ANTSTORE World of Ants

[Ashton McStansfieldio]

Best of luck with this species Miszt, They sound very interesting and I bet they`d look great in your tree setup once you get moved:) Is great to have a new species to read about on the forums too

[kashmir79]

i have been considering to buy these soon, are they easy to keep ?

[miszt]

if you can provide them with a large tropical space, then yes

at the moment, I am using an Aquarium heater in the water, to keep the water at a steady 26C, this keeps the humidity up to 70-80% and the Air temp at around 24-25, which is fine Aquarium heaters are fairly good value for this sort of thing, I am using a 50w version that cost me just 17£

[mpir]

From the photo of your setup I'd say that the water is not circulating and not going through any filter or something. How do you deal with algae? I think that very soon ants will be walking over them. Do you clean the water regularly or change it?

[miszt]

I have a Fuval105 filtering the water, however they have made a HUGE amount of mess lol so i dont think its going to work really, they have dug lots of chambers in the soil, which I wasnt expecting at all, so i'm having a rethink, before the water turns into mud and blocks the filter up lol

[miszt]

I've built a new nesting chamber, and attached it with a pipe...now just have to wait for the original nest site to dry out, which will hopefully be before my filter gets clogged out lol

The new basin is pretty small, but from the size of the nest they have built for themselves I think it'll b fine for at least 6 months, more than enough time for me to build the big one

Anyone have any experience of moving Polychr? anything they dislike that might encourage them....tank is coldish now, heaters are all off, so ~20C, new basin is 26C and very humid

[Purifier]

I think thats the best way to move them. Make the new basin or nest much better than the old one (like you do). Now only wait that they look into the new basin and move....

[kashmir79]

pretty nice setup you have got there !

[JimmyVe]

Nice job miszt, really a great setup.
I also think you have did all you can to make them move without disturbing them. Hope they move soon.

[SteveUK28]

i must admit thats an awesome setup.. you must spend some mega bucks on your setups miszt.. fair play to you pal

[miszt]

Not as much as u'd think Steve, also i've spread the cost over the years, and reused lots of stuff i use for my tropical vivariums and aquariums

[miszt]

Interesting Behaviours of Polyrhachis Dives

Begging for Food

A common behaviour for allot of ants, p.dives beg for food by 'jumping/jerking' at other workers, almost always consists of 3 short jumps/jerks, followed by an open jawed beg with the head at an angle....some workers dont give up, even when the other worker ignores there plea's

Smaller ants often only get a tiny feed, and then are lead to the place where the food is, larger ants usually get a good feed, then the smaller ant will return to the food source

Particuly fascinating with p.Dives, as they are pretty big, so you can see the 'expressions' on their faces very well (despite the size guide on Antstore shop, my workers range from 6-12mm, queens 12-16mm)

Murder!

I've witnessed at least 12 seperate incidents of murder within my colony, often involving 3+ ants pinning down a single worker and removing its antenas, then disabling it, and throwing it into the water!

Sometimes one worker will pick up another worker, with very little resistance, and carry it to the edge of the island, and throw it off...I intialy thought this was an accident, but its happend a few times now, and appears to be very delibrate...getting rid of Sick workers maybe? or pherhaps they have been contaminated with a scent which disturbs the other workers?

Piggy Backs

I thought these where the domain of ant species with large soldiers, but it seems weaver ants like piggy backs to! always ants of the same size, or a smaller one riding on the top, seen this a couple of times today amongst workers


Defence

The posture of Formic Acid spraying ants is great, head up, jaws open, and tail of gaster pointed threateningly towards any distrubance (usually me lol)

Really great pose to see







I will post pics/vids of all of these at sumpoint soon along with more observations

[SteveUK28]

Miszt i have to say from readin that anyone would want to own these amazin ants.. i do think its gonna be my next colony.

[miszt]

they are great ants Steve, I am kicking myself for not getting them earlier!!

Highly recomend them very active, really interesting to watch, and they have a beautiful silver/gold sheen!

[SteveUK28]

Cant wait till the summer now lol.. What did u think of that glass after ?