ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Seph0n]

Which exotic species are the easiest to keep?

The sole reason for this, is that i desperately want a colony that I can observe during the winter, and it seems that tropic ants are the only viable solution.
Any names?
If anyone could confirm an European ant, which doesn't require hibernation, I would be really happy!

[shane]

Messor barbarus are easy and doesn't require hibernation as long as thy keeped warm.

[Ants-Fan]

Hello!
Exotic Ants, all not does a hibernation.
All exotic ants are not easy to keep....
Camponotus and exotic Messor are goods!

@shane Messor barbarus must to have a hibernation!


MfG Ants-Fan

[shane]

@shane Messor barbarus mut to have a hibernation!


MfG Ants-Fan

Mine din't hibenate though out last winter, and just a year on, I've ended up with over 1500+ ants.

If your room keeps warm or there nest and foraging tank, there will keep active though out year, its only if you let it get cold then
thy will start to hibenat for a month or 2.

thats my busy colony of Messors

[Andie]

I understand that the European Messor barbarus can survive without hibernating for its first winter but then the next year will need too. African M. barbarus don't.

Try Polyrhachis dives very easy and don't hibernate oh and nice n cheap..

[baumarkthammer]

I wouldn´t say that Messor barbarus can be kept without hibernation.
For example the queen only starts to lay eggs after hibernation when she founds the colony.
I haven´t made any experiments to see if that behaviour keeps on but I think that it is possible, that a Messor barbarus colony that does not hibernate could have problems with the queen.

About the "African Messor barbarus" in some shops sold as Messor cf. barbarus;
The cf. between the name of the Genus and the name of the species within the Genus comes from the latin word conferre which just means that the species looks like the species or might be that species but can´t exactly be defined. So the shops only want to say that this species looks like a Messor barbarus but is none.
Whether or not this species hibernates is hard to tell.
Messor barbarus living in Africa or Asia sometimes do not hibernate but also do not rise brood in the time of the year when the winter should be. At least I read that some times.

[Seph0n]

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I will look into Messor barbarus and Polyrhachis dives right away!

[shane]

I wouldn´t say that Messor barbarus can be kept without hibernation.
For example the queen only starts to lay eggs after hibernation when she founds the colony.
I haven´t made any experiments to see if that behaviour keeps on but I think that it is possible, that a Messor barbarus colony that does not hibernate could have problems with the queen.

I've got 3 colony's of Messor barbarus, 1 fully red queen which i got from antstore over a year ago with no hibernation yet and over 1500+ ants
as workers on pic up page.

The other 2 i got last year from a friend just from a mating flyt from "Ant hill world UK" a red headed queen and a all black one for my nephew,
I try-ed to hibernate the 2 queens in a cool place over winter but again no hibernation as it may have not been cold enough for them as thy was
still laying eggs and workers feeding larva as well as seeds been taken even if there was just only around 7 media's.
And now the 2 colony's have over 60 workers and counting.

In UK i know it can drop below -10 or 20 even more which can kill colony and queen and at room temperature there seem Tobe active,
I don't know if queen does hibernates as she does go sluggish when cold and workers keep active with seed stock in nest till its warmer
out in foraging tank.

I find this bit hard to belive "For example the queen only starts to lay eggs after hibernation" Thy start laying once there feel settled and thats
even in a set up or test tube or in wild. Thy even keep laying though winter, Living on resorsers but been realy slow cos of cold.

Heres proof of this with Lasius niger queen i got just over 2 months ago i picked up on pavement close to my local shops as there was loads
of them all over at time. She has workers already and no hibanation with it been hot.


anyhow back to back to subject.

And your welcome Seph0n

[baumarkthammer]

I think you got me wrong shane.
I didn´t mean that all european ants lay eggs only after hibernation! There are only a few ants that do so and Messor barbarus is one of them.
Of course Lasius niger does lay eggs before hibernation.
Messor barbarus swarm out very late in the year and since eggs die in the winter they found the colony after the hibernation.

When your lay eggs in the winter you might be lucky. In many ant species it seems that the hibernation varies a lot from colony to colony. For example some Lasius cf. niger queens can be kept without hibernation and some die quite fast then.

EDIT: Could you please make a picture of the completley red queen?

[shane]

I think you got me wrong shane.
I didn´t mean that all european ants lay eggs only after hibernation! There are only a few ants that do so and Messor barbarus is one of them.
Of course Lasius niger does lay eggs before hibernation.
Messor barbarus swarm out very late in the year and since eggs die in the winter they found the colony after the hibernation.

When your lay eggs in the winter you might be lucky. In many ant species it seems that the hibernation varies a lot from colony to colony. For example some Lasius cf. niger queens can be kept without hibernation and some die quite fast then.

EDIT: Could you please make a picture of the completley red queen?

I see . Here's pic of her befor her colony population exsplodered this year
She's has a red head and gaster and a dark red mid.

[Andie]

Hi Stefon, did you decide on anything ? Love to hear about them

[Seph0n]

Thanks for paying interest! I thought the thread had derailed a bit, so I just forgot about it.

After countless of emails and research, I found out that Messor barbarus or Pheidole pallidula was indeed the best European species for me to pick. I ended up with Pheidole pallidula, because my research showed me that they required the least, to no hibernation at all.

I've had them for around 3 weeks now. Still just growing brood with no new imagos.
I think they're doing fine!

[Andie]

congrats on your new ants. I'm always interseted in how others are doing. How are you keeeping them ?

[Seph0n]

Hey Andie

I keep them in a 2/3 filled basin setup with sand-loam mix, which is 30x40x20cm with an in-built gypsum nest at one end. To clarify;
http://antstore.net/shop/product_info.p ... lling.html
with a
http://antstore.net/shop/product_info.p ... 24x10.html
-at one end.
The gypsum nest is inside the basin, so I get rid of tubes and such.
The sand in the basin is kept very moist, and they love to dig and explore. I've decorated the basin with dried web-like branches to give it a desert look, and it looks very nice
Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar (the branches).

Even though the colony only consist of 5 adult individuals including the queen (one nanitic drowned in honey this morning. She was somewhat of a drinker...) -They hunt an enormous amount of food. I cannot see how the brood is doing, because they dug a chamber in the sand to keep them away from light, but something big is on the horizon! They are tiny tiny ants, and yet they manage to strip the crickets i feed them for every edible part. I also give them a bunch of mosquito every other day, and the next morning, only the wings are left at the nest entrance... I've been concerned that I might overfeed them, but I don't know how to actually tell. My guess is that they take what they need, right? And currently they just can't get enough.

EDIT: They came in their tube which was terribly moldy, so all the eggs were dead on arrival. There was just one or two larvae still alive, and they were carried to the gypsum nest and later underground. What an appetite!

[Andie]

Looking forward to seeing the pics. With my experience of over feeding, well at least mantids is that you can't. They will stop when they need to. There are storys of them splitting but this is only due to them having a fall. Well mantids are alot bigger than ants but i doubt if you could over feed ants enough to cause problems.. I'm sure someone will put me right. What are you using as a glide substance ?