hypervelocity: Temnothorax nylanderi (6. Jun 2007 13:49)

Hi all,

I was wondering how to look after a colony of Temnothorax nylanderi.

Do they need to be in a basin or can a ytong nest do?

What kind of things do they eat? Do they forage like Lasius niger?

Does the nest need to be dampened?

What tempriture should the nest be kept at?

if anyone could awnser these question i would be very gratfull.

Fabian: (6. Jun 2007 18:07)

Do they need to be in a basin or can a ytong nest do?

You have to put them in a basin, keeping them in a ytong may be possible, but the colony and the ants themselves are very small, so you better keep them in a piece of wood (like they life in in nature).

What kind of things do they eat? Do they forage like Lasius niger?

They eat small insects, but you have to cut them in pieces. Futhermore they eat honeywater or sugarwater as Lasius niger too.

No, they dont, i got a colony and often you see no ant 1 or 2 days, another day you may see 3 or 5, but they dont move as much as Lasius niger eg.

Does the nest need to be dampened?

I dont do this, they are living in a piece of wood and i just keep the clay around humid, i also put a small tube in it, with water and cotton wool.

What tempriture should the nest be kept at?

They should be kept like in nature, you can keep them on your balcony or outside, they need the temperature fluctuation! But be careful, dont put them in the sun and prevent that it rains in the basin.

hypervelocity: (6. Jun 2007 20:19)

Hi all,

Thanks Fabian, this helps me alot.

JimmyVe: (7. Jun 2007 21:12)

;) i think you have al your answers here. do you already have them ?
The colony is in deed very small (only up to 200 workers, most of the time) and the ants themselves are small to, so the farm don't need to be that big.

hypervelocity: (19. Jun 2007 14:58)

Hi all,

I have some new questions about Temnothorax Nylanderi:

Do they produce alite ants earlyer than normal because they only have small colonys?

is it easy to breed them?

And if i were keeping them in a y-tong nest would one of the 6 chamber things from antstore be good?

sithmaster676: (19. Jun 2007 16:24)

these ants are very small they, a whole colony can live inside of an acorn which is very small :)
i don't know about the alite ants sorry
Sithmaster676

hypervelocity: (19. Jun 2007 18:49)

Hi all,

Thanks sithmaster676, i would like a bit more infomation than that though, has any one here got a colony of this ant and can awnser some of the questions?

JimmyVe: (19. Jun 2007 21:06)

What you mean by "alite" ants. Majors ? not all species have majors.

I don't keep this species but a similar one and i keep them in this box,
http://www.antstore.net/shop/product_info.php/info/p1201_c-cork-formicarium-20x13x6-cms.html
they have plenty of room in there.

The colony gets only about a 200 workers strong.

The species i have are not so difficult to keep. So i guess these are a bit the same. I keep them dry because they don't like it wet. Room temperature would be okay.

hypervelocity: (19. Jun 2007 21:31)

Hi all,

Jim by alite i mean reproductives (winged ants). And thanks for the info about the cork nest, i have a good idea on what to get them now.

JimmyVe: (19. Jun 2007 21:44)

Oh, okay, now i get it. They produce 'alite' ants when the colony is in full strength. They in deed have small colonies so the chance of producing them earlier than other species exists. ;)
Never experienced it myself with this colony.

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