Pogonomyrmex barbatus (Red harvester ants)

[yen_saw]

Some pics of my P. barbatus colonies in ant house.

Dump site for the ants.....makes it easy for me to clean.

A smaller colony with red transparent sheet to keep them in 'dark'.

 

[Mime454]

That's a really cool set up! Did you make it yourself?

 

[yen_saw]

That's a really cool set up! Did you make it yourself?

Thanks. No i'm not that good Mime. :blush: Bought it cheap though.

 

[aNisip]

Hey yen whered u get this? And I'm assuming I should put mine in something like this?

-Andrew

 

[yen_saw]

Hey yen whered u get this? And I'm assuming I should put mine in something like this?

-Andrew

My friend from Hong Kong, although the ant houses are made in China. The P barbatus do well even in a plastic container so as long as you have something to keep them from escaping that will do, but with water supply too.

 

[aNisip]

Alright then, sounds pretty capable...

 

[Montana]

That's awesome! What do you feed them? And it looks like you have a queen too (larvae and pupae)?

 

[Precarious]

So cool! Makes me want to keep ants.

 

[Mime454]

So cool! Makes me want to keep ants.

I want to keep ants too! Wish there was a forum that sold queens. I've probably spent 50 hours looking for queens in the ground or in flight. Never found anything though,

 

[Precarious]

I want to keep ants too! Wish there was a forum that sold queens. I've probably spent 50 hours looking for queens in the ground or in flight. Never found anything though,

If I could get my hands on cages like these it would be worth it. I see queens every spring. Always come across them at some point.

 

[Mime454]

If I could get my hands on cages like these it would be worth it. I see queens every spring. Always come across them at some point.

I've seen them for sale for $30-50. You can also make them yourself. I made one. You make the tunnels in play dough and then lay them out and pour cement(it's actually a crafty thing that is totally white, you mix it up and it gets really warm, but I can't think of the name of it ) over it. Then you wait until it dries and scoop out the play dough and you have the tunnels.

 

[Montana]

I've seen them for sale for $30-50. You can also make them yourself. I made one. You make the tunnels in play dough and then lay them out and pour cement(it's actually a crafty thing that is totally white, you mix it up and it gets really warm, but I can't think of the name of it ) over it. Then you wait until it dries and scoop out the play dough and you have the tunnels.

Sounds like Plaster of Paris?

It'd be awesome to get a hold of a queen and build a colony in the ant-gel habitats that have become somewhat more common. There's a website where you can buy the powder to mix and pour your own gel habitat for the ants.

 

[Mime454]

Sounds like Plaster of Paris?

It'd be awesome to get a hold of a queen and build a colony in the ant-gel habitats that have become somewhat more common. There's a website where you can buy the powder to mix and pour your own gel habitat for the ants.

Yep, that's the name!

I hear that the ants don't actually like to live in the gel. NASA designed it as an experiment to see if they could live in zero gravity, they can, but it obviously isn't ideal.

Also, I bought some of the powder on eBay(like I said, I've kept a lot of queen less colonies), and it is about 85% opaque, you can barely see through it. Ants don't like it as much as the ant works.

 

[agent A]

I want to keep ants too! Wish there was a forum that sold queens. I've probably spent 50 hours looking for queens in the ground or in flight. Never found anything though,

i found a queen once but she never laid and eventually died

 

[Malakyoma]

I swear if you guys start making me want to keep ants too... My mom would kick me out of the house lol

 

[aNisip]

You should feed harvester ants a mix of seeds and grains and dead or dying insects....they are predominately scavengers...

 

[brancsikia339]

really cool!!!!!

 

[ismart]

Those antfarms are made of hydrostone. I have a few myself. They absorb water. Very neat stuff. Yen your havester colony looks great!

 

[Danny.]

Yen, we have big red ants like that here. Not sure what Ant species but they're big, mean and pack a bite! I'll collect some, maybe you can ID them.