Ant Colony

[-Exotic]

Wow thanks guys i think i can write a journel atm with all this info! bahah
Im thinking about notordering but actually looking for them. In my alley near a big apple tree theres carpenter ants everywhere. So I guess Ill make a colony on carpenter ants.

Know the thing is, is that I want to make a really cool colony like I can look what there doing every minute I was thinking a plexy glass both sides and carving out a styrofoam colony. Any suggestions?



And guys thanks for the advice.

 

[Vulgaris]

Foam is not good for carpenter ants (which have very powerful jaws for chewing through wood) they will be out of it in no time.

I suggest a plaster setup. Many GREAT ideas and photos in this thread.

http://antfarm.yuku.com/topic/7701

you can buy plaster cheap at many craft stores. The kind they sell is plaster of paris, which works

And a plaster setup does allow you to view the ants fully.

 

[bhoeschcod]

I aggre with vulgarias on this

 

[Eggy]

Want to see some real Ant colony, take a look at this:
http://www.break.com/index/giant-ant-colony-is-a-world-wonder.html

Its a pitty that they had to destroy it from the beginning of, but its impossible to not be amazed by this magnificent piece of art.

 

[bhoeschcod]

Wow!thats all i can say.

 

[-Exotic]

Nice link vul

Alright alright im getting more excited to do the project how would I make on of the sweet homes? Is there shipping from other places?

 

[dtknow]

Hey vulgaris what did you feed your colony? Any other tips? It seems in general Camponotus are tricky in captivity. Have you heard of any success with Sierra Nevada sp. of Camponotus? I captured a small colony, and though they persisted for months and the queen laid eggs the larvae never developed and the workers did not feed.

 

[bhoeschcod]

He almost lost his queen man give em a break Jk Exotic,there are many diffrent kinds of enclosures such as plaster,homemade ant farm,wood ant farm[not recemended for carpenters obvuisly ]But if your going to get just a queen you might wanna make a test tube setup All you do is get a test tube fill it a little bit with water add cotton [to block the water]and put in the queen and plug the test tube with cotton and leave her in the dark[check on her every now and then]and wait for the first workers to hatch and feed them right away and then once you hit 10-20 workers[depending on speacific species]then make the real inclosure for themi hope that cleared that up

 

[Vulgaris]

Yes you are correct dtknow. Camponotus, specifically the species that I have (C. penn) are notoriously difficult to rear past the first year. They do fine till first workers come and its time to hibernate. some people hibernate their ants, others dont. I think at least a little bit of hibernation is good for them.

Anyway, some people have successfully kept carpenters, but I have heard of a lot of failures also.

Yes to rear a colony from a single queen, you should use a test tube or a clusteral cell. more info can be found here

http://antfarm.yuku.com/