ANTSTORE World of Ants

[mtrein]

Wow, lots of them eh!

[bugsy]

Yeah there doing great. I have larger than normal larvae, at this stage it could just be a large worker as they are getting noticeably bigger. However, they may feed it up to a major. I'll know more in a few weeks, if it does turn out to be the colonies first I'll post a pic.

[urbanAnt]

Hello Bugsy, really nice formicarium. Where did you purchase it?

[bugsy]

I didn't it's custom made, I designed it then made it to suit this species. Feel free to copy it, its worked really well is and great for viewing.

[urbanAnt]

Nice work!

[bugsy]

Just witnessed the birth of my first major and she's a beauty, with an extremely large head. There are a couple more in development, pictures to follow shortly.

[Andie]

Hi m8, couple of questions. What are you using to heat the arena, do you heat night and day, and do you use something seperate to heat the nest or rely on the ambient temps from the arena ?
Nice to see it doing well

[bugsy]

Hi Andy sorry for the late reply, I heat one section of the main nest. I use a heat matt positioned against the glass over the area where the water reservoir is constructed into the y-tong. This way the area where the y-tong is moist warms up, the reservoir is fairly large so the warm humid air is carried through the whole nest. The tank itself I made to be very tight fitting so the humidity carries through the foraging area too. I drilled two 4 cm round holes in the lid and covered it with wire mesh to allow a through flow of fresh are to get in. I have been surprised at the success of this design as the colony has and still is growing at a ridiculous rate. In the 16 months I have had them I have had no mould what so ever. My only problem is the speed in which they are out growing the nest. Any future design will incorporate a type of moat around the top section of the foraging area then a lid on top of this to prevent any escapes. I would also include away of expanding the nest to a second basin. They are so fast and aggressive that I feed them first thing in the morning after they have settled down from the night activities, otherwise I wouldn't be able to open the lid. As soon as anything lands in the basin no matter what time of day it is the nest erupts. I have to replace the sugar water every 2 days, as they consume what seems to be the equivalent of use drinking a bath of the stuff every day. I am still trying to get a decent picture of one of the majors but they just seem to be blurred all the time or the flash reflects. Any tips would be great as your photos are awesome.

[Andie]

Whatever you have done seems to be working a treat I can't even see any condensation on either the nest or basin.
I have tried keeping my C. xiangban wet, dry, hot n cold and nothing seems to make them do anything, whats worse is that there is no information any where about them. Grrrrr.. I'm beginning to wonder if they originated from the top of a snowy mountain in taiwan that only melts for a week in the middle of july before it snows again. ... pretty though

[bugsy]

A quick update, I'm not able to successfully take any photos of the majors, but they are similar in size to the queen. Not quite as big, but big enough. The colony is growing so quick now that they take 10 crickets a night, i need to rehouse them soon.

[Andie]

Looking good. Youll have to invest in a macro.

[bugsy]

I know mate, my camera is terrible I'm in the market for a new one as we speak. I have noticed my queen has slowed down on her egg laying, but at the same time every chamber is now crammed with ants and larvae. About another 25-30 hatched this week. I am guessing she has slowed as there is no space left. Does anyone else have experience of this?
I'm in the process of designing a new tank, however this one will have to incorporate some way to expand the nest for further future growth. I don't know how big these colonies get but there are no new queens yet so I'm guessing a lot bigger than it is now.
Any ideas for a new set up are welcome. Feel free to post any suggestions.
Adam your set ups are always interesting and advanced looking.