2 replies to this topic

[Straywolf94]

I caught a few Pogonomyrmex queens last week and wanted to make some dirt setups for them since I understand these queens don't do well in test tube.  I went with 3 different options:

 

1.  Test tubes in container with sand medium which I've seen nurbs and others do here.

2.  Dirt shacks following drew's designs but with materials I had on hand.

 

 

 

I've placed 1 queen each in 3 of these and they've started digging right away.

 

 

 

3.  Ant farm setup following this article here: https://www.asu.edu/...mrex queens.htm, but modified with a water reservoir similar to drew's dirt shack.

 

 

 

 

 

Wetted this setup and waiting for it to soak through.  If this works well, I will build another since it is really cheap.  All you need are two 8x10 photo frames from dollar store, some binder clips, and $3 worth of wood from home depot (much cheaper if you can take wood from their discount pile and cut to your own specifications).

Edited by Straywolf94, November 9 2018 - 11:20 PM.

[nurbs]

They do plenty fine in test tube setups. You just need dirt and a foraging outworld with seeds. Key is to leave them alone for a month. Most mine have workers now.

[Theused1]

They do plenty fine in test tube setups. You just need dirt and a foraging outworld with seeds. Key is to leave them alone for a month. Most mine have workers now.

Did you do this with any P. rugosus? I've heard somewhere that, even though fully-claustral, P. rugosus don't mind having access to an outworld/food. I'm not certain if anyone has actually done this successfully, or has mistaken P. rugosus with other, semi-claustral, Pogonomyrmex.