Starting an Ant Colony

[OntarioNative]

Hey OntarioNative i have a quick question that can change the way you keep ants.Do you wish to see your whole colony?If so i think the claustral cell or a testtube setup is the best if not[which i doubht you wouldn't wanna see them] you can add them into a dirt setup it's up to you i like the whole see the queen and colony thing though.

Ive been thinking about this alot actually. I want to try it first with the test tubes and such. so I can actually see whats going on down there. Im a curious fellow like that. But I also want to get a large clear storage tub and fill it with dirt and some grass maybe. Kind of like a chunk of their 'natural habitat'. I think it would be really cool to see them go about their daily business in a more or less undisturbed way.

Also, I was cruising the VenomList and they have a whole section on ants and wasps. There was a nice cage design using plaster and acrylic that I would love to try. http://www.venomlist.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23987 its a very informative article by Antcatcher11. Have a read.

Alex

 

[koolkid98]

Already have i'm a member on there i have kept wasps but yj's are hard to keep!Only got to three workers!

 

[OntarioNative]

Hahaha, yea...I couldnt resist the call of VL. Im goona start with ants first, then maybe wasps...if my girlfriend hasnt killed me by then that is

Alex

 

[Vulgaris]

Well starting a colony in a test tube and moving it to a plaster nest which is hooked up to a foraging cage beats just putting the ants in a dirt set up. Ants actually get acclimated to living in plaster and various types of setups, and their behavior while living in them is completely normal and not much different from how they would act if you had them in a dirt setup. The only differences are that they don't need to excavate any dirt or tunnels in the plaster, and you can see them

My "motto" for ant keeping is that since I cannot see much but above ground foragers in the dirt setup, I could always walk outside and see foragers any day of my life. But getting to study the interactions between the queen, workers, and brood is a fascinating thing that you don't normally get the privilege to see

 

[koolkid98]

That would be great if you kept wasps!Im going to do it again next season!

 

[OntarioNative]

My "motto" for ant keeping is that since I cannot see much but above ground foragers in the dirt setup, I could always walk outside and see foragers any day of my life. But getting to study the interactions between the queen, workers, and brood is a fascinating thing that you don't normally get the privilege to see

Thats very true. I suppose if I wanted to have a dirt setup I might aswell just pick a colony in the back yard and feed it everyday lol. At any rate, we will see how it turns out. Ive got a long hard cold winter ahead of me

Speaking of the winter, should I simulate winter for my colony on a yearly basis and what temp should they be at? My basement is about 10C during the winter because its unfinished. Would that be good? I dont see how I would get my girlfriend to let me put ants in our fridge. She say NO!

 

[OntarioNative]

That would be great if you kept wasps!Im going to do it again next season!

We gotta keep in touch cause I want to see how the wasps turn out.

Alex

 

[Vulgaris]

Well ant hibernation is apparently a very controversial topic. Personally, I hibernate my colonies every year. I believe it is natural and helps the colony to live longer and produce more eggs. But different people will tell you different things

10 C = 50 F? If so that is a tad on the warm side, but if it is dark all the time it will be alright to set them down there for 2 months. Strangely my parents are OK with my ants in the fridge as long as i put their whole setup in a tuperware container. Actually I never really asked about it I just put it in the back and put a "DO NOT TOUCH" sign on it

I am also going to be doing Paper wasps, Bumble bees, and hopefully a european hornet again this spring

 

[OntarioNative]

Well ant hibernation is apparently a very controversial topic. Personally, I hibernate my colonies every year. I believe it is natural and helps the colony to live longer and produce more eggs. But different people will tell you different things

10 C = 50 F? If so that is a tad on the warm side, but if it is dark all the time it will be alright to set them down there for 2 months. Strangely my parents are OK with my ants in the fridge as long as i put their whole setup in a tuperware container. Actually I never really asked about it I just put it in the back and put a "DO NOT TOUCH" sign on it

I am also going to be doing Paper wasps, Bumble bees, and hopefully a european hornet again this spring

Hmm, maybe Ill cruise a garage sale this summer and pick up a half decent fridge. I COULD PUT BEER IN IT! I have to hibernate my garter snake once a year as well, generally for about 2 months. So I figured cause they live beside each other it was probably the right thing to do.

Im looking forward to your various projects, be sure to take lots of pictures!

Alex

 

[koolkid98]

I am also going to be doing Paper wasps, Bumble bees, and hopefully a european hornet again this spring

Hey vulgaris!Sorry about the whole thing that your Vespa crabo queen didn't lay i'm thinking i might just get a nest and freerange it like I did this year it worked but then the nest got usrupted [i think i might have spelled that worng.] and so i lost the nest it was doing so good it was at 3 workers with about 10 or cocoons that i could see.[It also was a very nice wasp i loved her so much!]I also must mention something i witnessed this year for some odd reason sometimes i would stand near the cage and the queen would go and then when it would come back it would land on me and lick me it was weird.

 

[koolkid98]

Speaking of the winter, should I simulate winter for my colony on a yearly basis and what temp should they be at? My basement is about 10C during the winter because its unfinished. Would that be good? I dont see how I would get my girlfriend to let me put ants in our fridge. She say NO!

All i did was have mine in my fridge for about three months and then take them out.Also if the queen doesn't wake up in the first day don't freak.I think it was vulgaris's queen Camp penn that did that but in like a week or so it was back and ready to go!

If you need any other help i'm sure we can help you!Also what species do you think you'll wanna keep?I have experince with three species:Myrmica Rubra,Lasius flavus[well not really but by the time spring comes i will!] and of course my faveorite:Formica fusca[these things can be mean when you mess with a nest!]My friend kicked one and i found a queen just like that.Then there is something else cool that happened:There is a species of red ant[looks real sweet but deadly!] that is a social parisite to formica fusca.Here is what happens:After their flight queens of the red ant search for a "host colony" and the queen either tries to get the colony scent onto her or just walks in and kills the host colony queen.She then takes over and lays her own eggs.The host colony workers rear all of her brood and in about 6-19 months[depending on how big the host colony is] the red ants are all that are left thus making it a pure red ant colony.I wouldn't recomend parisite queens for begginers,you'd need to have a host colony willing to ummm kill the queen which i'm sure no one wants.
Have any other questions just ask!

 

[OntarioNative]

Thanks KoolKid. The genus of ant I would use at first would probably be Formica. Im 99% sure they are the brown ones in my back yard. Its impossible to be sure until may when the ground thaws. Do you know when the queens in that genus emerge(whats the correct term?)?

Alex

 

[Vulgaris]

Formica usually fly around July through August. Depends on where you are located in the country. They are Diurnal and queens can be found running around on pavement after they have mated during midday

 

[OntarioNative]

Very cool. I remember seeing them en mass last summer. Dang me if I can remember what month....:wall:
Im in south ontario, across the bay from NY, but further north

 

[Sarcastro]

Sarcastro: Sorry to go OT but one responsible thing could have been to get a USDA permit and containment facility if you really were studying them.

Some of the worst insect pests were released by science experiments gone bad(gypsy moths). Africanized honey bees....etc.

The USDA,DFG,DAS,will not issue a licence to any one for any Myrmecological species unless you have a doctorate and work for a university, so that counts me out

Well ant hibernation is apparently a very controversial topic. Personally, I hibernate my colonies every year. I believe it is natural and helps the colony to live longer and produce more eggs. But different people will tell you different things

10 C = 50 F? If so that is a tad on the warm side, but if it is dark all the time it will be alright to set them down there for 2 months. Strangely my parents are OK with my ants in the fridge as long as i put their whole setup in a Tupperware container. Actually I never really asked about it I just put it in the back and put a "DO NOT TOUCH" sign on it

I am also going to be doing Paper wasps, Bumble bees, and hopefully a European hornet again this spring

I have found that a cold season for northern species is a good thing it will in fact keep your specimens around alot longer, but they don't actuality hibernate they just slow down it's kinda like a brumation their awake and moving but with less drive.

 

[Vulgaris]

When you say "they don't actuality hibernate they just slow down" ---Depends on what "type" of hibernation I guess. Some people put theirs in the basement like OntarioNative said. And this sort of hibernation is exactly as you said; they slow down but are still moving and not asleep. In the fridge or in the wild, they do truly hibernate and can survive well below freezing temps. Perhaps a better term for the basement hibernating would be "over wintering"

 

[OntarioNative]

But the best method would be refrigeration at around 5C or so?

Alex

 

[Sarcastro]

well I actually put mine in the garage during the winter cause i don't have a fridge big enough for my enclosures 2 are wall mounts and the other is a tabletop model.

 

[Vulgaris]

Yes I agree. Fridge for young colonies and garage or basement for mature colonies who are too large to put in a fridge.

 

[koolkid98]

Sounds like lasius to me,possibly lasius neoniger.Which is the species i keep.