# Ant farm



## yen_saw (Oct 19, 2011)

My little ant farm, a new interest I share with my son. Ant is _Componatus sp._







Queen with worker ants in one of the chambers






Ant has amazing social network. Didn't take the ant to establish in the new 'home'.


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## ShieldMantid1997 (Oct 19, 2011)

Thats pretty cool, did you make it yourself?


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## yen_saw (Oct 19, 2011)

ShieldMantid1997 said:


> Thats pretty cool, did you make it yourself?


I wished I could make it myself. I bought it from a friend in HOng Kong who ordered them from China. The ant housing cost me less than $20, also and came with tweezer, insect barrier, connecting tube, and pipette.I can only 'build' something simple... like the housing for this elongated twig ant (_Pseudomyrmex gracilis_).






The larger ant with 'thicker' thorax and swollen abdomen is the queen.


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## ismart (Oct 19, 2011)

Wow! Nice colonies you have going Yen. If possible in the future if you should order anymore of those ant farms from China. Please keep me in mind! They are awesome!


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## rs4guy (Oct 20, 2011)

Thats an awesome ant farm. I want to do something similar to that, but in a larger scale, with a leaf cutting species. I like the 2 chamber approach, very similar to what I had in mind. Thanks for sharing!


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## yen_saw (Oct 20, 2011)

ismart said:


> Wow! Nice colonies you have going Yen. If possible in the future if you should order anymore of those ant farms from China. Please keep me in mind! They are awesome!


Thanks Paul. Sure i am going to order more ant housing. I didn't do the conversion rate correctly the first time. The housing in the picture cost me only about $11. Which is not encouraging for me to build my own. I will let you know more on the email. They are many different type of ant farm available. I am going to use the large version for the harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus).


rs4guy said:


> Thats an awesome ant farm. I want to do something similar to that, but in a larger scale, with a leaf cutting species. I like the 2 chamber approach, very similar to what I had in mind. Thanks for sharing!


Thanks. yes a big empty chamber will be needed for leaf cutter ant. The Texas leaf cutter ant here builds huge fungus dome and grow very fast too. Good luck on your ant 'project'.


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## rs4guy (Oct 20, 2011)

Any info on obtaining a queen? I was thinking a double pane "window" approach, with a leaf chamber, and a couple plexi tubes going to and from.


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## yen_saw (Oct 20, 2011)

rs4guy said:


> Any info on obtaining a queen? I was thinking a double pane "window" approach, with a leaf chamber, and a couple plexi tubes going to and from.


The only way that I know to obtain a queen is collecting the mated queen right after nuptial flight. Nuptial flight for Atta texana is usually during May. So I won't be able to find any fresh queen until next year. Leaf cutter ant nest needs a rather elaborated set up, and queens suffer very high mortality rate, but once the colony has workers it will be much easier, as long as there is enough space for the colony to grow and sufficient variety of plant source the colony will thrive. Getting the ant to settle on the fungus location could also be tricky, as I have seen them storing fungus in tubing instead of the viewing dome specifically build for that purpose. Following are some pics showing A. texana forming a colony before I gave it away


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## rs4guy (Oct 21, 2011)

Amazing! Perhaps in May I'll be ready to take on the project. Maybe we can work out an arrangement to have a few queens sent my way. Let me know! TIA


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## agent A (Oct 24, 2011)

yen, can't you just take a container and fill it with sand and let the queen build a nest in that? just curious


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## Hypoponera (Oct 24, 2011)

Yes you can use dirt for the nest. Most native ants will happily dig right in. But keep in mind that ants generally don't like having light in the colony chambers. So they will try to build rooms away from the side of the container. Unless your set-up is too thin for the ants to hide, they will. Then you won't see the queen, brood, or cool behaviors. Artificial nests like those allow you to keep the colony visible.


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## Hypoponera (Oct 24, 2011)

Hey Yen,

Great looking nests. Glad to see we finally corrupted you with ants!!


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## PeterF (Oct 24, 2011)

This is gorgeous, and I am jealous.

Yen, to verify, is that light brown filler in the large container solid? The tunnels and rooms are pre formed?


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## yen_saw (Nov 14, 2011)

agent A said:


> yen, can't you just take a container and fill it with sand and let the queen build a nest in that? just curious


Well besides the reason Hypoponera stated. The ant tunnels collapse easily using sand.


Hypoponera said:


> Hey Yen,
> 
> Great looking nests. Glad to see we finally corrupted you with ants!!


Yeah Chris and Paul are both :devil: too, but you're the real devil :devil: :devil: :devil: . i have to admit it has been nothing but fun observing the formation of an ant colony from single queen ant. The highly social network in ant species always amazed me. Thanks for all your help, you are always there whenever i need :helpsmilie:


Peter J F said:


> This is gorgeous, and I am jealous.
> 
> Yen, to verify, is that light brown filler in the large container solid? The tunnels and rooms are pre formed?


Yes it is solid, the tunnel/rooms are preformed as you thought. Here are a few more ant housings.The large chamber ant housing for species that need it






Here is the flat type ant housing with smaller chambers






and different sizes too






Also some vertical type ant housings
















but the one that i have the most numbers is this ultra small palm size great for housing fresh queen or small colony.


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## rs4guy (Nov 16, 2011)

Yen, where do you purchase thise setups? They look fantastic, for both beginners and vets of the hobby.


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## ismart (Nov 16, 2011)

yen_saw said:


>


Those last two colonies look familiar? :lol:


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## yen_saw (Nov 18, 2011)

rs4guy said:


> Yen, where do you purchase thise setups? They look fantastic, for both beginners and vets of the hobby.


Thanks, i thought the housings are great too! Bought it through a friend from Hong Kong but the housings were built in China (what isn't nowadays!).


ismart said:


> Those last two colonies look familiar? :lol:


 :lol: and they are doing well ^_^ Some of my recent ant pics. I use the red transparent sheet to cover the chamber screen, and the ants are a lot calmer.
















Pseudomyrmex gracilis love cricket and honey water











But they also chase down fruit flies (D. hydei)


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## Sparky (Nov 18, 2011)

Nice, I might have to buy some setups from China then. The ones here sell from $35-$80 for those simple setup. I had S. invicta fire ant species when I was in TX.. But I had to let them out because I was moving. That place was already infested with fire ants anyways so...

Had them in a CD case setup, but that's as far as I went. Didn't get to get them into a larger setup  





I'm going back there in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I can start another colony soon. There's a lot of crematogasters where I'm going to live.

Fire ants multiply way faster than a lot of other ants I know. Within a month and a few weeks my S. invicta colony had 17 workers while my crematogaster only had 2.


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## [email protected] (Nov 18, 2011)

THAT IS THE COOLEST ANT FARM I HAVE EVER SEEN!


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## Sparky (Nov 18, 2011)

Leeann said:


> THAT IS THE COOLEST ANT FARM I HAVE EVER SEEN!


Thanks

Haha no just kidding just kidding :shifty:


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## yen_saw (Nov 19, 2011)

Another cool species from Texas, _Pseudomyrmex pallidus_.

_P. pallidus _queen ant.







Group of _P. pallidus _feeding on cricket piece.






Both queens can be seen feeding on cricket. Multiple queen can be found in a same colony. Inbreeding appear to be common too which is uncommon for ant.


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## ismart (Nov 19, 2011)

Those guys are awesome looking!


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## rs4guy (Nov 22, 2011)

Yen, any info on where to purchase those setups? I've been looking with no avail. TY sir.


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## yen_saw (Nov 22, 2011)

rs4guy said:


> Yen, any info on where to purchase those setups? I've been looking with no avail. TY sir.


Have fun with the translation!http://senlinmayi.taobao.com/?search=y&amp;scid=299441629&amp;scname=wuzSz7Hwyvs%3D&amp;checkedRange=true&amp;queryType=cat&amp;spm=1100036269874.0000000343658378.000000065153503109.30


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## rs4guy (Nov 23, 2011)

Ha ha. This could take awhile! Thanks though.


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## Idolofreak (Nov 25, 2011)

Cool. I love the scale size of the queens compared to the workers.


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## HoldThePickle (Dec 13, 2011)

It's nice to see some other ant keepers. Here is a few of my C. pennsylvanicus colony. I made the ant farm out of 1/4" acrylic and 1/2" acrylic square rod:






Here's the queen with her first set of workers:






And the farm after they colony "made it their own"(don't mind my dusty light fixture):


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## Hypoponera (Dec 13, 2011)

Very nice set-up! While I build mine with hydro-stone, I still prefer the more... "natural" dirt set-ups. Did you microwave the soil before putting it in? Also, using distilled water for hydration will slow the appearance of algea. Neither will stop it though.

PA has some cool ant species. Lots of arbolial species if you have the patience to find them. I love the tiny "acorn ants". The genus has changed, but they used to be in the genus _Leptothorax_. We don't have nearly as much woodland out here in the desert.


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## HoldThePickle (Dec 13, 2011)

Thanks! I didn't microwave anything really. I used coconut bedding (bed-a-beast) and a bit of sand by exoterra. It's probably not the best soil for most ants, but I went with a high wood content hoping they'd feel a bit more at home. My next colony will be set up with a pre-form plaster or grout set up though. It's a lot easier and I think you can display the ants better that way.

I'm looking forward to the nuptial flights this spring. I need to start a whole new colony as the queen picture above recently died (like two days ago). It as my own fault. I moved the farm and put it on top of my large terrarium in my living room. I didn't realize how much heat was coming off the tank though, and I must have cooked her, or she was drowned by the condensation the heat created. It's a huge bummer, but.... onward and upward I suppose! :- /


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## Hypoponera (Dec 14, 2011)

Let me know what species you find this spring! Our swarms usually occure in late July to mid-August. Just depends when the monsoons decide to hit.

What are the more commonly found species in your area?


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## crucis (Dec 14, 2011)

Hi everyone, I highly recommend Pheidologeton diversus ('Marauder Ant') if you are interested in size dimorphism and carnivorous raiding. Keeping them will be a large project, though.

I have never tried to keep them, but they are native to my country.

Video courtesy of UneXisted on youtube.


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## yen_saw (Dec 15, 2011)

HoldThePickle said:


> And the farm after they colony "made it their own"(don't mind my dusty light fixture):


Very nice! I am a terrible craftsman, ants always find a way to escape from something i built :blush:


crucis said:


> Hi everyone, I highly recommend Pheidologeton diversus ('Marauder Ant') if you are interested in size dimorphism and carnivorous raiding. Keeping them will be a large project, though.


I have never heard of that species. I hope to visit Malaysia next year and I will certainly be paying more attention on ants. Thanks for sharing.


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## Hypoponera (Dec 15, 2011)

_P. diversus _is a great species and would be cool to keep. Lots of amazing behaviours to watch. But you would need a HUUUUUGE set-up for them. We're talking a room sized set-up. Definately not a species you will be able to keep in a small plaster nest.

Yen, bring back lots of ants for me. Dead of course! Can you take liquid alcohol on aircraft these days? Been many years since I last flew!


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## yen_saw (Dec 15, 2011)

Don't think carrying alcohol liquid to the plane is possible now. Check in luggage is ok i think. It would be interesting to see fight between two colonies. I have only seen it once when i was a kid in Malaysia.


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## yen_saw (Feb 3, 2012)

_Harpegnathos venator_ colony, interesting species. Doing well but mites appear to be a problem for them.

A colony feeding on cricket.






Larvae is feeding on a mismolt _H. majuscula _nymph.


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## ismart (Feb 4, 2012)

Wow! Your colony is doing quite nice! I have been recycling miss molted mantids the same way.


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## yen_saw (Feb 4, 2012)

ismart said:


> Wow! Your colony is doing quite nice! I have been recycling miss molted mantids the same way.


Thanks Paul. How's your colony doing? I lost a colony because of mites problem, they cover up the entire ants body, even the eyes, really nasty! Thankfully few other colonies are doing alright, and some have even developed winged queens


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## ismart (Feb 5, 2012)

They are doing kinda good. Well i was going to ask you if you use any substrate for them? I seem to be having a problem with the larvae. They grow, and eat nicely. But when it is finally time to pupate. They start to produce silk and wrap them selves up, but half way through they just drop dead! I'm trying to figure out what could cause this? After i read this post i was checking for mites, but i don't see any.


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## sporeworld (Feb 5, 2012)

Wow! So many amazing things happening at once. Love to be a fly on YOUR wall. Wait, no - I take it back. I'll just enjoy the pix!


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## yen_saw (Feb 6, 2012)

ismart said:


> They are doing kinda good. Well i was going to ask you if you use any substrate for them? I seem to be having a problem with the larvae. They grow, and eat nicely. But when it is finally time to pupate. They start to produce silk and wrap them selves up, but half way through they just drop dead! I'm trying to figure out what could cause this? After i read this post i was checking for mites, but i don't see any.


Try to increase the humidity by adding 5-10 ml of water everyday into the hydrostone, the larvae could dry up easily while turning into pupa. Also, leave small shredded pieces of papers or leaves the worker ants sometimes use it to wrap up the cacoon for protection.


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## ismart (Feb 6, 2012)

Thanks for the info Yen!

Here are a few crappy pics i took a few weeks ago.


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## yen_saw (Feb 6, 2012)

Hey you're welcome Paul. It is difficult to take pic of the ants because of the glare from glass top. That's not crappy pics at all. Do you use red plastic sheet on the glass top too?


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## ismart (Feb 6, 2012)

No, I actually use a Dragon ball Z figuerine still in the box to cover the nest portion of the ant farm. :lol: I'll take a pic of it later.


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## yen_saw (Feb 6, 2012)

ismart said:


> No, I actually use a Dragon ball Z figuerine still in the box to cover the nest portion of the ant farm. :lol: I'll take a pic of it later.


 :lol: looking forward to see that! I have to remove the glass top to take photo because of the red plastic sheet makes it difficult to see what's inside.


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## Myrmecologist2 (Mar 27, 2012)

You guys smuggled those Harpegnathos into the US?


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## yen_saw (Apr 3, 2012)

First male in the colony






My new ant house, come with temp/humidity reader ^_^


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## Myrmecologist2 (Apr 3, 2012)

Myrmecologist2 said:


> You guys smuggled those Harpegnathos into the US?


???


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## Sparky (Apr 7, 2012)

I'm also wondering where the _Harpegnathos_ came from.


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## crucis (Apr 7, 2012)

wherever they came from, i'm sure the folks here are responsible enough not to let any alates out


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## Sparky (Apr 7, 2012)

crucis said:


> wherever they came from, i'm sure the folks here are responsible enough not to let any alates out


AHA! It was from you! Just kidding haha. Well I'll be contributing to this thread soon also.


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## Myrmecologist2 (Apr 7, 2012)

crucis said:


> wherever they came from, i'm sure the folks here are responsible enough not to let any alates out


illegal, nonetheless. I can say that I'm quite jealous though, I want Harpegnathos. LOL


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## yen_saw (Apr 7, 2012)

Myrmecologist2 said:


> ???





Sparky said:


> I'm also wondering where the _Harpegnathos_ came from.


Email me if you guys want to know more.Another month, can't wait for Atta texana nuptial flight!


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## Myrmecologist2 (Apr 8, 2012)

yen_saw said:


> Email me if you guys want to know more.
> 
> Another month, can't wait for Atta texana nuptial flight!


PMed you.

You're very lucky to have Atta nearby, I'm sure it's every ant hobbyist's dream ant...one day!

As far as fungus growers, here in Florida we have some, Cyphomyrmex are the most prevelent but are small and inconspicuous, as well as the larger Trachymyrmex septentrionalis which are very common in sandy wooded areas. Both I've kept, neither for very long though. I wish the Trachymyrmex had bigger colonies.


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## yen_saw (Apr 8, 2012)

crucis said:


> wherever they came from, i'm sure the folks here are responsible enough not to let any alates out


Yes Sir!


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## yen_saw (Apr 8, 2012)

Sparky said:


> AHA! It was from you! Just kidding haha. Well I'll be contributing to this thread soon also.


ah ha... beat you into this.Pachycondyla rufipes
















waiting for the colony to move into the chamber.....


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## yen_saw (Apr 8, 2012)

Myrmecologist2 said:


> PMed you.
> 
> You're very lucky to have Atta nearby, I'm sure it's every ant hobbyist's dream ant...one day!
> 
> As far as fungus growers, here in Florida we have some, Cyphomyrmex are the most prevelent but are small and inconspicuous, as well as the larger Trachymyrmex septentrionalis which are very common in sandy wooded areas. Both I've kept, neither for very long though. I wish the Trachymyrmex had bigger colonies.


 PM replied  Well you are in a great place too Florida have lot of wonderful mantis and ants species.

The best that happen to me so far on ants got to be witnessing the Acromantis vesicolor nuptial flight in Arizona


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## brancsikia339 (Apr 8, 2012)

Where'd you get the queens?


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## Sparky (Apr 9, 2012)

Sorry for the quality, I need to buy new rechargable batteries for my camera as my old ones burned out.

Here is a crappy webcam picture of a harvester ant queen with her tiny clutch of eggs between her jaws.


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## Psychobunny (Apr 10, 2012)

Were can you buy a really nice ant farm in the US??

I only see the cheap ones for kids!!


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## Sparky (Apr 10, 2012)

Psychobunny said:


> Were can you buy a really nice ant farm in the US??
> 
> I only see the cheap ones for kids!!


You make them, there are a lot of guides and tutorials online and on youtube.


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## Myrmecologist2 (Apr 10, 2012)

Sparky said:


> Sorry for the quality, I need to buy new rechargable batteries for my camera as my old ones burned out.
> 
> Here is a crappy webcam picture of a harvester ant queen with her tiny clutch of eggs between her jaws.


Nice Messor sp!


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## Psychobunny (Apr 11, 2012)

Sparky said:


> You make them, there are a lot of guides and tutorials online and on youtube.


That's what I thought. Thanks


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## Sparky (Apr 15, 2012)

The harvester ant in the pic is actually a Messor pergandei. Not M. barbarus, those are European. This queen was found in Texas.


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## Sparky (May 8, 2012)

This hobby can be a real drag sometimes... This is the same queen I posted a month ago. Still the same 4 clutch of eggs. No more, no less. No larvae or anything yet.


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## patyczak (May 9, 2012)

In Messor spp. keeping the hardest period is between caught collected and born nantic workers.

From my experience in European species - try give the queen fresh killed fruit flies or grass seeds. Sometimes it gives good results.


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## yen_saw (May 12, 2012)

They are here! _Atta texana _collected from Livingston, Texas on my recent trip.






Some queens already established the first piece of fungus and have eggs laid next to it.


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## Myrmecologist2 (May 12, 2012)

Wow, stunning! (Are some of those queens my future ants?  )


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## Sparky (May 13, 2012)

patyczak said:


> In Messor spp. keeping the hardest period is between caught collected and born nantic workers.
> 
> From my experience in European species - try give the queen fresh killed fruit flies or grass seeds. Sometimes it gives good results.


I gave it a couple grass seeds and it has laid another clutch of eggs. Awesome Atta's btw!!!


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## Sparky (May 13, 2012)

Ok guys so I misplaced my camera again so deal with these webcam photos ha! Solenopsis invicta had their nuptial flight today after a rain last night and my driveway is crawling with queens. I just plucked most of them off my car. I currently have 8. I caught 19 but I let half of them go because S. invicta can get a small colony started within 3 weeks and I don't want to be overwhelmed by them. I have 2 queens in one tube to experiment with their polygamy.

I am still waiting on the Crematogasters and the Pheidoles to start their nuptial flight. I seen them carrying pupae of queens so it shouldn't be too long before they start flying.


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## yen_saw (May 14, 2012)

Myrmecologist2 said:


> Wow, stunning! (Are some of those queens my future ants?  )


We'll see 


Sparky said:


> Ok guys so I misplaced my camera again so deal with these webcam photos ha! Solenopsis invicta had their nuptial flight today after a rain last night and my driveway is crawling with queens. I just plucked most of them off my car. I currently have 8. I caught 19 but I let half of them go because S. invicta can get a small colony started within 3 weeks and I don't want to be overwhelmed by them. I have 2 queens in one tube to experiment with their polygamy.
> 
> I am still waiting on the Crematogasters and the Pheidoles to start their nuptial flight. I seen them carrying pupae of queens so it shouldn't be too long before they start flying.


A fire ant colony can have multiple queens and do well together, I have seen a dozen fire ant queens working together digging a hole. They perform nuptial flight here as early as April and continue to fly through July or even August.Too many fo them killing many other native ant species.All the best in finding Crematogaster and Pheidoles queens.


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## Sparky (May 24, 2012)

They're good. All are laying a nice cluster of eggs, but these 2 queens are just insane.











What I like is that this single queen alone has laid just as much eggs.






I hope Crematogasters and Pheidoles fly soon because I'm getting really tired of S. invicta's. They're the only species I've ever kept. ..


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## yen_saw (May 25, 2012)

Sparky said:


> ......
> 
> I hope Crematogasters and Pheidoles fly soon because I'm getting really tired of S. invicta's. They're the only species I've ever kept. ..


 I thought you have Messor pergandei also?


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## Sparky (May 25, 2012)

Yes, it is my first Messor species, but she leaked a white fluid from her abdomen yesterday and died. My friend found her at the lake in a box and it wasn't their season to fly yet so she probably had a colony of her own already and couldn't make it without them


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