KiamCameron: Messor barbarus (4. Mär 2008 19:35)

Hi All I have got a colony of Messor barbarus 5 workers and queen and I was wondering that people with experience with these ants could tell me if they like bird seeds as i have put some in and I dont know if there getting eaten :/ So can you tell me guys ;)

Antlord: (4. Mär 2008 19:45)

I bought myself a pack of small bird seeds and I can guarantee that they eat them.

KiamCameron: (4. Mär 2008 19:51)

Great thanks :)

Messorus: (4. Mär 2008 19:56)

Hm.. these ants are really interesting, because they have 4 worker castes- smallest caste- minor, medium caste, majors and submajors. The queen is about 14-15mm long, submajor is about 1cm. Like each Messor specie, these ants don´t like shaking and especially queen is sensitive for it! Bird seeds are good choice, they will like them ;) I have very good experience with them, not big but I never had any problems, but don´t forget that they really don´t like shaking :P And good luck with them!
and... they chew seeds and I saw, like they chew ,,ant bread" from it. It is somethink like small ,,ball" from chewed seeds, and usually about 3 and more workers chewing it together, by my observing....

KiamCameron: (4. Mär 2008 23:32)

Also when i open my cuboard as there in there and the light i think gets in there the queen and workers go mad... I dont think sometimes light gets in there do they hate noises or something cuz sometimes i make noise:/

ducatiman: (5. Mär 2008 18:05)

they like it dark, warm and well silent really,only check them once a week when the colony is small cause the stress out alot,when the colony gets bigger, maybe in the summer you will be able to observe them more and more,what temp do you keep them at

KiamCameron: (5. Mär 2008 22:21)

I think my house is at 26 degrees I check on them everyday ususally... Ill check on them once every 2 days from when I feed them a locust every 2 days and 1 or 2 seeds ;)

thomie: (6. Mär 2008 00:29)

I check my Messor Barbarus 1/2x a week because of the stress, the queen hasn't lied eggs atm (temperature is ±20oC and i'm gonna heat her soon).

SteveUK28: (6. Mär 2008 10:38)

well i have 2 queens both around the same temp around 26-28 degrees one has layed loads of eggs and i now have a fair larva aswell and the other who ive had longer still only has just a few eggs... so tbh i think it depends on the queen.

JimmyVe: (6. Mär 2008 17:41)

It depends on lot of thing, Temperature, humidity, how strong the queen is, time she was fertilized....