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Solenopsis invicta , the ant everyone loves to hate...
I'm in the process of setting up a formicarium for these ants and I'm curious to see if anyone has done this before. Any information from people who have kept these ants before would be very welcome!
Its hard to find specific information concering the ants moisture requirements and prefered building materials; the sources Ive found are a bit too vague and somewhat disagree with eachother.
And yes, I'm aware of the dangers involved :).
@ant dude
... yes you are young and you still have much to learn... :wink: Nevertheless, I'm sure you've heard of fire ants before.
@CapitalO
This ant is not common in Europe - I hope - so I doubt that anybody around here has experience with this specie. If you really want to keep them at home and make them feel good then obsereve and study in what kind of habitats do they live in nature and try to copy that in your formicarium.
good luck
oh sorry i forgot the technical name 4 them for a second or 2, now i seem well-dum! the only thing i know bout this species is what all the dangers it cause's to wildlife and other human inhabertents,sorry again :hang:
r u sure u really want to keep these species? well i advise that u dont (friendly advice) . why not keep some other ants that r in your area, im sure they r much safer/better/more intresting to keep(maybe?) i just hope there is for u :)
ant dude - I appreciate your concern :), unfortunatly it's quite difficult to find other ant spp. in my area. The S. invicta are virtually ubiquitous and are likely responsible for the lack of other ant spp.. I'm hoping to find a Florida harvester ant queen in the summer; that would be my top pick of native ant species.
mpir - I think I have a reasonable understanding of their prefered habit from observation, as you said. I know there are a few other yanks that use these forums, so I was hoping I could find someone who has kept S. invicta and could help clarify the ideal conditions for captivity.
Also, I'm going to take several measures to keep the colony contained. Fortunatly, they are very bad at climbing smooth surfaces compared to many other ant species, which will be really helpful in containing them. But, just in case of an escape, I'm going to be keeping this colony outside in a screened in porch when they start to develop into a larger colony.
sounds good, you really seem to already posses a little of whats needed for them, regarding the colonies future growth and housing them securley
Thanks darradar. My biggest concern is being able to accommodate a mature colony; Ive read that a single queen can lay up to 1,500 eggs a day and colonies can be as large as 240,000 workers. Obviously I'm not going to be able to manage anything that size.
Is there any way to limit the growth of a colony without sacrificing the colonies health? Possibly by limiting the size of the nesting area?
limiting the size of the nesting area i don't think would make much difference i have heard of cases where a lasius niger colony got to large for a fish tank moved out of this guys shed and into his garden :o
and i don't really know any way of preventing extra large colonies
Sithmaster676
you can limit the protien intake of the colony, but fire ants have exponential growth, and I very much doubt this will have any real impact on the colony without killing it
theyr colonys do grow very very large, very very quickly
blimey, i must say CapitalO, your a very brave man indeed to take this species on, i am quite sure i wouldnt have the courage to even try......
"good luck man"
I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone, which will keep these (pest)ants. [-X