ANTSTORE World of Ants

[DrnBrn]

Hi guys (and girls)

I finally own my own ant colony - Messor barbarus queen with thirteen workers. The colony arrived in a test-tube. There were no eggs or larvae, just the workers. The workers are different sizes, a few are very small and a few are very large with large jaws. Am I correct in assuming that this colony was perhaps larger and established in a nest before it was sent? I thought it would take time for media and majors to appear in the colony. I've been watching them and I thought I would share my observations and perhaps some more experienced ant keepers could share their knowledge with me.

Firstly, after the queen entered the nest the workers started carrying the seed into the nest. I had some problems connecting a tube at the other end of the nest and the vibrations caught the attention of the majors. They walked over and started biting part of the tubing. After a while the queen arrived too (this surprised me, I thought she would hide away and let the big guys sort it out). The queen was not behaving aggressively, she was just sticking her head into the area and walking past the majors into the tubing. When the queen passed the majors the majors started biting at her abdomen, I though initially they were hurting her but then it was clear they were simply pulling her back into the nest. Each time the queen tried to go back there the majors pulled her back. Have you ever seen that before?

Another thing, it seems the smaller workers tend to hang around the queen inside the nest and the media and major workers do the seed collecting. What do the smaller workers do? Are they responsible for chewing the seeds?

Any feedback or experiences would be great!

Does anyone know where I can access free scientific journals on entomology, where I could read about ant behaviour?

Also, I really want to record the sounds ants make. I've seen it done on TV. What equipment do I need? I already have an oscilloscope so perhaps I could use that to view the sound waves produced by the ants? I'm not sure what microphone I need.

Thanks
Darren

[joshua867]

Hello Darren

The smaller workers that are hanging around with the queen will be her nurses, they will care for the new eggs, clean the queen and feed her.

The majors will just be protecting the queen from any threat.

I don't no about the others but hope it helps enjoy watching your colony

Cheers
Joshua