9 replies to this topic

[Paulette]

My goal is to raise a colony of ants that can be used in a large formicarium on public exhibit. I captured some de-alates this summer, and after various newbie problems, I currently have two queens with nanitics:

Formica podzolica

Lasius sp. (not sure of this ID yet, I have a photo posted in the ID request section)

 

Right now, both are in test tubes, with the tube open, and inside a container that gives them a foraging area. The Formica colony just moved themselves from their original tube to a new one, and the workers are actively foraging in the foraging area. The second colony is farther behind, none of them have ventured out of the tube yet.

 

What advice can you knowledgable folks give me for getting from where I am, to a colony that can go into a large formicarium?

 

They are in a room that is in the upper 70s during the day, upper 60s at night. I'm not yet supplying any heat, but I probably should? If I heat them a bit, can I keep them growing all winter?

 

I read Crystal's caresheet for F. podzolica, which says they need hibernation. Will the colony really fail if they don't get this? If so, this is a show-stopper because I eventually need a year-round indoor exhibit. Will that be impossible with this species?

 

If I don't care about aethetics, what kind of setup can I use as the colonies grow? Can I continue to use multiple test tubes inside a foraging container, or will this not work for ramping up beyond a certain point?

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[dspdrew]

If you are from a place that has snow on the ground for a few months out of the year, any ants you find around there will probably need hibernating.

[Works4TheGood]

All of the docs I've read, videos I've watched, and studies I've heard of have said to hibernate your queen rather than not. Your colony will end up being healthier, bigger, and last longer than it would without hibernation even though it's dormant for a few months. I understand that this seems to be counterintuitive. The thing is, the queen's physiological body is already operating in such a way that it's anticipating hibernation. More specifically, her bodily functions are ocurring at an unsustainable rate in order to take maximum advantage of the warm months. Conversely, her body is also engineered to take maximum advantage of the cold months by recovering from the previous warm-month-frenzy, and then winding up for the next. Take that anticipated rest away, and she sort of fizzles out like a firework dud. That's my understanding anyway.

[Works4TheGood]

Think of hibernation as a pit stop in a NASCAR race. You need them to win, even though superficially they seem counterproductive.

[Paulette]

If it's a requirement, it means I can't keep any local species in a year-round indoor public exhibit. That's a problem I hadn't anticipated!

[Mdrogun]

I think some species will go through a hibernation phase regardless of temperature. For example: No matter what I do my camponotus will stop feeding there brood and the queen will stop laying eggs through the winter regardless of temperature. I'm not sure if they resume to normal in the summer though.

[Works4TheGood]

If it's a requirement, it means I can't keep any local species in a year-round indoor public exhibit. That's a problem I hadn't anticipated!

You aren't required to hibernate them, but they probably won't do quite as well. Also, the queen's life expectancy will likely be significantly reduced if you don't hibernate them.

Maybe you could have two colonies. One hibernates Nov & Dec while the other hibernates Jan & Feb. You'd have to confirm with advanced ant-keepers that this is truly a possibility. But this way, there'd always be an active, healthy colony on display.

As an extreme alternative, you might try pursuing a permit for exotic species that don't require hibernation, but I'm not sure what that entails, and an exotic colony may do very poorly in a temperate zone.

[AntsAreUs]

 

If it's a requirement, it means I can't keep any local species in a year-round indoor public exhibit. That's a problem I hadn't anticipated!

You aren't required to hibernate them, but they probably won't do quite as well. Also, the queen's life expectancy will likely be significantly reduced if you don't hibernate them.

Maybe you could have two colonies. One hibernates Nov & Dec while the other hibernates Jan & Feb. You'd have to confirm with advanced ant-keepers that this is truly a possibility. But this way, there'd always be an active, healthy colony on display.

As an extreme alternative, you might try pursuing a permit for exotic species that don't require hibernation, but I'm not sure what that entails, and an exotic colony may do very poorly in a temperate zone.

 

Artificial heating is always an option. Humidity might be a bit more difficult though.

Edited by AntsAreUs, September 19 2015 - 6:53 PM.

[Crystals]

From my experience, most Formica species will "stop" until they get hibernation.  Although I have found one or two Formica species that haven't stopped for hibernation.

 

I have found some species that don't seem to want hibernation, I see this mainly with Myrmica and Aphaenogaster.  I am sure that there are other species out there that pull this stunt, the further south you go, the more common it seems.

 

In my experience, Lasius and parasitic Formica definately demand a hibernation period.

 

You could easily have two colonies, and reverse hibernate one colony so one is always active and on display.  I frequently reverse hibernate my colonies so I always have something active.  For example, My one Formica colony is active January - August, and my second one is active August - January.  There is some time that both are awake.

[Mercutia]

Unfortunately the majority of northerner species require hibernation. (If they don't they have a much slower colony growth than those that do get hibernated)

 

What location are you. We could probably recommend you plenty of species that are fast growing and wouldn't require hibernation that could be collected in your area. For example, Tetramorium sp. E, while small ants, are very pervasive and fast growing, easy to care for, and they do not need to be hibernated (though in most cases it would be good to hibernate them to increase brood growth the next year, that being said, I do not hibernate my personal colony).