6 replies to this topic

[gs5248]

I stated in a previous post that I had caught a Formica queen in Tahoe. Well, she layed 3 eggs. Now I have never kept Formica before, so does anyone have any tips?

[Lillyrose]

Have you checked out the care sheets?

https://www.formicul...nt-care-sheets/

[NPLT]

I'll try to answer from what I understand from my research and my foggy memory of my colony 3 years ago. Anyway, Formica is a very varied genus, so, there probably is no singular guide for the whole of it.

 

The species that establish colonies through social parasistism are, in many cases, aggresive, quite tricky to found due to the aforementioned parasitism, and in many cases protected by law as they are incredibly important for forest habitats ( gets even trickier when attempting to care for dedicated slave makers like in the now not used subgenus of Raptiformica ).

 

Social parasites like those from the now unused subgenus of Coptoformica aside, Formica are usually timid and easily scared, rarely aggresive ( there are some exceptions ), and easy to care as they are adaptable, can be usually kept in room temperatures but take kindly to any form of heating, like it quite dry ~50% humidity, feed insects as they do not eat protein in other forms, honey slightly diluted by water, try to avoid disturbances as that can send them into panic mode.

 

( quick note: I have no experience with the now unused subgenus of Neoformica and my research mainly concerned the now unused subgenus of Serviformica )

( sorry for using outdated nomenclature, but in Poland, the distinctions are often still found in texts and I simply find it easier to still use it, similarly how some ant shops still use Camponotus xiangban or some people still referring to ants from such genus'es like Colobopsis or Dinomyrmex as Camponotus )

Edited by NPLT, April 19 2021 - 12:07 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Care for Formica is pretty standard. You want to keep in mind that they are very sensitive ants, so the less you disturb them the better. Whatever formicarium you keep them in needs to be able to absorb the formic acid they spray when they get spooked. I think the ideal is a dirt style ant farm nest, but you will lose visibility. Tarheel Ants nests would be great, too. Steer clear of anything acrylic. They really like small foods they can drag quickly into their nest.

[gs5248]

Nice. I just received a mini hearth and already have that ready for the future.

[Canadant]

I second what Antdrew has said. I'm currently raising a colony and they're coming along nicely. Give them space when founding cause they really are skittish. As my colony has grown their skittishness has gone down some. Also, do chop the protein up into smaller chunks. I learned that one just recently. They drag everything back to their nest. It looked like a real struggle for them so as I went smaller in size it became much easier for them. Also, something I'm noticing is that they don't have a designated garbage pile like most other ant species I've raised. It's kinda just dumped anywhere. Not sure if that will be a thing in the future but the outworld will need to be accessible. You'll be picking around in there. Mini hearth is an awesome start. They've deposited some garbage in my formicarium as I didn't have a mid-step after the test tube phase. Hopefully they'll clean it as the colony grows. Last, my have done much better with constant heat.

They're awesome ants though. I'm looking forward to them the most.

Edited by Canadant, April 21 2021 - 9:08 AM.

[ANTdrew]

That's an impressive colony you got there!