ANTSTORE World of Ants

[mtrein]

Hi there

I've only just sarted, so please excuse me if this is not a correct place to post.

I would like to believe I am almost finished building my first ant nest, and I am looking for advice on it. Please keep in mind I still could not get hold of a queen, and so I don't know which ants I will be able to put there yet. The picture quality is not that good, please excuse me as I do not own a good camera.

This is the link to the blog I have just created:

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Any comments are highly appreciated. What I am especially looking for is how to offer water and food. I don't think I can put it there as the plaster absorbs water really quickly and it will make the ants very prone to fungal infections. I really don't want that, so I am thinking I will add a second plastic container which is flat and I'll put the food and water there.

What else needs to be added? I have a sylicon gun and lots of transparent hoses. I can also get tupperware of just about any size, so extra living space and expansions can be done without much effort (although I'd prefer to keep it as small as possible at first).

Also I am looking for advice on the size of the chambers and passages. What colonies would be good to put there?

Gosh I hope I can get a queen soon

[Zagone]

Typically, unless you keep a species of ants that don't mind the dryness (Like Messor minor hespirius) you'll want to keep the nest moist anyway. But that's generally for the brood rather than for drinking. A popular way to provide water for your ants is the use of a test-tube or a rubber-tube that you fill up with water and then block up with abit of cotton, just thick enough for the water to absorb through without any actual leaking. But the ants will really drink any droplets of water they run across, assuming they're thirsty.

If I were you I'd keep Messor minor hespirius in it. It's an interesting species, gathers seeds and has both major and minor workers. They don't require hibernation either and their pupae don't make cocoons. Plus in my experience they don't mind dry nests. I kept mine in ytong and they preferred the dry chambers. Probably mainly because the dry chambers are best for keeping the seeds in. If you do get harvester-ants, I'd suggest adding a second basin, they'll likely use it for garbage disposal. If you want you can add a third basin to place their seeds in as well, or if the garbage basin is large enough it can serve both purposes.

[mtrein]

Hi Zagone

Thank you for the tips, I think I will probably add a garbage basin and a food basin

[Zagone]

They litter quite alot. I had a pretty large one for my 400 worker strong colony of Messor minor hespirius, and it got pretty full in a month.

[mtrein]

Hi all

A friend sent me a queen and two workers of Camponotus ligniperda. It arrived much earlier than I had anticipated (yesterday evening) and so I have rushed to finish the ant nest, then opened the tube and put her in there. You can see what I did and pictures in my blog at Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

Now I have quite a few questions.

1. She still has not left the tube. Is this normal?
2. Both workers went to inspect the opening right after I opened the tube, and one of the workers touched the plaster floor with an antennae and got kind of scared - it ran back towards the queen and the other worker at the back of the test tube and kind of made them "jumpy" too. What could have happened?
3. Is it possible that the plaster is toxic to them? It is CaSO4 ½ H2O.
4. I put water and some food for them in the foraging pot, is it too far or would I have to put the water closer at first?
5. From what I have been told and read, Camponotus ligniperda usually hybernates in Europe in one or two weeks until early february, more or less (winter in the northern hemisphere). Since I live in Brazil and I am in the south hemisphere, it would be summer here with temperatures of about 30ºC. Will they still need to hybernate?
6. If so, can I put them in my fridge where the temperature is of about 5ºC?
7. What would happen if I left them at room temperature during this hybernation period?
8. I currently have not made holes to air the nest. I am afraid a very small kind of ant will get in through those holes and eat them (we call them ghost ants - Tapinoma melanocephalum, they measure about 1 mm and are very common in the summer). Any ideas on how to manage this?
9. I think the passageways will be a tight fit for the queen, should I widen them up a bit? Also, are the chamber sizes big enough?

Thank you all for your help.

[bugsy]

Such a small colony will rarely leave the nest, when they do it will be for very short periods, so thats normal. When they want food and water they will find it. Hibernation isn't essential but if its not done then the life span of the queen will be reduced. Also I believe its the larvae that decide hibernation, one day they will just stop feeding regardless of the heat. Mine do it every year despite been kept at a constant temperature with a heat source. When they do i know its time to switch the heat off and bed them down until Spring. They are also known as sugar ants so a source of sugar water and honey water is essential, honey provides more nutrients. Camponotus ligniperdus are a large European ant and will defend their nest so i doubt it will be a problem unless they get completely overrun. Come January I'd be out collecting as many Atta queens as I could possibly find if I lived in Brazil

[mtrein]

Hi Bugsy, thanks a lot for your tips, I'll keep them in mind.

[mtrein]

Oh, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for Atta and Acromyrmex too in december, january and feb

[Zagone]

5C is much too low to hibernate them in! I don't think you wanna go below 10C.

[mtrein]

Well I'm thinking I won't hybernate them at all. Any thoughts on that (question 7)?

[Zagone]

They will probably grow more idle during winter anyway. And the only suspected effect could be that they won't live aslong without hibernation as they would otherwise, but we're still talking a couple of years if tended to properly.