Starting an Ant Colony

[Sarcastro]

my favorite sp. I keep are Trachymyrmex septentrionalis I have these in my table top unit and then my 2 wall units are classic M. americana and Tetramorium caepitum.

 

[OntarioNative]

I think your right KoolKid. Its funny how things are all around me, I see them for 6 months of the year, everyday and I cant remember what they look like! Aside from being brown of course lol.

Could you post a pic of your table top unit? Im having trouble envisioning it.:}

 

[koolkid98]

So am i!I think we need an ant setup picture thread i'll go make one!

 

[OntarioNative]

Please do!

 

[auroborus]

Hey I have a small colony myself, I actually found the queen in a small piece of wood, about the size of my fist. im hoping they outgrow the wood and go into the dirt i have for them. I got a ten gallon fish tank and used cat litter boxes to make it so theres only a .5-.25 inch gap on the side and filled the gap with dirt, as well a half inch on top of the cat litter boxes for foraging. I still need to ID the species but when fall/winter comes around they tend to just hide in the chunk of wood and hibernate on there own accord, i dont lower the temp or anything. They just know when its winter time probably cause of the sun or something.

 

[daytona1911]

Ive actually started a few native ant colonies here in florida for the purposes for study and they are great for the office when we have our pest control meetings. I had a ghost ant , crazy ant and a pharoah ant colony going for a bit . I never did any fire any colonies since the createns are the bane of my existance and being a florida native who does landscaping I get stung on a monthly basis. BUt im sure they would be a very interesting variety to do one on. I do know it is a heafty fine if you transport across state lines though. I have to have all my bonsai trees certified fireant free by the state before I can ship across state lines. Take pics of your enclosures if you can . I may totally copy your design when I do them again . pyramid ants or harvester ants would be neat to do as well. I had a carpenter ant colony as well. they chewed through the plastic and got out all over office , hences why I dont currently have any colonies active at this time . business partner was peeved!. lol

 

[Vulgaris]

I woke up my Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony a few days ago. It was interesting watching them slowely resume life again. Here is a shot showing the queen and the majority of the workers. Will get photos of the setup tomorrow

 

[OntarioNative]

Your the man (or woman?) Vulgaris! Keep the pic coming, they are fascinating

 

[Vulgaris]

Haha, man would be correct. Here is one more shot showing a major worker. You can also see little groups of small larvae that overwintered with the colony and will resume growth soon

I will also get photos of the C. americanus tomorrow too

 

[Vulgaris]

Ooops sorry guys. I got kind of busy over the last few days

Here are more photos. My carpenter colonies are doing great. the larvae have resumed growth again and the queen should start egg laying soon

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff117/vulgaris_01/IMG_9097.jpg

and here is the the C. americanus (a younger colony)

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff117/vulgaris_01/IMG_9098.jpg

 

[xhexdx]

There's actually an article on collecting ant queens:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=97748

I'd like to get something started, too, but NOT fire ants. Which brings me to this:

Ive actually started a few native ant colonies here in florida for the purposes for study and they are great for the office when we have our pest control meetings. I had a ghost ant , crazy ant and a pharoah ant colony going for a bit .

Where did you get these ants? I mean, I haven't been out searching, but the only ants I see around here are fire ants and the occasional velvet ant.

Any advice would be appreciated.

--Joe

 

[daytona1911]

"Where did you get these ants? I mean, I haven't been out searching, but the only ants I see around here are fire ants and the occasional velvet ant."
Hey Joe , I own part of a pest control company here in central florida and because of this I am privy to any infestations in peoples homes. I am kind of a nerd when it comes to collecting the queens , exp during the swarming seasons here in central florida. Any colony that happens to have queens available for collecting I used to tend to collect just for behavoural purposes. I had them in our office when I talked partner into letting them stay for helping the techs Identify certain species real time . after the incident of the carpenter ants chewing out , I had to let them go, but it was a fun 2 years . I used to feed them crushed crickets for the protein feeders and sugar water for the carb feeders , with the ocasional nuts , peanut butter , aphids if they were from a nonpesticide location, which is rare here in florida. Id also feed cat food , but would have to take old food out if it got moldy since it would get all over plexiglass and limit veiwing with some , the ghost ants would eat the mold. Interesting stuff. Let me know what you are interested in , I might be able to get you something since you are in FL and if it a native species I can ship to you . Spring is around the corner and swarmers will be abundant! the crazy anys are the funnest. fast , energetic , and fast growers, exp when multiple queens are laying

 

[xhexdx]

Have you got species names for them? That 'crazy ant' sounds like it would be fun to work with. I'd definitely be interested in a couple queens.

--Joe

 

[daytona1911]

Carpenter ant ( florida carpenter ant ) "Camponotus floridanus" is the biggest by far and the easiest to see and find . the queens all do the mating swarm this spring . easy to find . the other three , not so much unless you know where to look and what time of year , usually after the dry winter season and a good long , warm rain will bring out elates of all types. Crazy ant "formica longicornis", Ghost ant "tapinoma melanocephalum", and Pharoah ant "Monomorium pharaonis " are all much smaller and harder to see without straining , but can be seen if studied up close or with magnification . I liked them because you can use the cheezy ant colony uncle milty's stuff . let me know if you want to trade slings for ants!!! lol. If you want , when I come across some I can send you a starter colony w queens when they swarm.

 

[myrmecophile]

Alates and Paratrechina, not Formica longicornis.

 

[daytona1911]

thanks , it was late , I was tired .

 

[koolkid98]

Got a new queen of lasius neoniger i'm going to keep her too.

 

[tigeri69]

im in desperate need of a queen for my massive ant farm my grandfather made me at a plexi-glass factory--its 3ft long by 2ft high--very cool but i want a colony with a queen---can any1 possibly send me 1 or sell me 1 or direct me in the direction of someone who ca??--thank u 4 any time and help u can provide

 

[koolkid98]

I have a new colony of m.rubra about 1 queen and 3 workers and a ton of brood.

 

[syndicate]

im in desperate need of a queen for my massive ant farm my grandfather made me at a plexi-glass factory--its 3ft long by 2ft high--very cool but i want a colony with a queen---can any1 possibly send me 1 or sell me 1 or direct me in the direction of someone who ca??--thank u 4 any time and help u can provide

Sending queens thru the male is very illegal!
Just find a local forest in your area and search under rocks and look for colonies.