56 replies to this topic

[M_Ants]

Has anyone kept I. minor or similar before? If so got any advice? I am hopefully getting some.

Edited by M_Ants, January 7 2021 - 7:32 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Don’t abbreviate genus until everyone knows what you are referring to.

[M_Ants]

My bad. It is in the termite section though.

[Vendayn]

Well, I haven't had much luck with them. The ones here are weird. They dry up so fast and need it pretty damp with rotten wood and humidity. Everyone including GC snelling says incisitermes minor though.

 

But this guy seems to have great success. Hasn't been around in a long time, but what a great colony. Maybe replicate his setup?

 

https://www.formicul...ermites-colony/

Edited by Vendayn, January 7 2021 - 8:55 PM.

[M_Ants]

Lol. I was just reading that. I don't understand what his setup exactly is. Is it literally just dowels in a jar? 

[Vendayn]

Lol. I was just reading that. I don't understand what his setup exactly is. Is it literally just dowels in a jar? 

Literally is that.

[M_Ants]

Hmmm. Where do I get safe dowels and do I drill a starter hole or anything for them? Also would the hardness of the dowel matter?

[ParadoxAnts]

Hmmm. Where do I get safe dowels and do I drill a starter hole or anything for them? Also would the hardness of the dowel matter?

I've kept drywoods before and I just picked up some dowels from the craft store. The plain ones, without color. I don't know what type of wood or the softness though so this probably isn't much help. They did just fine in that setup for almost a year, and then my parents told me they don't want me keeping termites anymore and I had to freeze them last year. 

[M_Ants]

How'd you start them off? I'm buying some queen/king pairs. Do I just buy dowels and throw the termites in and that's it?

[ParadoxAnts]

How'd you start them off? I'm buying some queen/king pairs. Do I just buy dowels and throw the termites in and that's it?

I caught many pairs of alates, and put them each in a small jar with a small but thick dowel. When they started out, each pair only had one dowel. I drilled a small starting hole halfway through each dowel. 

Most of the alates didn't start a colony. I think 2-3 got workers, but eventually those passed and I only had one colony left. I kept adding dowels as more workers were born. Eventually the jar was filled with dowels and termites. 

By the way, I think I started with 7 pairs so you probably want a lot of pairs to get at least one colony. Termite founding rates are pretty low, at least in captivity.

[M_Ants]

Ummmm. About that... I'm buying them and they're $10 a pair so I'd have to spend a lot of money to have a bunch of pairs. Do you think I'm throwing away my money if I only buy a few pairs?

[ParadoxAnts]

Ummmm. About that... I'm buying them and they're $10 a pair so I'd have to spend a lot of money to have a bunch of pairs. Do you think I'm throwing away my money if I only buy a few pairs?

Not necessarily. If you get 3 or 4 pairs there’s a chance you’ll get a colony.

 Though, if you really want to have a colony in the end, I’d get the pairs as well as go out to a forest and collect a colony from rotten wood. Termites are really easy to find in rotten wood, and most species can make reproductives (their nymphs develop into reproductives if a part of the colony without the original queen and king are collected). This is not guaranteed though, as there’s always the chance that the nymphs won’t do this.

With the pairs of alates, and a collected large wild colony, your chances of getting a termite colony are pretty high. 

 

There was someone selling like 1000 termites for $25 shipped on FaunaClassifieds months ago, but I don’t think they’re active anymore because I messaged them with no response.

 

Also, termites fly year round so keep an eye out for flights in your area. Termites fly in the thousands.

[M_Ants]

Yeah. I'm most likely not going to find any. Don't have any forests near me. Termites already flew around me but I couldn't get any.

[ParadoxAnts]

Yeah. I'm most likely not going to find any. Don't have any forests near me. Termites already flew around me but I couldn't get any.

Oh. The termites will fly again, trust me. 

 

Also, if you are looking specifically for drywood termites I once saw a colony in a wooden fence. There are a lot of drywoods in Southern CA. 

[M_Ants]

I've kept my eye out for flights all year and only saw one in a golf course. They never fly by my house.

[antsandmore]

lol, i didn't catch my termites in my backyard, that is hard. I just go to trails near me. 

[M_Ants]

I go to trails all the time and never see flights.

[antsandmore]

o. well, technically, my termites weren't caught at a flight, but right after. They usually hide in the leaves on the ground. That's where my brothers found them.

[M_Ants]

I tried that. Went right back to where the flight was and searched. Found nothing.

[Vendayn]

Incisitermes minor are the kind of termites that fly in the same exact area, the same exact direction, every year. They even fly exactly the same time (though there is slight variations for this). This makes them both easy to get, but they can be pretty localized if they aren't widespread. Say they are in someones house, this will pretty localized area they will fly from and to (from my observations anyway). I remember at my school, it was kind of a business area it was based in at the time. There would only be a single, very small, area that they'd fly to. And it be the same exact area every year. Where as, where I live, they are in every single burnt out dead tree (a fire went through the river here a long time ago) that there is. So, the entire area gets filled with alates and its pretty widespread.

 

Now, not to change the termite species this topic is about. But, you can buy dampwood termites and tbh, I think dampwood termites are certainly easier. You won't get a queen/male out of it, but its similar to termitat, where I believe 2 or 3 people got termitat and got secondary reproductives. 

 

https://www.wardsci....otermopsis-sp-i

 

For 30 termites, it costs 40 USD which seems a little much to me, but then again I'm poor lol. Plus there is that gamble of them just not molting eventually into secondary reproductives. Ignore them when they say they don't ship reproductives, the workers (if they are young enough) can turn into them (but there probably is a gamble to this, the small sampling at least from termitat has been pretty much 100% of them getting secondary reproductives, so 2 for 2. but there is that risk).

 

But back to the subject of the species this thread is about. if you want Incisitermes minor, you do kinda have to get lucky with their flights and know where a colony is and where they fly. They are a species of extreme habit when it comes to their flights and where they go. On other hand, if you know of dead trees around, its very possible they can be up in one. Its also possible there are beehives and other far more nasty things in that tree. I remember me and my dad were kicking this dead tree somewhere seeing if any termites would come out...and uh...well bees came out and started swarming...luckily they were native (mostly) non-aggressive bees rofl.

Edited by Vendayn, January 8 2021 - 10:09 AM.