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black light set ups on balconies

Started By BugFinder , Mar 13 2021 9:52 AM

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#1 Offline BugFinder - Posted March 13 2021 - 9:52 AM

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HI.  I live on the third floor, and I have a decent balcony.   Would it be dumb to try a black light set up on my balcony?  I was thinking about putting a white sheet on my grill, and a black light on the sheet.  

 

am i too high off the ground for that to work?


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#2 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 13 2021 - 10:13 AM

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I say go for it. Ants can fly pretty high, and you’ve got nothing to lose. (Other than neighbors thinking you’re weird, but isn’t that a pre-requisite of being an ant-keeper?)
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
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#3 Offline NickAnter - Posted March 13 2021 - 10:49 AM

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I would face the direction of the light outward--many species do not fly very high if they do not have to.


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 

#4 Offline BugFinder - Posted March 13 2021 - 10:58 AM

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I would face the direction of the light outward--many species do not fly very high if they do not have to.

 

I will do that.  My grill sits just higher than the balcony wall, so I was thinking about pointing setting the lamp on the grill and pointing it away from my home, toward the courtyard.  My apartment faces in toward the courtyard with the pool and fitness center, but there are lots of trees, grass, and shrubs out there, and I'm hoping, ant nests.


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#5 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 13 2021 - 1:18 PM

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Are there plugs by the pool? You could set up down there and really impress the neighbors.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#6 Offline manik - Posted March 13 2021 - 1:26 PM

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wait if i go hunting fot ants with a uv flash light it will be better? and if so what would be the best time to do so? 


#7 Offline BugFinder - Posted March 13 2021 - 1:38 PM

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wait if i go hunting fot ants with a uv flash light it will be better? and if so what would be the best time to do so? 

 

after dark, but I don't think a UV flashlight will be helpful unless you set it down in one place, either on a sheet or on a slab of concrete, and leave it there for a while to attract ants.


“If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”  ― Matshona Dhliwayo

 

My Journals:

Pogonomyrmex subdentatus

Camponotus Vicinus

Camponotus sansabeanus

Tetramorium (sp)

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

My Ant Goals!

#8 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 13 2021 - 1:40 PM

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wait if i go hunting fot ants with a uv flash light it will be better? and if so what would be the best time to do so?

The UV flashlights aren’t strong enough.

wait if i go hunting fot ants with a uv flash light it will be better? and if so what would be the best time to do so?

The UV flashlights aren’t strong enough.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#9 Offline manik - Posted March 13 2021 - 2:11 PM

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i think this one may work is a 80 led ultra bright, i will also give it a try and let the community know, but if is possible can you tell me at what time i should try it? thanks ! i live in NYC btw
20210313-165611-1.jpg


#10 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted March 13 2021 - 3:09 PM

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i think this one may work is a 80 led ultra bright, i will also give it a try and let the community know, but if is possible can you tell me at what time i should try it? thanks ! i live in NYC btw
20210313-165611-1.jpg

those just are not big enough. strips of backlights are best. you want a large area of space for the ant queens to see.


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#11 Offline ANTdrew - Posted March 13 2021 - 3:27 PM

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Manik, search the archives for the numerous threads on here about suitable bulbs to use. As for timing, go out on hot humid nights from early June on.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#12 Offline AleeGuy - Posted March 14 2021 - 6:38 AM

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If you're using it in or near indoors then I would get https://bioquipinc.c...t-bulb-110-vac/because it is a bulb so you'll need to connect it to an outlet through adapter or at a bulb lamp socket. If you want to use it like in the middle of a forest then you'll need a portable power station. It is 20 watt so it is pretty strong, and has the exact frequency of blacklight that that the insects most attracted to, that's what it says according to the description.

#13 Offline AleeGuy - Posted March 14 2021 - 6:48 AM

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Edited by AleeGuy, March 14 2021 - 6:48 AM.

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