ANTSTORE World of Ants

[delete-14751]

Yeah i have my farms/basins raised out of the water! Plus i put a few stones around it so if an ant does fall into the water it has a chance of climbing back out. That way you shouldn't loose any!

[damondeionno]

The best example I have was when I was keeping M. pharaonis. I know people will think I'm mad because they can infest buildings, but in my experience their humidity requirements cannot be met anywhere I've lived in the UK, and in fact I always found keeping them alive a struggle.

They are extremely difficult to contain in anything other than a completely sealed system, which creates it's own problem with regards to condensation.

I used to make my formicariums with 2 sheets of glass and strips of wood. A small colony of M. pharaonis managed to relocate from the small interconnected tube setup in which I was keeping them. They didn't invade the house, instead they moved their colony into my L. niger farm. They seemed quite happy living between the wood and the glass (a very very small space). The L. niger couldn't get to them because they were much too big. I observed the interraction for a few days. I couldn't see the M. pharaonis eating the niger brood, though I did suspect that's what they were doing.

In the end I took the farm apart to remove the pharaonis. I tried to relocate them, but wasn't able to keep the colony alive.

NB. I would strongly advise against culturing M. pharaonis in any scenario where they could relocate to a moist area, or one with a food supply. So, no access to bathrooms, kitchens etc, house plants etc.

[miszt]

yes its very important that invasive species are kept by experienced keepers only for this reason