110 replies to this topic

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

yea, he dislikes ants but knows I've spent my money on them so he can't get rid of them unless he want a major sh*t-show to happen

[RushmoreAnts]

I’ve gotten mad at my dad for bumping my ants accidentally........

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

I've gotten mad at my dad for doubting ants lol

[justanotheramy]

Just my opinion and somewhat off-topic, but:

If you young guys want to find girlfriends who are into or okay with inverts, I'm guessing you might start by hanging out with nerdier young women, if you can find any. If nothing else it's fun to geek out in mixed gender groups (I was able to do this in college because I went to a nerd haven college). On FB I've recently begun hanging out with a bunch of people who are into inverts, and most of us are women. But also, in my experience, nerd women are less into societal expectations/appearances and are more into ... being nerds (shock) ... so give and take goes both ways.

.
Not at all off topic IMHO.
Little dudes. Seriously. Get the chip off your shoulder and find less boring girls to spend time with. And take an interest in her interests, don't just expect her to be an audience for your interests.
Also, everyone gets less f*cking insecure as they get older, and that makes them less afraid to admit to being interested in things that aren't bland and predictable — and the ones that don't get easier to avoid. 
It honestly does get less sh*t. Don't let the b*stards warp you in the meantime — and enjoy your ants because you enjoy them, other people are their own problem.

Signed,
A middle aged woman who used to be a nerdy girl nobody talked to.


[edit: this forum censors "b*stard"?  ]

Edited by justanotheramy, March 10 2020 - 4:34 PM.

[FSTP]

I got mad at my dad for thinking about my ants. 

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

lol'

[Thunder_Birds]

Haha

[zantezaint]

Yeah. Same thing happened to me. I got some waxworm from a women selling from her home, and she asked me what I am feeding. There was a big fat question mark above her head when I told her.

[justanotheramy]

There was a big fat question mark above her head when I told her.

 

.
IDK, maybe I'm projecting here, but before an Ants Australia vid popped up in my FB timeline for some reason 5 or 6 years ago it had never occurred to me that there was any middle ground between back-of-comic-book plastic "ant farms" of childhood and something you might see in a university research lab in a documentary.
Seeing my first example of what I think of (with tongue slightly in cheek) as "modern home ant keeping" (user-friendly, modular, housing functional colonies) set off 2 lightbulbs: doh! of course! and how can I justify getting one?
If anyone had been in the room they probably wouldn't have described my expression in a flattering way.

So, maybe the reactions y'all are getting isn't "wow, this weirdo has ants" — maybe at least sometimes it's "ZOMG, you mean I get to have ants?"

Having a pic or 2 somewhere easy to access of cute beginner setups might be useful for these and other situations. Like, you may soon want to devote an entire room to keeping a collection of small civilisations captive, but look! it doesn't have to start out that way.
 

Edited by justanotheramy, March 11 2020 - 1:57 AM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

Most people have never seen queen ants, so pics of queen ants taking care of their first brood might be a good ice breaker. Bonus points for cute nanitics.

[ponerinecat]

My dad's gotten mad at me for keeping ants

[RushmoreAnts]

Most people have never seen queen ants, so pics of queen ants taking care of their first brood might be a good ice breaker. Bonus points for cute nanitics.

Except most people can’t even tell queens from workers. They have to look hard to even tell they’re bigger.

[justanotheramy]

Most people have never seen queen ants, so pics of queen ants taking care of their first brood might be a good ice breaker. Bonus points for cute nanitics.

The kids in my daughter's class loved the queen.
An enraptured 6 year old exclaiming "oh! she's glorious!" is… all the feels 

Edited by justanotheramy, March 11 2020 - 4:17 PM.

[OhNoNotAgain]

 

Most people have never seen queen ants, so pics of queen ants taking care of their first brood might be a good ice breaker. Bonus points for cute nanitics.

The kids in my daughter's class loved the queen.
An enraptured 6 year old exclaiming "oh! she's glorious!" is… all the feels 

 

 

Yup, little kids love seeing queen ants. They remember my biggest queen (C. sansabeanus), esp. when I called her the "mean queen." C. fragilis they had trouble figuring out which was the queen. The other colonies it was pretty obvious. And of course they were disappointed with the Uncle Milton and its mail-order workers sans queen.

 

But even most adults I've talked to are at least a little bit curious about queen ants (granted they tend to be more mature, parents, and some are in the more technical/nerd side of things). It helps to show pics of ants with a good contrast in size, like even Tetramorium. They can easily figure out the queen then. Common quote even with adults: "Oh wow, it's so big!"

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, March 11 2020 - 4:35 PM.

[justanotheramy]

Aphaenogaster longiceps queens are often described as "ugly" by ant-people, but the kids really did find her beautiful.
The wide-eyed adoration of "glorious!" was my absolute favourite though.

​Other parents were really curious about the ants, too, and teachers from other classes.

 

[Ants_Dakota]

Aphaenogaster in general is really pretty with it's shiny or even red color. I feel like if i ever get a colony of A. Rudis, it would be my show to everyone colony.

[RushmoreAnts]

Aphaenogaster can vary in coloration. They can be red or black, but more often a blend of the two.

[Ants_Dakota]

What is the colony you would show to everyone, AntsDakota?

Edited by Ants_Dakota, March 12 2020 - 12:23 PM.

[RushmoreAnts]

What do you mean? I show all my colonies to everyone......

[Ants_Dakota]

What do you mean? I show all my colonies to everyone......

I mean, the colony you think everyone would like the best. you don't even have to own it.