ANTSTORE World of Ants

[paulhdear]

Hi Phasmid,
That's interesting - what species are they?

[Phasmid]

Well, my whole collection, Messor, Campos, Acro, Lasius niger, Lasius flavus, 4 different Formica, Pheidole and Manica. As long as I use a very wide band for the big ants and rember to clean up obvious scratches I get no escapes. Hopefully it will stay that way.
None of my ants can climb a milimeter of good PTFE but the extra wide is in case of accidental scratches.

[paulhdear]

Hmm. I wonder my mine doesn't work as well. I just paint it on from the bottle (which I got from Antstore), but the guys just walk over it. Maybe the gravity's weaker in Cambridge.

[JimmyVe]

Hehe, no i don't think it is the gravity.

You need to shake with the PTFE a bit before you use it, and make sure you cover every little bid of the band.

[paulhdear]

Yes, I did that. Perhaps my ants are wearing climbing boots?

[SteveUK28]

lol paul i think mine are doing that aswel.. i always see one of my ligniperda out on he shelf scouting... ive got used to it now...

[paulhdear]

I think the electric fence idea is the neatest (but, only as a second line of defence - I've got an antproof lid too).

[badman]

when ants escape do they always find their way back? I usually catch mine and return them

[paulhdear]

I don't know - mine never escape except if I open the lid, and then I catch them and put them back. I guess if they escape, they should fund their way home again.

[JimmyVe]

Yes they find there way back, that does not mean it is good for them to just walk around, they are always looking for food and a better place to nest. If they would find such a place they will go back to the nest and all of you ants would try to escape...

[SteveUK28]

lol yes mine always find it back no probs.. And there is nowhere nice for them to nest.. well i hope not anyway...

[paulhdear]

Hey all. I'm back, having tried a few things. My first attempt was with copper foil strips. Problem: the adhesive doesn't like humidity. So, the system I have now consists of thin brass rod (about 1mm diameter, from a model shop) forming two parallel rings about 3mm apart. It is held in place by soldering "legs" to it, and silicone-sealing these to the glass. I also gold-plated the brass, but this probably isn't essential (but will reduce corrosion). I've currently got 22V across this; I've also put an LED and a 1kOhm resistor across the tracks, to indicate when it's "on".

It seems to work just fine, but be aware that heavy condensation is still a problem: it shorts the rods, and you get electrolysis which will quickly destroy the rods. For this reason, I'm trying to keep condensation under control; I also only switch the system on when it's needed (ie, when I have the lid open and want to avoid ants swarming out), rather than all the time. The ants are definitely not harmed by the voltage - it just annoys them. Often, they will sit on one rod trying to bite the other one!

[miszt]

I've not had any problem with copper strips Paul, I got some off ebay, and I'm using them in my Pachycondyla apicalis tank, which has humidty around 80%, maybe its the make you have?

I'm also using an LED, and a buzzer to let me know wen its active, this was mainly due to the humidity, because my house has massivly varying tempretures, condensation is a major issue, and I wanted to make sure i'm not shorting out the adapter

My Pachycondyla apicalis learned very quickly to not go near the live strips, only 4-5 of the ants came in contact with it, but the message was spread, I cant really explain how, but it did, they now never even climb the glass

[paulhdear]

Hi Miszt - yes, it could be my strips that were no good. Also, I tried gold-plating them in situ, and the plating solution may have screwed up the adhesive. I'll be interested to see if my ants learn as fast as yours do!

Incidentally, if you're worried about shorting the adaptor, you could put a resistor (may 5 or 10kOhm?) in series. It won't affect the voltage when there's no condensation, but if there is condensation shorting the strips, it should limit the current (if you're using 12 volts and a 5k resistor then, even if the strips short completely, the current will only be a couple of milliamps; but have your LED before this resistor).

Incidentally, I tried playing with some super-hydrophobic (water-repellant) coatings from the lab - fluorinated compounds related to teflon. So far, the ants have just walked all over them!

[timholtom1]

Has any one tried PTFE strips of tape around the edges of an aquarium? normally used in plumbing, this might be a neater idea that using the bottled ptfe. I doubt the ants can grip to the tape.
i have not tried it my self. just a thought.
Tim

=>edit Mod
post from 2:58am

according to wiki its the only material that a gekko cant stick to!