ANTSTORE World of Ants

[ratgreen]

That is amazing, look sooo good, well played, i would go for a mains adapter but it all depends on what voltage you leds run on so you may need to find out what resister you will need, otherwise you will blow your leds. most leds run on about 3.3 i think, but i got some that run on 1.5v so find out what voltage they need as i think 9v each is a bit too much.
Also where did you get that red acrylic?

[marc.tulley]

Thanks m8 , i luv it too!
I skipped a step and bought the LEDs pre wired with resistors
rec voltage of 9-14V

might sit down and do the maths i.e how many mWhrs a battery has and how many minutes of redness ill get

m8 Ebay for the win!
i get all my perspex of ebay , huge size range, the good companies cut it down to shape if you want and they have a wide range of colours and thickness.

3mmthick red perspex A4 size £2.80 delivered
or maybe
5mm thick red perspex 500 X 500MM £14 delivered

[miszt]

12 LED's will drain the battery fairly fast, but if you only have it on for a few minutes a day, shouldnt be a problem....although you can buy cheap adapters these days for almost the cost of a 9v battery! checkout maplins

[marc.tulley]

yeah im having them hookedup to a push button so only when i hold down the button wil they come on, not 24/7 so i think ill go for just a battery for convienience , no trailing wires

it will all be wired up outside the enclosure anyway so i suppose i could always rewire it at a later date

[marc.tulley]

[miszt]

very nice work myne is nearly finished to

[marc.tulley]

*Chants for Pictures!*

[JimmyVe]

Very nice dude !

[ratgreen]

seriously good. one question,what did you use to cut out the chambers, was it just a chisel or something else?

[marc.tulley]

I tediously drilled it out with a 10mm bit with a depth restricter (little hoop the screws onto the bit to stop it going too deep) to get the main chamber shapes made and all path ways
and den
chisled out any thin stips left over on the walls
and den
used a drill wired brush attachment to smooth off some of the back walls

[marc.tulley]

Ok an update to my small rubra colony, today to my extreme suprise, i have a male drone!!!!

was so shocked as its only a colony of about 40 and assumed that only once they got v.big and comfortable would they produce winged ants.

I really hope they produce males and females which will allow me to really boost the colony if i get one or more 'knocked up' and put them back in the nest :D:D Antstore does say there polygyn, i assume that is the case.

ill try and get a pic of the lil guy today.

[JimmyVe]

That is almost impossible. You can not mate males and queens from the same colony. Most of the colonies produce only males and another one only queens. Still if they would produce both they are not going to mate with each other. (if i'm not mistaken )

[marc.tulley]

damn

still i hope they make a queen or too , i could always gather other males

its just i suppose ive got no chance of gettin another colony queen knocked up and introduced to mine...? suppose they will stink of another colony

lol . ants frown apon incest i guess?

[ratgreen]

yer lol, thats how they evolve, if they mated with the same family every time then there would be no variable or stronger genes which would make them more successful. it would be good if someone on this forum would be willing to trade, so you send some males, and they send a queen in return. that way you would both benefit.

[JimmyVe]

Don't forget they need a nuptial flight ! They don't mate without one. And you can not force them do to one. Don't worry it is impossible to mate with your own ants. Sadly...

Yes there are rare cases, but these are really rare.