ANTSTORE World of Ants

[4mykids]

Hello all,

In most of my formicarium's there are very small white maggot looking critters. They eat the dead ants. They are white and about the size of the workers antenna (very small but visible). They crawl like maggots and the worker ants actually pick them up and carry them around and put them down on the pile of dead ants. They come out mostly at night. Any idea what these are?

[miszt]

I think the important question is, are the ants moving them there because they consider them dangerous, or are they using them to clean up dead ants...

fraid i cant help with an identification, although my suspicion is some kind of beetle or fly larvae, there are sum very tiny beetles which may be the culprit

are they attacking brood or live ants aswell? can you post a pic?

[4mykids]

Hello miszt, I could never get a close enough picture with my camera, sorry. The worker ants, with out a dought, use them to clean up the dead ants. The worker ants are definetly not afraid of them and they do not go after the eggs at all. I see them turn into a cacoon shape but never seem to hatch - they usually dry out and turn to dust.

[miszt]

wouldnt worry to much then maybe they will disapper during hibernation, but anything that helps clean up the nest has gotta be good, as long as they dont go after the live ants or brood if the food runs out, also keep an eye out for the adults, just incase they are somthing nasty

[JimmyVe]

Never heard of this 'animal' nether, but in deed, if it helps to keep the farm clean i want some to.

[sithmaster676]

as long as these do no harm to the colony then they may help the ants there are many relationships between ants and various other insects so either keep an eye on them or don't worry about it.
Sithmaster676

[miszt]

would be great to get an ID on these bugs, if they turn out to be harmless helpers then they'd be a good addition to the Self sustaining Ecosystem thread

[sithmaster676]

well in various different countries there is bound to be lots of various different bugs that have relationships with ants whether they be good or bad. and picking one out wouldn't be easy lol
Sithmaster676

[CapitalO]

It sounds like you are describing springtails; they are detritivores and are considered beneficial. They are very common in tropical vivariums and people intentionally propagate them for clean up crew and food.

[mzfckr]

and where we can buy them?

[miszt]

you can find them in your garden mite be a bit cold now tho, they are tiny 1-2.5mm, from a creamy white color till a darkish grey, they will jump if you touch them gently, your gonna need a pooter to collect them as they are very easy to kill by our clumsy big fingers

[CapitalO]

Also, if you don't want to get your hands dirty, many stores that sell vivarium supplies will carry springtail and other culture kits. I'm not familiar with any vivarium supply stores in Britain or Europe, but a quick search on the net should turn up some good sources.

People that keep poison dart frogs often culture these for food and to deter fungus growth. They will also reproduce inside the vivarium if there is enough moisture. Heres a good website that I used to buy fruit fly cultures from when I kept vivaria with pdf's, they have a lot of good info on culturing springtails: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar