35 replies to this topic

[cap_backfire]

 

but they seem to be doing well except for the poor little gal that can't figure out where to dump her dead sister.  just carries her around the upper-levels/ sticks.

My T. septentrionalis do the exact same thing. Whenever they have a dead worker, they just parade her corpse in circles around the outworld and can never find a spot to set it. I'm not sure what it's about. I've started using forceps to take the dead body away so that the carrier can go back to her normal duties.

 

 

Maybe I'll attach a tube that goes off a few feet... Let them use that for garbage and stock THAT with springtails... It's a possibility?  

[antscientist]

I have an Atta Texana colony and it's winter where I live and I think they're going in the 2-3 months of reduced foraging and their fungus seems pretty small. I was wonder if there would be any way to try to keep the fungus the same size till the 2-3 months of reduced foraging goes away.

[LawOfOne1]

Awesome post! what's an appropriate temperature for Acromyrmex versicolor?

I'm worried mine are too cold when it's getting down to 64F here at night

 

thanks

[aznphenom]

 Is there a magic number for atta texicana queens per colony? 2? 3? 4? etc

[CheetoLord02]

I have heard that groups of 3 usually do the best, although I haven't personally kept them or experimented with them.

[ZTYguy]

Awesome post! what's an appropriate temperature for Acromyrmex versicolor?

I'm worried mine are too cold when it's getting down to 64F here at night

 

thanks

A good temp is around 75 degrees but they can stand cold pretty well. Just make sure it actually isn’t too hot.

[LawOfOne1]

 

Awesome post! what's an appropriate temperature for Acromyrmex versicolor?

I'm worried mine are too cold when it's getting down to 64F here at night

 

thanks

A good temp is around 75 degrees but they can stand cold pretty well. Just make sure it actually isn’t too hot.

 

 

ok cool that's what I'm doing! Thanks!

[cutchins]

Love this guide! I must have read and re-read dozens of times prior to and after purchasing my first A. versicolor colony. Thanks for putting it together!

 

@Cheeto, has there been any additional learnings gleaned about Versicolor keeping, or leafcutters in general, since this write up was first compiled? 

 

I think it would be awesome to maybe put together a list of common mistakes people make with these ants, or maybe common symptoms and their causes and fixes, etc. 

 

Are there big differences between moisture tolerance for the tropical Atta's versus the desert leafcutters? I've read that neither like standing water in the nesting chamber, which makes sense because they raise the same fungus, so if it doesn't like direct contact with water for one, it won't with the other either. It seems like the extremely different environments these species are found in would mean that they have evolved to deal with moisture or lack of moisture differently. (For example Versicolors hanging their fungus from the ceiling). But, aside from fungus die off causing a lack of food for the workers, is there anything else about too much moisture or oversaturated plaster that might be deadly to workers for instance? Maybe the growth of other non-beneficial fungus or pathogens that are harmful to the ants? What behaviors would you expect to see from the workers in a colony that is dealing with too much water in the chamber? Do the ants do anything to combat it? Or ignore it?

 

I've ready elsewhere that it's almost impossible to over-hydrate a petri-dish or deli cup style founding formicarium. Would you say that's true? Or should we limit the hydration to some level? Should moisture be visible on the surface of the plaster or should the plaster just be saturated enough to change its color, for example?

 

Sorry if i'm asking a lot, but this seems like the perfect place to add on any additional observations anyone has made lately. Especially if people have made mistakes and learned from them!

 

Thanks for any input anyone can provide!

 

EDIT:  Fixed capitalization of A. versicolor.

Edited by cutchins, March 1 2024 - 9:17 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Please put an uppercase When you say A.versicolor.

Cheers!

Edited by GOCAMPONOTUS, March 2 2024 - 12:19 PM.

[shopkin]

The first letter of the genus name is always capitalized but the species name is always lower case.  Both should be either underlined or italicized.

Edited by shopkin, March 2 2024 - 10:37 PM.

[cutchins]

....well anyway.

 

Has anyone experimented with using a dedicated water dispenser in the outworld of a leafcutter colony? I recently saw a picture of a thriving colony that used a water dispenser in the outworld. From the picture it looked like the colony was quite fond of the dispenser, despite all of the fungus chambers being quite moist.

 

Since this guide and others I've seen have always indicated that additional water and food are not necessary for a leafcutter colony because the ants get everything they need from the fungus, I'm wondering if anyone else has experimented with a water dispenser and if they noticed any benefits to their colony? I asked a leafcutter vendor that I trust and she indicated that she had heard anecdotally that it might increase worker longevity, but she wanted to experiment herself.

 

Anyone here experienced with leafcutters have any observations related to this?

[Gamer700]

What do you recommend for people that will buy them(just asking)

[The_Gaming-gate]

Probably the standard Atta or Acromyrmex. I doubt you find very much sellers for the others.

[CheetoLord02]

For those of you who have enjoyed this guide, I have wonderful news. I currently have a new and improved leafcutter ant guide in the works! This one will come in the form of a YouTube video posted on my channel. My goal with this guide is to be painfully exhaustive - to cover every single last detail I can possibly think of for every single possible species I can think of. I'll be covering a massive number of fungus growing genera, giving excruciating details for every single one. Currently the script is 23 pages long, and I'm maybe halfway done writing it. For the time being I think this guide holds up decently well, but there is a TON I am improving on dramatically, so chances are if you have been left with any lingering questions after reading this guide, they'll be answered in my upcoming video.

If you haven't checked out my YouTube, definitely go and subscribe so you don't miss when it comes out. And hey, my other videos are pretty cool too, if you want to watch those.

https://www.youtube....odAntics/videos

[M_Ants]

For those of you who have enjoyed this guide, I have wonderful news. I currently have a new and improved leafcutter ant guide in the works! This one will come in the form of a YouTube video posted on my channel. My goal with this guide is to be painfully exhaustive - to cover every single last detail I can possibly think of for every single possible species I can think of. I'll be covering a massive number of fungus growing genera, giving excruciating details for every single one. Currently the script is 23 pages long, and I'm maybe halfway done writing it. For the time being I think this guide holds up decently well, but there is a TON I am improving on dramatically, so chances are if you have been left with any lingering questions after reading this guide, they'll be answered in my upcoming video.

If you haven't checked out my YouTube, definitely go and subscribe so you don't miss when it comes out. And hey, my other videos are pretty cool too, if you want to watch those.

https://www.youtube....odAntics/videos

Please do some stuff on Cyphos from founding queens if possible!

[CheetoLord02]

Hey everyone, long time no see.

I'm sure those of you who have been around for a while will remember this fungus grower guide I made nearly four years ago. It was well received, but it has definitely become outdated.

And so, for the last year, I've taken it upon myself to make it better. I wanted to take all the information I've learned over the past nearly 5 years of keeping and observing fungus growing ants to make the ultimate, all-inclusive guide for the care of every Attina possible. And so I did - in video form this time!

https://youtu.be/VBH...wbWv8Qa0uJ0LeWH


Needless to say this was a huge undertaking of work, and something I'm very excited to share with the greater antkeeping community. I hope you like it, and hope it helps! It's certainly a dramatic improvement over this old guide, to say the least.