ANTSTORE World of Ants

[CapitalO]

Ive recently discovered a nice community of ant species close to my house. There are several large colonies of a Dorymyrmex sp. (I'm fairly certain they are Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar) that are spaced about 10cm apart and they seem to closely interact with each other; these ants are highly alert and seem to have really well developed eye sight. They are predatory ants that appear to hunt in groups and are among the few native ant species that hunt fire ants and can live in close proximity to them. Very interesting ants and fun to watch!

There are also several other ant species, including Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar, Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar and more than one species of Pheidole.

I'm going to finish up building my formicarium today (I'm on break from college for the rest of the week! ). I'll post pics when its done.

So heres the dilemma: I'd really like to keep one of these species, but I don't want to destroy the colonies. Also, I'm not so sure that a queen would be very successful after the stress of relocation into a formicarium. I would like to capture a new queen from a swarming, but thats a long way off and my formicarium is almost finished. I'd rather not sit around and watch an empty formicarium for 6 months, but I also don't want to destroy established ant colonies... I'd really like to hear any thoughts/comments/opinions/experiences from others on this subject, so all feedback would be appreciated .

[miszt]

wait for the nuptial flights and collect a de-winged queen

[CapitalO]

yea, I think your right miszt... it would be a shame to destroy mature native colonies, especially since they are already under so much pressure from the RIFA. On the same note, I wouldn't feel all that bad about digging up a RIFA colony . Ive been playing with this idea for a while even though fire ants wouldn't be my first choice to keep . On the other hand, looking at an empty formicarium for 6 months would be my last choice

[mpir]

If the species is mongyn don´t bother. You will probably only end up killing the queen. And I guess you don´t want that.

[tail__]

But maybe in your area live some polygyn species with shallow nests, like European Myrmica or Formica fusca? In this case you can catch one of the queens with a few workers without destroying or seriously damaging the nest. I think Monomorium minimum is polygyn, but I don't know how large and deep are their nests.

[miszt]

i can understand digging up colonies if you are not in your home country and dont have the oppertunity to wait for nuptial flights, but at home? i dont agree with it at all, and i think it takes half the fun out of raising a colony

[tail__]

That's true, starting new colony with single new queen gives much more satisfaction. This requires more patience, however. But after all, raising ants is good only for people with lots of patience. So maybe waiting for nuptial flight can be considered a test