ANTSTORE World of Ants

[AntsNational]

It looks like this:

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Curly leaf kale is still kale! Mine tend to accept and reject the same foods at times. Variety of foliage for fungal substrate really helps, they also really like caterpillar poop

[adam james]

Ok thankyou Vasile , that is the type i have lol. I didnt recall it being this hard the first time i kept them lol , the first ones i kept wernt as fussy but then again i did get them in the spring so there was alot of plant material around in the garden then lol

Regards

Adam

[AntsNational]

That can be tough, I would try to supply them with rose leaves. This will get them through the winter, they won't require a lot at such a young age. Make sure that the leaves aren't sprayed & try corn meal as well! They love corn meal & it lasts longer as a fungal substrate.

Cheers,
Vas

[adam james]

Hello vasile , will try that corn meal when i can find some, Cheers mate

Adam

[AntsNational]

Good luck Adam, may the force be with you

So the colony is still going strong, will update more soon.

[adam james]

ha ha cheers mate

Regards

Adam

[AntsNational]

The colony continues to grow, at almost 2 years old it can strip a rose within a day. The colony hasn't been allowed to grow at it's full potential until a large, custom-made enclosure is made for them.

[AntsNational]

It's been a while since I updated on my Atta colony; they are doing well. The fungus has begun to grow sideways now which is great. The ants are in an acrylic box nest attached to it's own garbage pit. The colony will be growing strong this summer. Here's a video of them foraging at night:

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[iamwind4]

very nice ants

[AntsNational]

Yes they are! Thankyou !!

[AntsNational]

The time has come for the colony to move into a larger terrarium. Here's a few photos.

[AntsNational]

Here's the second part to the move.

[AntsNational]

A fourth box has been added where the ants are quickly growing a new fungus garden in it. The main fungus garden is crawling with soldiers now and the queen is still hidden from view inside the fungus.

[AntsNational]

The ants have had a fantastic summer, many new majors have appeared and the colony is now in the driver's seat when it comes to growth. They soon will be moved to a much larger terrarium which will be customized just for them. The colony now can strip entire apples and other fruits within 2-3 days as well as more fungus gardens have appeared. It's time to add some more boxes to this colony! The queen is doing very well, I gently separated her from the colony for a photo as well (with lots of majors wandering about, it was a difficult task).

[AntsNational]

A lot has occurred since my last entry. The colony has grown much larger and now contains thousands of ants as well as 4 large fungus gardens. The ants are voracious and will take anything. As it is winter, the colony faces its new threat which is a substantial amount of food to get through the winter. I prepared for the winter by harvesting all of the wild rose leaves in my garden (they are untreated) and oak leaves. Even though these leaves are now dried out, the ants still take them happily. There should be enough stock to last them throughout most of the winter. As for other food sources, I've been trying out different types of organic-grown vegetables and other plant materials at the local grocery store. They've been feeding on fresh broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuce, spinach, and banana leaves. For a fruit supplement they've been feeding on apples grown in my garden tree, pears, grapes and sometimes even the rinds of lemons and oranges. As for grains and other dry foods, they've taken a strong liking to rolled oats, dry or semi-cooked rice and cornmeal.

The queen is now hidden deep within the largest fungus garden, the only way I can see her is if I decide to search through the garden itself, but this means tons of angry ants and very large soldiers which are quite the deterrent. I only did this once when I moved the colony to another larger terrarium with new, larger specialized acrylic boxes donated by a few friends at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum). The ants are voracious and require daily feeding. The colony will strip a large apple to nothing within 24 hours! Anyways, it's amazing to have seen such a force grow from a tiny gift (1 queen & 15-25 workers) from a friend in 2011.

Another thing to take note on keeping a large colony is their waste management system. I use a separate acrylic box for the colony to use as a garbage pit. The secret to making the ants automatically use this new box is to simply place two full tablespoons of their refuse (dead ants, dead fungus and other garbage from the original pit) into the new acrylic box. The ants should begin to use this new adopted chamber as their garbage pit. With large colonies, this must be emptied regularly. It would be wise to make sure to keep an eye out for the ants which work within the garbage pits as the 'garbage crew.' Once the garbage chamber is emptied and the live ants within are removed, the refuse can be used as a great source of nutrients for tropical potted plants (if you have any). I currently have avocado saplings and mangroves which are growing fast with this nutritious substrate. Other organisms which feed on this refuse are my large colony of mealworms (larvae of the Tenebrio molitor beetle, which can be found in most pet stores worldwide), they will eat anything.