11 replies to this topic

[Ferox_Formicae]

Currently I have two styles of nests available, cavity/terrestrial style and arboreal style. These nests are designed for use in the field, but can double as lab formicaria suitable for small, cavity dwelling ant species such as (for terrestrial nests) Temnothorax, Leptothorax, Strumigenys, Hypoponera, and others, along with (for arboreal nests) Pseudomyrmex, Colobopsis, Cephalotes, Crematogaster, and many more. These nests can go really great to suit all you ant collecting needs and by leaving them out in the field for a few months can attract ant species that you may not find in other areas.

 

Cavity/terrestrial style:

 

$10 per nest; $45 for 5 (In Stock)

Can be used for many small, cavity and soil dwelling ant species in all environments including Strumigenys, Temnothorax, Eurhopalothrix, etc.

Place in field for 3-6 months or more for best results

Can be used in field or laboratory settings

 

 

 

Arboreal style:

 

Acrylic front and opaque designs

Made out of genuine Golden Bamboo

Comes with 1 meter of bendable wire framing for tree attachment

$10 for opaque nest (Out of Stock); $15 for acrylic front nest (2 Left! Order Soon!)

Used for small-large arboreal species such as Pseudomyrmex, Camponotus, Colobopsis, etc.

Place in the field for 3-6 months for best results

Can be used in field or lab settings

 

 

*note* products may differ slightly from images

Edited by Ferox_Formicae, December 10 2019 - 10:47 AM.

[Manitobant]

Have you ever actually caught ants with these?

[Ferox_Formicae]

Have you ever actually caught ants with these?

I just placed my series out a few weeks ago and haven't checked them yet. However, Doug Booher has a really neat paper on the ants he's captured with these.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

I will have to order some of these in the spring. I bet I could catch a lot of Camponotus queens with these; and it would be even better than raising them personally, as at the end of the summer, only the best colonies would be left. 

Edited by Antennal_Scrobe, November 8 2019 - 10:30 AM.

[Ferox_Formicae]

I will have to order some of these in the spring. I bet I could catch a lot of Camponotus queens with these; and it would be even better than raising them personally, as at the end of the summer, only the best colonies would be left. 

If you wanted to catch Camponotus queens, I'd suggest one of the larger style arboreal nests with a larger opening. I would suggest placing them lower in a tree or, even better, in a hollow in a tree. I would suggest buying some sooner rather than later as some Camponotus are actually flying again. I've actually seen some Camponotus chromaiodes males and records of other species.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Good to know. The Camponotus thing was just a thought, though, and I'm actually more interested in catching Aphaenogaster and Dolichoderus with this. If the ground ones don't attract Camponotus, that's even better, as I don't especially like keeping them as pets.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Good to know. The Camponotus thing was just a thought, though, and I'm actually more interested in catching Aphaenogaster and Dolichoderus with this. If the ground ones don't attract Camponotus, that's even better, as I don't especially like keeping them as pets.

Hmm, I'm not sure if these will be big enough to house Aphaenogaster or Dolichoderus as they are pretty small, though if you would like, I could custom design some large nests for you that would probably work in collecting Aphaenogaster and/or Dolichoderus.

[Antennal_Scrobe]

Yeah, how big are they?

[Ferox_Formicae]

7x3x1 cm.

[Ferox_Formicae]

New plaster formicaria are being designed. This line of formicaria is going to be designed to be as realistic as they can be, the interior coated with soil and decorated with small roots and rocks, the outworld being decorated with soil and twigs, and the plaster stained naturalistic earthy tones. I've already made some sketches of two nests in particular I plan to build, a larger style nest with tons of tunnels and chambers and a smaller nest perfectly designed for small cavity-dwelling species such as Temnothorax, Strumigenys, and Hypoponera. There is a catch to making these nest however. As they will be so naturalistic, they will be very expensive to construct, and as such will be very expensive, even for the smaller nest designs, though they will not be nearly as expensive as some of the larger models. Following is a picture of a rough design I made for this formicarium series.

 

 

[Antennal_Scrobe]

I think a less naturalistic bare white formicarium would be nice as an option. Keep up the good work!

[Ferox_Formicae]

I think a less naturalistic bare white formicarium would be nice as an option. Keep up the good work!

I may do this at some point, and may have it as an option as you said.