ANTSTORE World of Ants

[stankenhar]

I haveLasius niger so know a little bit about ant keeping. I am about to get some Myrmica rubra (British Red Ant) and want to cover the feed chamber with stocking mesh / tights, I have this on my Lasius feeding chamber and none have escaped, but what I am wondering is if the Myrmica rubra will, or can, chew their way through the stocking mesh, I prefer the mesh as I can put a cotton filled bowl underneath and squirt honeywater etc through without the risk of any ants escaping.
Stan

[SteveUK28]

Ok i can safely say ive never heard of this method ever.. I would have to suggest that you use either PTFE or Vaseline to keep them in the tank/chamber. But i do not think they would be able to chew through. But how can u give them protein without removing the mesh ??

[stankenhar]

Hi Steve, I will have two chambers, one for liquid, and one for fruit flies, the chamber for the fruit flies will be a round one with plastic lid, from one of the original ant farms that I started with, uncle remus or something like that. I have been squishing the fruit flies for the Lasius, will I need to do this for the myrmica or will they do their own dispatching, the fruitflies are flightless.

[highered]

I'm sure the mesh will be fine, you only have to worry about bigger ants like Formica ants 7mm plus as they have significantly bigger jaws.

[SteveUK28]

lasius and myrimica will kill and eat them without them being squished... Also you want to be feeding them more than just fruitflies. I would suggest getting some Crickets to feed them with aswell.
Just wondering but is there any chance of you posting up some pics of your setup please ?

[stankenhar]

Hi steve, I can't seem to fathom how to post pics, if you let me have your email then I could send them to you and maybe you could post them for me.

[weiland]

I have had Myrmica sp. that escaped several times by chewing through a thin plastic film. That never happened with Lasius niger so I guess Myrmica have stronger mandibles or at least different break out behavior. I regularly feed my Lasius niger live flightless fruit flies and they kill them within minutes.

[stankenhar]

I'll try putting in live fruitflies, this should save me having to clean out uneaten ones before they get mouldy.

[stankenhar]

Also, Honey / water / sugar solution, any help on how much honey to water, or sugar to water, for a correct mixture, I also have some maple syrup which my lasius seem to ignore, should this be diluted?

[highered]

Your plastic film must have been very thin then, the barriers that I use eg netting is normally ok with them, even though they are slightly bigger then Lasius niger. However I would have thought that they would not try to escape if they like their nest, eg you don't keep letting in light when you check on it, its hot enough but not too hot, if they have enough water and have enough protein and energy food.

[stankenhar]

Had a complete change and made a ytong setup for my Myrmica Rubra, Colony of 4 Queens and about 40 workers so far, and all seem to be getting on well. Stood the Ytong on edge and drilled holes into the top connected by a channel and filled this with water, took about 2 days for it to completely soak into the block. used aquarium sealant to fix perspex onto the front. originaly had tube coming in at the back but the ants tried to set up a nest there so blocked it off and bought tube in from the top.
Can someone explain in simple terms how to post photos in here, not really computer literate, I've read some explanation but it has baffled me.
My Myrmica Rubra catch the fruit flies I put in but I am wondering if the fruit fly maggots might be more beneficial, mainly because they are bigger than the flies so may contain more protein / liquid, any thoughts?

[SteveUK28]

posting pictures is easier done if you upload your pics to somewhere like photobucket then just add the img code here, that way its very simple

As for the maggots im not 100% sure, i only really feed my rubra crickets and they have boomed with them

[stankenhar]

[stankenhar]

this is a close up of the ant runs in my new Ytong setup

[stankenhar]