ANTSTORE World of Ants

[kashmir79]

heya guys

On wednesday i shall be taking delivery of a Pheidole rhea Queen from Arizona. now Pheidole rhea are North Americas Biggest Specie of Pheidole.
the queen is rather big, same size as a Messor Queen I think

Now im wondering does anyone have experience with this specie ?

cheers !!


Ryan

[miszt]

Nice same size as Messor? are you sure? that seems very big for Pheidole, sounds interestin tho, can ya give me a link to where ya got em

Pheidole are much the same depending on where they come from, I would expect them to need the same kind of set up and care as southern european species, except with hotter tempretures, and the possibility of flash floods

Antweb.org might help with some info to get you started

[kashmir79]

i tried antweb not much info on them, just pics of dead ones.

the queen im told is about 12mm so close to a messor queen
and chunky.

theyl need to be hot from march right through to october. as their from arizona, and i have been there and my gosh its hot, it got to 37 degrees at 7am and midday is unbearable, went to 40 degrees.

[miszt]

remeber that sand is a very good insulator, the tempreture will drop 10-20 degrees @ just 10cm below, also at night although its very cold in the desert, the sand holds some heat, so the tempreture will stay very steady, if you keep the nest at a steady 26C, they should do fine

[JimmyVe]

Yes, you don't need to raise the temperature to 37°c. Like miszt said, sand is a good isolator.

12mm, hmmm seems very big...

As you can see on antweb, the majors are about 6mm.
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But you could be right, on this pictures the queen is about 12mm.
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Good luck with them, don't forget the post pictures.

[damondeionno]

Kashmir

I have been looking into this species as well. Some of the stuff I've read online suggests that they forage actively at night (when temperatures would be cooler) so perhaps you don't need to simulate the really high temperatures you experienced in Arizona. As has been pointed out the temperature below the surface of the ground will be much more moderate, so as long as you provide some heating for the nest area, they should be ok.

Personally I love Pheidole and these look like some of the nicest I've seen.

[armyoforigin]

Hey, just wondering if these ants DO need extra heating?

I am a little confused! I have ants from England, Spain and Germany in the same room, at (Roughly) the same temperature, and they all seem to do really well at room temperature!

So would the P. Rhea NEED extra heating?
I am getting a P. Rhea queen (I suspect from the same place as kashmir79 ).
I was planning on keeping her in her test tube until she had a good few workers. No extra heating or anything...

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

[Phasmid]

I wouldn't have thought you need extra heating but it usualy helps growth rate. And since they are from Arizona they might like that much more heat than southan European species. You could always just stick the queen in an airing cupboard till she has workers, then put the colony in a heated setup.

[armyoforigin]

I wouldn't have thought you need extra heating but it usualy helps growth rate. And since they are from Arizona they might like that much more heat than southan European species. You could always just stick the queen in an airing cupboard till she has workers, then put the colony in a heated setup.

I do not have an airing cupboard. =(

But as far as I know they should do okay at room temperature....

[JimmyVe]

They would do fine in room temperature but the brood will develop much slower than it should be. It is always best to try to keep the ants at the same temperature and humidity as where they come from.

[armyoforigin]

They would do fine in room temperature but the brood will develop much slower than it should be. It is always best to try to keep the ants at the same temperature and humidity as where they come from.

Well I am planning on keeping them at room temperature in the classic test tube set up, I assume she will arrive in one, which I will keep her in, and hopefully she will do well, I do not mind a slow brood cycle

They are the biggest species of Pheidole on North America and they have super majors, well as far as my understanding goes.
They are very interesting ants and I am looking forward to getting them =D

P.s if anyone could give me any information on colony size, seeds they will eat (Though I already know that most seed harvesters love grass seeds) and any other information, I would greatly appreciate it as the information seems to be rather hard to find

Thanks!

[Messor cephalotes]

Pheidole rhea queens are 14 - 14,3 mm long ; workers 3 - 4 mm and soldiers up to 10,2 mm (HW : 3,7 mm), I don't know if this species is the largest Pheidole of the world.

[armyoforigin]

Pheidole rhea queens are 14 - 14,3 mm long ; workers 3 - 4 mm and soldiers up to 10,2 mm (HW : 3,7 mm), I don't know if this species is the largest Pheidole of the world.

No I am quite sure that P.rhea are NOT the biggest Pheidole in the world, just in North America

Yes that sounds about right, I think that the minor workers can be up to 3-4mm (Maybe 5)?, the soldiers would be, I assume 6-7mm? And the super majors (Yes they have super majors, and they 'trunk trail' forage) I would assume can go as high as the "10,2 mm".

@ Messor cephalotes: Where did you get your information may I ask? =) Also, what does: (HW : 3,7 mm) mean?

Thanks!

[Phasmid]

HW=head width

[armyoforigin]

HW=head width

Thanks Phasmid =) from what I have seen from some images of supermajors, here: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

They may even have a larger HW.

It is really hard to find information on ant species, in general unfortunately. =(