3 replies to this topic

[Max_Connor]

I've been looking through some recipes of media for fruit flies, and all of them include yeast, as soon as fruit flies eat the fungal cells themselves, not fruit.

But can you actually use yeast in order to feed ants directly? I mean ant species that don't grow fungus gardens but eat different fruits and maybe oats. Maybe you could trick ants into feeding on the fungus somehow?

Yeast cells are not like plant cells, and technically there's nothing special in them that ants could not digest...

Edited by Max_Connor, May 4 2022 - 7:40 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Some ants like Tetramorium may eat it. It would not make a good staple, though.

[Manitobant]

The only ant that eats yeast that i know of is cyphomyrmex, a genus of fungus growers. These guys cultivate a species of yeast as food by feeding it dead plant material and insect frass, similarly to leafcutters and their respective fungus species.

[Max_Connor]

The only ant that eats yeast that i know of is cyphomyrmex, a genus of fungus growers. These guys cultivate a species of yeast as food by feeding it dead plant material and insect frass, similarly to leafcutters and their respective fungus species.

Ok, that's an interesting genus.
The other idea is to use yeast to prevent formicariums from getting moldy. Yeast can at least hold mold growth, and if ants don't eat it, maybe it could replace mites or mealy bugs
Just curious if anyone has tried these things with yeast