ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Frogger1]

Thanks again for the info It's three weeks today, everything seems to be going fine, they're all still carrying food into the nest, carrying stuff out of the nest. I was going to add they aren't touching the honey water, but i've seen them drink from it today, aswell as that they seem to purposely be putting bits of soil in it, any idea why? Also not sure if I should be worrying, but I seen a worker 'harassing' another worker, also seen a worker latched onto the back of a soldier, when I say latched I mean biting and holding on. What could this be? I've heard about gastors being attacked if the colony is dehydrated but they have been drinking the water, they get a mist every other day so I don't have any idea about this. When this was happening the soldier also didn't seem to care, the soldier just carried on dragging food back to the nest. Any advice once again appreciated!

[MajorSpud]

The insertion of soil into thehoney water is caused by the fact that pd likes to "lick" the dried honey off the soil, and they store it in their nest this way, but use it not very regularly.
The latching of soldiers is quite usual, but I have not been able to source the reason of thisa up to now.

Biting Gastors off is also something which happens from time to time, especially in smaller to medium size colonies. I can only give the advice to keep the whole nest area almost wet, not only moist. Mine seem to be preferring soil which is soaked with water for storing their larvae there.

Best
MajorSpud

[Frogger1]

Thanks again for the advice MajorSpud! I'll make sure to give the nest area a mist every day, it's very hot at the moment so everything is drying out faster. They are still doing everything as usual, they've taken eight small crickets already for today. They've also started a new pathway. Also about the honey water I did wonder why they carried bits of soil back to the nest from there, just I decided to clean it out today, guess I shouldnt've done that as I got rid of the bits of soil from the honey water. Ohwell I know for next time, Thanks again

[Frogger1]

Well there has been alot of activity today, aswell as the new pathway started eariler, the ants have taken eight small crickets and five small roaches today! They've been digging all day, carrying old pieces of food out of the nest and other things.

Another thing i'm hoping I could get advice on, is about mites. There the mites that live in the foraging area eating the old bits of food, I wasn't worried about them at the start but they've grown in numbers to the point where you can see ALOT of them on the surface of the soil. I wouldn't worry if there weren't many of them but how can I lower the numbers? I'm aware of remvoing food more often but are there any other ways?

[Frogger1]

Well today the colony has been very very quiet so not really anything to write about, i'm not sure why. Four more days and I have had them for a month! I'm also desperate for advice on the mite situation! Would Hypoaspis Miles be safe to use with ants? Any advice appreciated!

[MajorSpud]

about the mites I can only say it is a ngihtmare.

i have tried to keep the foraging area absolutely dry, so their dump os not moist, and the mites can not reproduce, but in a soil setup it is almost impossible.
i have used quite drastic methods to get their numbers down:

use a lighter, which is used to enlight gas ovens, to burn en out, sounds odd but the most efficient way to do so.

or, offer the colony a small atached area which is 100% dry, and watch them carry the dump there, the mites also do not like this and will be reduced in umbers quite fast

[Frogger1]

Thanks for the advice! I will try these methods if I need to but i've started putting bits of food in near the foraging area hoping the ants wont find it but the mites will, I done this last night and removed the pieces of food this morning and alot of mites have been removed by doing this. I do know the mites have entered the nest as I saw a soldier with a few of them on its back the other day, will the mites damage the brood in any way? In small numbers? I understand in a setup like mine I wont be able to completely get rid of the mites but i'm sure the numbers have already lowered alot by baiting them with the food. Thanks again

[MajorSpud]

check very closely if the mites only ride the soldier or bite the gaster and feed on him. if they start feeding on the ants, you have to remove the colony from the setup i am afraid, otherwise chances are high it won't survive.

[Frogger1]

Thanks for the advice, i'll put some food in now and see if the soldier will come out, I saw the soldier earlier but forgot to look. Well i've removed alot of mites after baiting them with food there are obviously more still in the setup though.

For now here's a pic, the soldier i'm talking about is the one left of the roach.

[Frogger1]

Here's a pic of a soldier, I removed it so I could get a closer look and put it back with no issues, I think all the ants were too busy concentrating on the food. But these mites on the soldiers gaster are miniscule so I had to use a magnifying glass. I've never had a problem with parasitic mites before so I don't know much about them, but these mites didn't seem to be moving and I think I know what kind of mite that leans towards There is no way I can get a pic of these mites for anyone to confirm but they're the same colour as the other mites, pure white. I couldn't see any of these mites on the mandibles, just the gaster. I looked closely at the many workers aswell and didn't see any of these mites on them, it only seems to be the soldiers that these mites are on. Is there anything at all I could do to get rid of these mites? I mean before moving them if I have to? Would Hypoaspis Miles work or would they kill the ants too?

Thanks

[Frogger1]

You were right MajorSpud, I just noticed an odd looking soldier a moment ago stumbling around so I took it out and had a look. Completely plastered in parasitic mites, literally every soft part of it's body has a mite feeding on it. I'm feeling with how bad this ant is the colony may not last much longer, the even worse thing is I don't think I have a spare tank to put them in I thought I was doing well with these but i'm not feeling as good about them now, anything at all I can do? Any advice will be very appreciated to try and help my colony get through this!

[Andie]

Just as a matter of interest are the mites on the soldier the same as the foraging mites? i only ask because as we know there are 1000's of differnt mite species but normally foraging mites are more of a nucience than a danger. ( I'm led to believe ) I know there is another mite available that feeds on predatory mites but to use them with ants would be intersting. There is also a post here somewhere where a member was using mite treatment which was watered down and seemed to be effective. Maybe worth a search. I tried similar with my P.dives colony and killed the lot


This was the thread on my forum regarding the use of Hypoaspis http://www.ukmantisforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7107&p=58289&viewfull=1#post58289 chances are that these mites won't work as they also feed on insect larvae.

[Frogger1]

Hey Andie,

These are different to the foraging mites, the ones foraging are picking on the left overs walking around on the soil and not spotted on any ants. However the ones on the ants are properly latched and bulbous from feeding on the ant, the ant is cleary stressed trying to rub them off its head and body. I think i'm going to have to try Hypoaspis because it's not just a couple mites here and there on the ants, there covering the ants whole body and it seems to have gotten weaker in the last couple hours. I'll take a chance and get some Hypoaspis and stick some in with the seperated soldier assuming it's still alive by the time they arrive to see what happens. What I fear the most of using them is the ants eggs being in danger but I would use them in small amounts. I'm sorry to hear that about your colony also I'll try have a look for that post aswell.

Thanks!

[Andie]

The outcome will be interesting but i know Hypoaspis are used to rid scarid flies as they eat the larvae . I'm sure the guy who wrote about the treatment was a belgium but here in the english forum, ill try and look too.

[Andie]

There ya go, not much but might help. viewtopic.php?f=200&t=16873&p=141286&hilit=mites#p141286