32 replies to this topic

[RushmoreAnts]

I ignored them, but killed them if I saw them inside.

[Manitobant]

I didn't mind them. I have always been into insects but I just thought of ants as a random family of bugs, nothing out of the ordinary.

[Ferox_Formicae]

I just kind of accepted they were there. I thought other groups like Mantids were better, but they're not eusocial! I still do adore Mantids though...

[ponerinecat]

Loved em.

[Vendayn]

Before I kept ants:

Kill all argentine ants

 

After I kept ants:

Kill all argentine ants

[ANTdrew]

I took a meandering path to my current obsession with ants. It actually started with an obsession with birds, which led me to the world of native plants. Everything I read about native plants mentioned how they help boost insect populations, so I really started to focus on the insects in my yard. At first, I was solely focused on bees and wasps, and I realize now how blind I was to the ants all around me. So to answer the original question, I would just say sort of oblivious.

Edited by ANTdrew, February 22 2020 - 7:16 PM.

[Acutus]

Great Question!! I've always liked ants. Well except for the damn tiny black ants that invade my house all Spring, Summer, and Fall LOL. However in the course of my job managing a Camp property I come into conflict with many ant colonies. I would usually have to  spray and kill them or something.

This past year instead of killing I took the time to capture them whenever it was humanly possible! I got 2 really nice C. chromiaodes colonies, a C. castaneus colony, which is my favorite! I also got 2 Aphaenogaster colonies (1 has since passed) and a Crematogaster as well.

[Ferox_Formicae]

Great Question!! I've always liked ants. Well except for the damn tiny black ants that invade my house all Spring, Summer, and Fall LOL. However in the course of my job managing a Camp property I come into conflict with many ant colonies. I would usually have to  spray and kill them or something.

This past year instead of killing I took the time to capture them whenever it was humanly possible! I got 2 really nice C. chromiaodes colonies, a C. castaneus colony, which is my favorite! I also got 2 Aphaenogaster colonies (1 has since passed) and a Crematogaster as well.

What's the appeal of castaneus again? They're just so common here. They're more common than pennsylvanicus in most areas. I prefer americanus myself, but my two favorite Camponotus in my region are socius (which I've never seen) and the coastal floridanus.

[OhNoNotAgain]

For original question: It was a long time ago, and I was keeping ants on and off as a kid and into young adulthood, with decades of hiatus in between. What I remember of back then is I liked ants, could watch them for long stretches at a time, liked watching them in toy formicaria, but it didn't stop me from doing the magnifying glass thing at some point....  (I don't remember when that was compared to the formicaria thing. Probably before.)

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, February 22 2020 - 9:46 PM.

[ponerinecat]

 

Great Question!! I've always liked ants. Well except for the damn tiny black ants that invade my house all Spring, Summer, and Fall LOL. However in the course of my job managing a Camp property I come into conflict with many ant colonies. I would usually have to  spray and kill them or something.

This past year instead of killing I took the time to capture them whenever it was humanly possible! I got 2 really nice C. chromiaodes colonies, a C. castaneus colony, which is my favorite! I also got 2 Aphaenogaster colonies (1 has since passed) and a Crematogaster as well.

What's the appeal of castaneus again? They're just so common here. They're more common than pennsylvanicus in most areas. I prefer americanus myself, but my two favorite Camponotus in my region are socius (which I've never seen) and the coastal floridanus.

 

Vibrant colors mostly.

[ANTdrew]

Exactly. Big golden ants; what’s not to love?

[NickAnter]

I have always, since I could remember, been interested in all insects including ants.

[ponerinecat]

I have always, since I could remember, been interested in all insects including ants.

Exactly. what's not to love? I remember scrounging around under bushes flipping tiles at the age of five.

[NickAnter]

Yeah, at preschool finding a really cool, sadly dead, blue iridescent wasp, and playing with Pogonomyrmex in the first and second grade.

[RushmoreAnts]

I’ve always like arthropods, yet didn’t see why ants stood out among them. I always appreciated the diversity among Rhopalocera, though.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

I looked for ant hills to squash when I was younger (mostly because my dad had a seething hatred for them).

[Ants_Dakota]

I have always liked insects, but ants were just a thing you order online and put in your uncle Milton ant farm.

[Temperateants]

I've always liked ants, but not enough to keep them. I remember as a kid seeing ants in the lights of my house, and always freaking out when people killed ants indiscriminately. LOL. Now when I was REALLY young, if I still remeber correctly, I was swarmed by some big black ants, proabbly C. pennslyvanicus. The thing that hooking me, like many other keepers, was AntsCanada's vids that got into the Trending tab of Youtube, like when his fireants tried to escape and when his ants devoured a pregnant cockroach. 

[Thunder_Birds]

Good question...yeah, I didn’t care much about them:) 

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

I've always liked ants, but not enough to keep them. I remember as a kid seeing ants in the lights of my house, and always freaking out when people killed ants indiscriminately. LOL. Now when I was REALLY young, if I still remeber correctly, I was swarmed by some big black ants, proabbly C. pennslyvanicus. The thing that hooking me, like many other keepers, was AntsCanada's vids that got into the Trending tab of Youtube, like when his fireants tried to escape and when his ants devoured a pregnant cockroach. 

it was kind of over-exaggerated at times and frankly disturbing, but also sparked my love of ants