galapoheros]

I have a question. I've read that they hunt individually. I wasn't sure how to take that. Do they hunt and eat there own kill and usually not share it, or do they hunt and take their personal kill back to the nest to share? If each kills and eats it's own food, that would explain a smaller colony I guess since they wouldn't depend on each other as much as other ants usually do. So you think that ant with the sugar was sucking up to the queen, scoring points? Man, there's always one of those at work . HEY!...termites! I've got plenty of those in the backyard. I'll try that. I have a good feeling about them eating termites.

 

[Scolopendra55]

Termites are a good idea as they are readily available and soft bodied.

 

[Waspman]

Very cool! I live in south/central Texas and I have never seen these before.

Thanks for sharing, keep on keeping us updated!

 

[Malhavoc's]

One thing about termites is the movie Antsz I believe it was.. termite verus ant WAR!! bahaha..

 

[Scythemantis]

Those were BADASS termite designs, too, complete with the acid nozzle!

I believe trap jaws feed their queen, but do not otherwise share food.

 

[Scolopendra55]

I believe trap jaws feed their queen, but do not otherwise share food.

Thats correct.

 

[Galapoheros]

There have been a few that have died off. The others carry the dead around and put them together in a corner. I don't see them eat anything. I found termites in my backyard. I put them in the terr but the ants just slam their jaws on them and kill them. When they decide they are dead, they just walk off. Crickets, small spiders, termites, and small pieces of raw meat. Nothing. What do you think? Any ideas? There does seem to be less ants out at one time. I think they have established a nest under the sub where they can hang out.

 

[mantid]

Maybe they are a herbivorous species, try putting different types of leaves in there. Some ant species also live off fungus which they grow. Pherhaps you could contact a local specialist and inquire about what they eat(as long as they are legal to keep)

 

[Scolopendra55]

Try putting a piece of paper towel soaked with a mixture of honey and water.

 

[Galapoheros]

OK, I'm on it. I'll try the honey thing:drool: . A few are going to a small, melted clump of brown sugar on the rock and taking a little swig. No honey here. Going to the store. I'll get a peach, apple....try a few things. Man, going to the store for ant food! What a nut! Don't tell anybody.......Ha! Oh, and bugs are legal in tx. Except for a very few sp. Those are usually found in caves that are gated anyway. Tx spends allot of money trying to KILL bugs. Well, going to get the goods.

Edit: Just not interested in the honey. Maybe they have been hitting the brown sugar and just aren't hungry. But they seem to be looking for something. They look in cracks, under little rocks....guess I'll keep researching them on the web and find the missing link. Maybe they are OK but I don't think so.

 

[dtknow]

They are likely not interested in protein because their are no larvae to raise(workers don't need protein). If your queens really are queens then they should need some protein. I heard these guys are designed to hunt springtails.