ANTSTORE World of Ants

[scolo77]

Hallo (entschuldigen Sie mein Deutsches) Ich möchte eine Kommunalameisenkolonie der verschiedenen Sorte verursachen. Können Sie bitte verzeichnen, das Ameisensorten Sie kennen von, wem verhältnismäßig sanftmütig oder in Richtung zu anderer Ameisensorte bitte nicht konkurrenzfähig sind.

[MrIglo]

Hello, sorry for my english, its also not perfect.

You want to keep different species of ants together???

Try to find you some temnothorax nylanderi. I heard they are not agressiv and can kept together (in the same arena) with Lasius flavus or other not so agressiv species.

To keep two ant species in one nest is nearly impossible.

MFG

[scolo77]

Hello

Thanks for the reply. I dont want to put them in the same nest, I will have a large arena setup with the ants having individual nest of their own but can interact in the arena without killing each other!

[MrIglo]

Allright,
for example one camponotus colonie and several temnothorax kolonies, this it possible.
LG

[scolo77]

Hello

Great thanks for the help. I also know that ants such as Cephalotes (Cryptocerus) cf. pusillus can be kept with other ants because they rarely attack other species and because of their armor cant be attacked easily themselves, I also know of a few Camponotus sp which arnt very aggressive as you mentioned. Please keep the species coming I am hoping to have around 3 different species.

Also Lasius flavus and Myrmica rubra have been know to live in the same nest without fighting look at these pictures on this site. Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar

[MrIglo]

Interesting link, i am not shure it is lasius flavus and myrmica rubra on the photografie. it is quite difficult to exactly destine species.

maybe chthonolasius umbratus or another sozialparasitaire ant at a lasius brunneus or psammophilus nest...? i think this is more likely.

LG

[scolo77]

Yes it is Lasius flavus and myrmica rubra, please scroll down to the pciture midway down it gives a desription of the two species being together, or do you mean that it could be species similar to[ Mymrica] Myrmica rubra and Lasius flavus?

[MrIglo]

If you find ants in the nature you cant be shure which species you see. It ist VERY difficult to identify a species. Many people see a yellow ant and think it is a lasius flavus and a red ant must be myrmica rubra? It is not that easy!

I think it is not very likely a myrmica and a lasius species in one nest, because these are different subspecies.

But it is known that for example chthonolasius umbratus (looks yellow) develops sozialparasitair in nests of other lasius species for example l. brunneus (looks red-brown) .
I think thiy is more likely, but only speculation.

LG

[baumarkthammer]

Well you can make a basin with several european species.
Thats what I plan to do. I plan to do a not that big basin with severyl species in one log or some other peace of wood. Species that I plan to use are Camponotus truncatus, Dolichoderus quadripunctatus, several Temnothorax species and some Formica species. On the ground there will be many Ponera colonies and maybe some Temnothorax and Myrmica rubra or other species (rubra might be the best because it doesn´t eat other ants).
I wouldn´t take Lasius at all and wouldn´t take other Camponotus than one or more colonies of Camponotus truncatus.
Lasius have far to big colonies, even Lasius flavus are to big for such a basin, even when they CAN live in the same nest, it wouldn´t be a good idea.
The basin doesn´t have to be that big. It should be about 1m high and the other sizes aren´t that important.
The log should fill most of the basin and should have many dry knots.
As ground you just take ground from the forrest. Do NOT boil or disenfect it, there have to be many other insects in the ground otherwise it will mould. You shouldn´t boil the log, too, that would be just stupid.

[scolo77]

If you find ants in the nature you cant be shure which species you see. It ist VERY difficult to identify a species. Many people see a yellow ant and think it is a lasius flavus and a red ant must be myrmica rubra? It is not that easy!

I think it is not very likely a myrmica and a lasius species in one nest, because these are different subspecies.

But it is known that for example chthonolasius umbratus (looks yellow) develops sozialparasitair in nests of other lasius species for example l. brunneus (looks red-brown) .
I think thiy is more likely, but only speculation.

LG

Hello

Very interesting I understand your point and thought that myself at first, but if you look closely at the pictures you can tell that the red ant is clearly of the shape and body of a myrmica in my opinion an not a lasius species, the small yellow ant could of course be some form of parasite but I disagree the reason being I have already got a small colony arena myself with Mrmica Rubra and lasius flavus together and they do not fight! I only showed the website as an example. I would like to create a larger more exotic arena and thats why I need advice

[baumarkthammer]

Do you mean with exotic ants like from southern america?

[scolo77]

Do you mean with exotic ants like from southern america?

Hello

I just mean species that are slightly more unusal, they can be from Africa, Australia, America anywhere really. I would need them to have similar requirments of course when it comes to temperture, humidity and substrate.

[baumarkthammer]

Well you can write books about that.
When you have a small basin you can take Cyphomyrmex and Apterostigma with a small Camponotus.
There are also very nice small Polyrhachis spec. that stay smaller than Polyrhachis dives and have smaller colonies.
Apheanogaster are nice too because they can´t fight.
Pachycondyla are also very nice for such a basin, but only the ones that are active at day like villosa. But you need a very big basin for them.
Cephalotes are very interesting and good for such a basin. Like Pseudomyrmex and many other small ants.

A good mix t begin with community basins would be a small Polyrhachis, Apheanogaster, some Strumigenys colonies and maybe a small Ponerinae. That would worke out very well and wouldn´t have to be very big.
In my basin i have some mantis and beetles, too.
There are too many possible combinations just do list them here.
Many of the species are very rare, especially the ones from america because there is only one guy who collects them and he doesn´t search for small ants.
So the easiest way would be just to make a Asian basin like I listed it above, it also shouldn´t be that expansive.
All the ants have the same requirments but what is most important they have seen such ants in nature. Oftenly when you put ants from America and Asia together they at first kill each other because they don´t know each other. So you should try to get ants that at least are from the same continent.