Rearing ant colonies with queens, my other hobby! (Large Pics!)

[Egg Rookie 2010]

Do they ever escape?!? Once it warms up here my house looks like an ant Mardi Gras party EVERY morning....and throughout the day. I cant leave anything with a single crumb out or there are thousands of them. They even get in the dishwasher (after it has run even) They are all over the property and some really bite. My 2 yr old was playing outside and all of a sudden began to shriek...a couple hundred had crawled up his legs into his pants, diaper, shirt....thanks God not his head. Terrible bites. Even the exterminator cant get rid of them. I know we need these critters but I cant bring myself to feel friendly towards them.

 

[BBK]

I own a toy store and we have ANTWORKS from Fascination.

these are the gel type containers that NASA use in one of their flights in outter space...

They(company?? can't remember the name) send the harvester ants, you pay a S/H fee of 3.75. They you get 25 ants all females or males(can't remember) in a vile.

You open up the gel container and add your ants, in 24hrs. they start to tunnel. The food and water supply is in the gel...

They only last about 3 months give or take...

But they were very cool to watch and the made some very cool tunnels.

Towards the end of the ant cycle, my son used to open up the top and blow into it...they used to scurry all over the place.

if you want more info, I'm going to the toy store at noon today, I have them there and can get you more info. I'll open a box to read the instruction.
VERY COOL PICS and interesting....kinda creepy too...
Melinda

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Quote:
Yeah, some species of ants are big pests. Ironically, most of these were transported by us, few native species cause harm to humans. (Exception is Camponotus pennslyvanicus, the big black carpenter ant)

I own a toy store and we have ANTWORKS from Fascination.

these are the gel type containers that NASA use in one of their flights in outter space...

They(company?? can't remember the name) send the harvester ants, you pay a S/H fee of 3.75. They you get 25 ants all females or males(can't remember) in a vile.

You open up the gel container and add your ants, in 24hrs. they start to tunnel. The food and water supply is in the gel...

They only last about 3 months give or take...

But they were very cool to watch and the made some very cool tunnels.

Towards the end of the ant cycle, my son used to open up the top and blow into it...they used to scurry all over the place.

if you want more info, I'm going to the toy store at noon today, I have them there and can get you more info. I'll open a box to read the instruction.
VERY COOL PICS and interesting....kinda creepy too...
Melinda

I wouldn't be into ants without these types of ant farms. Uncle milton played a big part, but sadly he died several weeks ago at the ripe age of 97. I've owned several of these antworks antfarms, and with the lights, they make really interesting setups. The ants you get are females, males exist only to mate, have wings, and play no part in nest construction. Despite being good obseveration chambers for harvester ants, these make horrible setups for colonies. Smaller ants have a higher chance of getting stuck, brood drowns easily, and because larvae need protein (Insects), the medium molds very easily.

On another note, I captured a semi-mature colony of Pheidole flavens. Very small species. (Worker: 2 mms, Majors: 3 mms Queen: 4 mms) Better than nothing!​

 

[RThomas]

That's pretty neat. I did the same thing when I was a kid. I'd partially fill up a jar with dirt. Then, I'd catch my ants and put them in the jar. At that time, I'd get my ants just by digging them out of the ground. I was fascinated at their tunneling systems and how quickly they would construct them.

I haven't done that in many years, and never thought about doing it as an adult. My other insect interest was bees, and I've wanted to start with bees for some time now.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Have been catching tons of queens lately.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Yay! Carpenter ant queens!

 

[theron]

what do you house your ants in then? I would like to get started with ants. Where can you order supplies? Thanks

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Quote:
For new queens and small colonies, I typically house them in test tube setups. It simply requires some glass (Or plastic, glass doesn't scratch and dirty as easy though) test tubes, cotton balls, and clean water.

Here's a crude diagram - ( water /cotton/ space to house colony/cotton/

This will last as long as the water supply doesn't dry out, but by then a colony should be big enough to move into a bigger nest. I typically make the main nests out of plaster of paris. Watch this video, which comes in two parts, and you will get the idea of how to make these kinds of nests. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKv2BoFvKTU

I order my test tubes off ebay, what ever is the cheapest. I typically go for glass for viewing purposes. I try to aim around 10 x 100 mm for the standard small to medium sized ants, and 15 x 130 mm for large ants like carpenters. These sizes can vary between species and how large a colony is. Ask any questions if you wish, I've been doing this for 4 years!

 

[sara hosseini]

dear boy

I am PhD student and i want to rear Lasius niger ant colony. what is your idea about protein source of it?