Ant Colony Ants

[Taceas]

My 6 year old niece is wanting an ant colony for her birthday.

We have purchased this gel ant colony due to really being unable to find a dirt based one locally. I'm not sure if this is good or not, maybe you ant lovers can help out.

What is a good species of ant for this type of setup, and where can you purchase a small colony?

The problem is she lives in Montana and they've already had several snows, so the indigenous ant populations are well into hibernation. It's also been chilly here and I've not seen really any active ants much around either.

Thanks in advance.

 

[myrmecophile]

Harvester ants will be probably be your best choice, however keep in mind that any ants you purchase will be minus the queen and have a much reduced lifespan. The gel colonies are not the best option, but they work for a while. Try http://www.antsalive.com/ for ants. Also you can check out the following site for more info.
http://p211.ezboard.com/bantfarm

 

[REAL]

Does anyone know where one might be able to buy a queen? I always wanted to start an ant colony starting from the ground up and I tried catching the ants around my place, especially the ones that young queens that fly around sometimes.

I tried but it never works.

 

[myrmecophile]

You will not be able to legally acquire any within the U. S.

 

[REAL]

So the only way is to go up to someone with a trench coat in a dark alley and ask him for "the goods" and he pulls out a bottle with a queen inside?

Heh, I came across the same problem whilst trying to find a queen a long time ago. I even tried digging a queen up somehow but man was it hard....either the ground was too hard the more you dig or ppl looking at me weird. (I've even snuggled into private property to catch bugs before heh...)

Darn....

Life's Goal:

Peruvian Centipede
Solifugid
A giant ant farm with a queen inside

If I have all of them I can call this life successful...maybe...

 

[Nick12007]

Ugh, I was out collecting for an insect bio class and was pulling bark off a dead fallen tree, and there were about 10 fat ants there, but there were so many that I didn't think anything of it, took one, and put it in my killing jar. Later on I found out that it was, in fact, a queen, and they had all been queens. I went back another day but they weren't there.

 

[Jmugleston]

Easiest way to find a queen.

Since digging one up is difficult, find out when your local population breeds. Find out what species you have and when the females leave the nest. You can tell when it is time because the colony "freaks out." The opening to their nests are swarming with workers to protect the new queens as they leave the nest. If I remember correctly they then meet up with males breed then go off to start their own colony. I have always found new queens when I was out at night with a lantern. Just like other insects they came to the light.

 

[REAL]

Since digging one up is difficult, find out when your local population breeds. Find out what species you have and when the females leave the nest. You can tell when it is time because the colony "freaks out." The opening to their nests are swarming with workers to protect the new queens as they leave the nest. If I remember correctly they then meet up with males breed then go off to start their own colony. I have always found new queens when I was out at night with a lantern. Just like other insects they came to the light.

Its just not that...I caught a few before doing so and put them in a patch of dirt but nothing happened....

 

[Jmugleston]

Not sure why:

I am not sure, but I am wondering if maybe your queen was too established to dig her own burrow. What I mean is perhaps she was past the stage where she did any of the work. If I remember correctly, the newly mated queens would dig a small burrow and give birth to numerous small workers that enlarged the nest. Once the workers are going, her only job is to make more as far as I am aware. Maybe try providing an artificial burrow to begin with and see if that works. I'm just speculating so I may be completely off on this.

 

[REAL]

I am not sure, but I am wondering if maybe your queen was too established to dig her own burrow. What I mean is perhaps she was past the stage where she did any of the work. If I remember correctly, the newly mated queens would dig a small burrow and give birth to numerous small workers that enlarged the nest. Once the workers are going, her only job is to make more as far as I am aware. Maybe try providing an artificial burrow to begin with and see if that works. I'm just speculating so I may be completely off on this.

Mines burrow...but they never come up again :8o

 

[syndicate]

finding a queen ant isnt to hard at all.just flip over lots of logs stones until u come across a colony.the qeeen is usually the first one to run so u gotta be quick.make sure u find one that has already shed her wings.

 

[sintakz]

finding a queen ant isnt to hard at all.just flip over lots of logs stones until u come across a colony.the qeeen is usually the first one to run so u gotta be quick.make sure u find one that has already shed her wings.

Nice to know... I know where I will be spending my sunday...

 

[sparular]

If you capture an established queen you might try putting her in a container with holes just slightly too small for her to fit out and let her colony find her. Commonly the workers are smaller than the queen. Alternatively put her in a small container with ventilation inside of your colony setup and let the colony follow her in.Then you have the workers to build her new castle.

 

[Mack&Cass]

With regards to catching queens when they are breeding, you have to make sure they have mated before you try to induce them to start their own colony. The best way is to watch them during the breeding frenzy and collect several once they land. Mated queens will pull off their wings usually pretty shortly after mating. There always a possibility the mating failed too, so its a good idea to try several queens (some may also be males who die shortly after mating). Also, it's a good idea to identify the colonies that sent out the queens and try to duplicate the conditions around those nests. Otherwise you may have mated queens trying but failing to initiate a colony because the substate is too wet, dry, sandy, whatever.