6 replies to this topic

[NikolaBale]

Hey guys...Lately being very active lol.

 

As the topic title would suggest my question is about this very unique and rare ant in the hobby.

They are actually native here where i live, i can confidently catch maybe 10 or more which is a lot considering how few alates they produce.

 

I've been catching them for two years and tried founding at least 15 queens...Nothing, i got one queen to produce 2 workers after that, zero success.

Out of the very few people i have seen and contacted with somewhat successful colonies i got mixed info.Some say i need to introduce workers because they "adopt" queens?

Some say they are claustral  some say they aren't.So a lot of info that kind of contradicts itself.Especially considering the one queen that had 2w, i did nothing special, just kept her like any other queen.

 

So yeah a big mix of info and still nothing.At this point i have tried all of those things people claimed did the trick with them...

 

Any tips or info on founding these ants would be helpful, but i don't expect there are a lot of people that have kept them or even less see this post...Oh well.

 

Thanks!

 

[GreekAnts]

They are semi-claustral and they need to eat during founding, a friend has a colony and it has 20+ workers, he told me he put the queen in a small nest connected to a outworld (I think ytong or clay) and put food on the outworld, he told me never use test tubes with them.
If someone you know has a colony or know a place with wild ones you can get some pupae and boost her.

[NikolaBale]

They are semi-claustral and they need to eat during founding, a friend has a colony and it has 20+ workers, he told me he put the queen in a small nest connected to a outworld (I think ytong or clay) and put food on the outworld, he told me never use test tubes with them.
If someone you know has a colony or know a place with wild ones you can get some pupae and boost her.

Is boosting necessary? I don't have any way of getting pupa.Digging out a colony is something i don't really want to do because they don't nest under rocks so pupa is not easy to get.

I'll definitely try different methods.I assumed the problem was a poor environment, some species just don't like artificial conditions.Thanks for your help.

 

PS: Something like a mini Tarheelants nest with a water tower theoretically seem like the perfect founding set up.

[GreekAnts]

 

They are semi-claustral and they need to eat during founding, a friend has a colony and it has 20+ workers, he told me he put the queen in a small nest connected to a outworld (I think ytong or clay) and put food on the outworld, he told me never use test tubes with them.
If someone you know has a colony or know a place with wild ones you can get some pupae and boost her.

Is boosting necessary? I don't have any way of getting pupa.Digging out a colony is something i don't really want to do because they don't nest under rocks so pupa is not easy to get.

I'll definitely try different methods.I assumed the problem was a poor environment, some species just don't like artificial conditions.Thanks for your help.

 

PS: Something like a mini Tarheelants nest with a water tower theoretically seem like the perfect founding set up.

 

Boosting is not necessary, I agree, digging up colonies is bad, I asked my friend and he told me the method that worked for him is a small ytong or clay nest filled with sand and a small outworld with a test tube with water so she can drink.
He fed his queen only proteins (insects) but he said you can feed sugars too, never kept cataglyphis my self but I hope someday I will, hope it helps. 
 

Edited by GreekAnts, October 13 2021 - 1:41 PM.

[NikolaBale]

 

 

They are semi-claustral and they need to eat during founding, a friend has a colony and it has 20+ workers, he told me he put the queen in a small nest connected to a outworld (I think ytong or clay) and put food on the outworld, he told me never use test tubes with them.
If someone you know has a colony or know a place with wild ones you can get some pupae and boost her.

Is boosting necessary? I don't have any way of getting pupa.Digging out a colony is something i don't really want to do because they don't nest under rocks so pupa is not easy to get.

I'll definitely try different methods.I assumed the problem was a poor environment, some species just don't like artificial conditions.Thanks for your help.

 

PS: Something like a mini Tarheelants nest with a water tower theoretically seem like the perfect founding set up.

 

Boosting is not necessary, I agree, digging up colonies is bad, I asked my friend and he told me the method that worked for him is a small ytong or clay nest filled with sand and a small outworld with a test tube with water so she can drink.
He fed his queen only proteins (insects) but he said you can feed sugars too, never kept cataglyphis my self but I hope someday I will, hope it helps. 
 

 

I think like a single chamber plaster or y-thong nest will do the trick.I don't know why most people recommend sand lol, since where i live and actually in most of their range they nest in soil.

They are more than happy to nest in sand, i've seen them along sandy fields close to the beach.Still probably going to try both substrates.

 

Thanks for the info, i hope it works out this species is truly majestic.Its probably a joy to keep once you get pass the founding stage.

[GreekAnts]

 

 

 

They are semi-claustral and they need to eat during founding, a friend has a colony and it has 20+ workers, he told me he put the queen in a small nest connected to a outworld (I think ytong or clay) and put food on the outworld, he told me never use test tubes with them.
If someone you know has a colony or know a place with wild ones you can get some pupae and boost her.

Is boosting necessary? I don't have any way of getting pupa.Digging out a colony is something i don't really want to do because they don't nest under rocks so pupa is not easy to get.

I'll definitely try different methods.I assumed the problem was a poor environment, some species just don't like artificial conditions.Thanks for your help.

 

PS: Something like a mini Tarheelants nest with a water tower theoretically seem like the perfect founding set up.

 

Boosting is not necessary, I agree, digging up colonies is bad, I asked my friend and he told me the method that worked for him is a small ytong or clay nest filled with sand and a small outworld with a test tube with water so she can drink.
He fed his queen only proteins (insects) but he said you can feed sugars too, never kept cataglyphis my self but I hope someday I will, hope it helps. 
 

 

I think like a single chamber plaster or y-thong nest will do the trick.I don't know why most people recommend sand lol, since where i live and actually in most of their range they nest in soil.

They are more than happy to nest in sand, i've seen them along sandy fields close to the beach.Still probably going to try both substrates.

 

Thanks for the info, i hope it works out this species is truly majestic.Its probably a joy to keep once you get pass the founding stage.

 

I think they might need it to spin cacoons, you can try soil/sand mix too or pure sand, yea they are amazing, hope I will find a queensomeday.

[PetsNotPests]

 

 

 

 

They are semi-claustral and they need to eat during founding, a friend has a colony and it has 20+ workers, he told me he put the queen in a small nest connected to a outworld (I think ytong or clay) and put food on the outworld, he told me never use test tubes with them.
If someone you know has a colony or know a place with wild ones you can get some pupae and boost her.

Is boosting necessary? I don't have any way of getting pupa.Digging out a colony is something i don't really want to do because they don't nest under rocks so pupa is not easy to get.

I'll definitely try different methods.I assumed the problem was a poor environment, some species just don't like artificial conditions.Thanks for your help.

 

PS: Something like a mini Tarheelants nest with a water tower theoretically seem like the perfect founding set up.

 

Boosting is not necessary, I agree, digging up colonies is bad, I asked my friend and he told me the method that worked for him is a small ytong or clay nest filled with sand and a small outworld with a test tube with water so she can drink.
He fed his queen only proteins (insects) but he said you can feed sugars too, never kept cataglyphis my self but I hope someday I will, hope it helps. 
 

 

I think like a single chamber plaster or y-thong nest will do the trick.I don't know why most people recommend sand lol, since where i live and actually in most of their range they nest in soil.

They are more than happy to nest in sand, i've seen them along sandy fields close to the beach.Still probably going to try both substrates.

 

Thanks for the info, i hope it works out this species is truly majestic.Its probably a joy to keep once you get pass the founding stage.

 

I think they might need it to spin cacoons, you can try soil/sand mix too or pure sand, yea they are amazing, hope I will find a queensomeday.

 

As a member of the Formicidae group, Cataglyphis will in fact spin cocoons. Fine quartz sand works very well for this. You can buy some off of amazon for a fairly cheap price but make sure that there is no added chemicals that could potentially be harmful for the ants.