6 replies to this topic

[ForestDragon]

So, last night I captured a young Aphenogaster colony, queen, most workers and all the brood. I know that they do not have a social stomach so how should i feed them? and are there other special concerns for this geneus?

[Mettcollsuss]

In captivity, they are almost exclusively carnivorous. Even workers will feed from insects. I've tried offering them sweets, but they don't eat them. They eat seeds in the wild, but for some reason they don't in captivity. Mine have been doing just fine on insects alone. Mine seem to do best in Tarheel Ants setups, especially mini hearths. I had them in a mini hearth for a while and eventually moved them to an acrylic nest. They were in the acrylic for a few months, and no new workers eclosed. I moved them back into a mini hearth, and new brood appeared within a week.

[ForestDragon]

In captivity, they are almost exclusively carnivorous. Even workers will feed from insects. I've tried offering them sweets, but they don't eat them. They eat seeds in the wild, but for some reason they don't in captivity. Mine have been doing just fine on insects alone. Mine seem to do best in Tarheel Ants setups, especially mini hearths. I had them in a mini hearth for a while and eventually moved them to an acrylic nest. They were in the acrylic for a few months, and no new workers eclosed. I moved them back into a mini hearth, and new brood appeared within a week.

I was going to keep them in a tubs and tubes setup in an outworld i plan to make, but they do seem to prefer stone and rock nests from what you said so I will keep that in mind. when i found them there were exoskeletons of prey insects under the rock they were in so it makes sense, do they have any preference of insects? like mealworms, crickets? do you think they would eat small centipedes and beetles? because i have a lot of those in my yard

[FeedTheAnts]

In captivity, they are almost exclusively carnivorous. Even workers will feed from insects. I've tried offering them sweets, but they don't eat them. They eat seeds in the wild, but for some reason they don't in captivity. Mine have been doing just fine on insects alone. Mine seem to do best in Tarheel Ants setups, especially mini hearths. I had them in a mini hearth for a while and eventually moved them to an acrylic nest. They were in the acrylic for a few months, and no new workers eclosed. I moved them back into a mini hearth, and new brood appeared within a week.

A colony I had in the past loved to eat almonds, it was their favorite food. They showed no interest in other kinds of nuts and seeds though.

[ForestDragon]

 

In captivity, they are almost exclusively carnivorous. Even workers will feed from insects. I've tried offering them sweets, but they don't eat them. They eat seeds in the wild, but for some reason they don't in captivity. Mine have been doing just fine on insects alone. Mine seem to do best in Tarheel Ants setups, especially mini hearths. I had them in a mini hearth for a while and eventually moved them to an acrylic nest. They were in the acrylic for a few months, and no new workers eclosed. I moved them back into a mini hearth, and new brood appeared within a week.

A colony I had in the past loved to eat almonds, it was their favorite food. They showed no interest in other kinds of nuts and seeds though.

 

good to know I love almonds and always have some laying around

[Acutus]

Has anyone tried actual sugar? ground sugar is something they could carry back with them to the nest. Just a thought. I have a small colony I'll give it a try.

[Ferox_Formicae]

I just gave my Aphaenogaster lamellidens colony some termites, and they absolutely destroyed them! They are really proficient hunters. They almost remind me of Oecophylla in the way that they hold down and pull at their prey once it's been captured. I also gave some to my Aphaenogaster carolinensis, but they have yet to touch them.