Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
Powered by phpBB Social Network © phpBB SN Group
Deutsche Übersetzung durch phpBB.de
Time : 0.050s | 43 Queries | GZIP : On
Update:-
Great news today! There are two ants in the arena out foraging - first time I've seen activity since disturbing them.
They have found the fat fly I put in there and are busy cutting it up.
Major relief!
;) Nice to hear that Codus. Good luck.
Ok, another question...
Now that they seem to have recovered from having their nest ripped apart by an impatient keeper (i.e. me!), they are out foraging daily.
Since yesterday I've dropped in two small flies, a greenfly, a hapless beetle that happened to land on my patio table whilst I was sitting at it and a small moth that I caught last night, they've taken ALL of them into the nest.
On last count, there were just the Queen and 4 workers, with a clutch of eggs (unable to see into the nesting chamber any more as they've completely covered it up).
Should I keep dropping flies in there daily or is there a risk they will rot inside the nest?
I ask because I've read other posts that recommend feeding a much larger colony only once or twice a week.
This was definitely more than enough for such a small colony, they will eat it a few weeks. But don't worry, if the meat is too rotten, ants usually take it out. But there is a little risk it will get mouldy. When my L. niger colony was so small, I gave them the new insect when I saw the remnants of the previous one taken out.
Wierd my lasius niger never take their food back home but fill themselves up and then feed thier sisters and queen when their back in their nest, but saves me to worry about mould :D
But like tail said ants usually remove any food they dont need or is going off, just dont worry to much :D
Yes, they always drag the insects back to the nest. Although as I understand it, the workers don't actually eat the insects - they're taking these to feed to the larvae, so this makes sense.
I also put honey-water out for them, which they eat and fill their crop to feed to their fellow workers.
I've stopped putting insects in the tank for now, the last one (the moth) was slightly too large and they couldn't drag it inside the nest entrance and have sort of left it half-in, half-out. (It's a sand/loam set-up).
Update on this colony:-
They've been pretty active through the summer, despite the set-back of having their original nest destroyed by me! I recently dropped in a freshly killed wasp which started a lot of activity and had 7 workers running all over the corpse - which means they've doubled their numbers since I transferred them over.
They're eating at a very healthy rate, and will drag any insects I drop into their tank almost immediately to their nest. They still seem to prefer taking the dead flies into the nest rather than feeding off them in the foraging area.
There's also a lot of evidence of nest expansion, with the entrance surrounded by a mound of sand/loam.
I'm determined to not make the same mistake as last year and have already cleared a shelf in the shed ready for hibernation. I seem to remember reading somewhere that you have to wrap the tank up in something to prevent them freezing - can anyone clarify?
Codus
These species grow very fast so they will be back on track soon. :)
Most species drag the food back into the nest area, only when it is to big or to heavy they will eat from it in the out world.
You don't need to wrap the thank as long as it doesn't freeze inside the shed. Best temperature to keep the farm in is between 1-10°c.
COLONY UPDATE....
In October last year, I wrapped up the tank in an old towel and put it in the shed. I brought them back into my office earlier this month and I'm very pleased to report that they are doing very well.
Within a day of being indoors, there were foragers out. I dropped a live Chafer Grub in the tank (found while weeding the garden) and it was rapidly covered with at least 25 workers! Not bad to say this colony started from a single Queen and seems to have survived having me destroying their first nest!
They're expanding their nest all the time and there are always at least 4 ants out foraging. This would now be their 3rd year since I ordered the queen from Antstore.
Now I'm toying with the idea of starting a second colony...
With a differnt spec.. if so i could hook you up with a Myrmica rubra colony ;) send me a PM if your interested.