19 replies to this topic

[Swirlysnowflake]

Yesterday I was on a collecting trip looking for queen bumblebees when I noticed that there were tons of termites in the air. I collected 10 pairs and ID’d them as subterranean termites. I put 7 into test tubes without a water reservoir, (so they wouldn’t tunnel in and drown) rotten wood and dirt. The other 3 pairs are in small containers filled with dirt and wood. I’ll get pictures of them and their setups as soon as I can

I’ve heard termites are often finicky and a little hard to raise, but I still hope I’ll be able to get at least one colony out of these

[ZTYguy]

Nice! I caught a bunch of them yesterday and today. I caught about 15 and also a boat load of Brachymyrmex.

[M_Ants]

I caught some a while back as well and they have eggs. Just watch out for mold. 

[Kaelwizard]

Good luck!

[Swirlysnowflake]

eggs! 

[ZTYguy]

Woohoo!

[M_Ants]

Mine got some nymphs? I think that's what they're called. Anyhow they are tiny, like really tiny. Nearly impossible to see so if you see missing eggs it may not mean they were eaten. 

[Swirlysnowflake]

Does anyone know how long it takes until the eggs hatch?

[ANTdrew]

Termites take a long time to hatch.

[Swirlysnowflake]

Here are some terrible pictures of the eggs. It wouldn’t focus and I didn’t want to stress out the termites for too long.

[Swirlysnowflake]

Nymphs! In all the the tubes! This took two months from catching them, which is not too bad. I’ll probably start selling some of these soon

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[ANTdrew]

Awesome! Congrats!

[Swirlysnowflake]

The colonies now all have 2 to 8 nymphs, and they are growing bigger. One colonies tube has gotten really moldy though, so I’ll have to transfer them.

[cap_backfire]

This is awesome.  I've been considering looking for termites, mostly as a possible food source for my ants.   But I imagine I'll fall in love with them.   
I'll check out the rest of this forum for advice on general keeping and whatnot.  

[antsandmore]

Does anyone know how long it takes until the eggs hatch?

around one or two months from what i've heard.

edit: I posted before I saw the nymphs...I was right!

Edited by antsandmore, July 22 2021 - 9:37 AM.

[antsandmore]

This is awesome.  I've been considering looking for termites, mostly as a possible food source for my ants.   But I imagine I'll fall in love with them.   
I'll check out the rest of this forum for advice on general keeping and whatnot.  

well, they are very interesting to say the least. i've caught many just by flipping rocks in trails. they're cute, but they are also very good feeders for ants. I fed my crematogasters 1-5 a day until I ran out and they really loved it and the colony grew.

[cap_backfire]

When flipping rocks did you find the royal couple too or just scads of termites?   I think this could be very interesting.   I have to do some research.   

[antsandmore]

When flipping rocks did you find the royal couple too or just scads of termites?   I think this could be very interesting.   I have to do some research.   

i found many workers, but never the actual queen and king. 

Edited by antsandmore, July 22 2021 - 4:00 PM.

[cap_backfire]

 

When flipping rocks did you find the royal couple too or just scads of termites?   I think this could be very interesting.   I have to do some research.   

i found many workers, but never the actual queen and king. 

 

But you can GET reproductives from the workers?   Termites are CONFUSING.   I'm gonna be looking for them tonight and tomorrow morning.   

[antsandmore]

 

 

When flipping rocks did you find the royal couple too or just scads of termites?   I think this could be very interesting.   I have to do some research.   

i found many workers, but never the actual queen and king. 

 

But you can GET reproductives from the workers?   Termites are CONFUSING.   I'm gonna be looking for them tonight and tomorrow morning.   

 

well, yes. but the real thing is how long they may take to molt into a secondary reproductive and having two that will actually pair into the royal king and queen. they may all die before then, but as long as you don't feed them all to your ants, they should be fine. of course, I don't actually know any of this, i'm just guessing. good luck!