20 replies to this topic

[That_one_ant_guy]

Two weeks ago, I went on a trip to the beach with my family, but when I came home I came back to horror... argentine ants were all over my ant shelf and room, when I uncovered my ants, my heart dropped... everything was dead, Camponotus Semitestaceus (60+ workers), dead. 12 queen B. Patagonicus colony (120+ workers), dead. Lasius sp., dead. 4 colonies of S molesta(15+ workers), dead. Solenopsis Xyloni colony(45+ workers), dead.. Mostly all of my founding colonies were gone too. I guess given enough time they were able to chew through cotton and plastic... Even my feeders were gone. The only one that wasn't invaded were my lios, in a mini hearth xl. My T. Immigrans, with 150ish workers was attacked but they were able to defend, they lost about 100 workers. When my dad came in to see, he said that it would've been an epic battle, but deep down I knew that they stood no chance... I guess I'm back to square one...

[lazyant]

Bro.... that's tough, I wish I could do something, this happened my first year of keeping. Hopefully you will catch some queens this season.

[dspdrew]

That's horrible. Where exactly did they manage to make it into those formicariums?

[aznphenom]

Air tight. Escape proof and entry proof is key. Why I stopped with the those acrylic outworlds that need to be connected when I also lost a couple of colonies to invaders.

[FloridaAnts]

I almost lost a lot of my Camponotus early on due to some little black ants who came for nectar. What the epic battle was when I moved the invicta in front of them, they never came back…

[That_one_ant_guy]

I think the reason why they went for my colonies was because I gave them tons of food, and byformica nector before we left, and I guess they smelled it. For my C. Semitestaceus they bit through the vinyl tubing, the same for my B. Patagonicus. My solenopsis xyloni was in a ac portal + test tube, and they were able to squeeze though the air holes. And the rest were in Test tubes, and they bit through the cotton

Edited by That_one_ant_guy, June 22 2022 - 8:47 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Put your ants on a desk or table with its legs resting in dishes of vinegar and water mixture.

[FloridaAnts]

Put your ants on a desk or table with its legs resting in dishes of vinegar and water mixture.

I know someone who’s trick is to not put the table(it has wheels) up against chairs or walls and then Pharoah ants won’t come…

[dspdrew]

I think the reason why they went for my colonies was because I gave them tons of food, and byformica nector before we left, and I guess they smelled it. For my C. Semitestaceus they bit through the vinyl tubing, the same for my B. Patagonicus. My solenopsis xyloni was in a ac portal + test tube, and they were able to squeeze though the air holes. And the rest were in Test tubes, and they bit through the cotton

 

I'm not sure I understand how Argentine ants bit through vinyl tubing. There is just no way. Are you sure there wasn't some other way they got in? What I also don't get is why they would work that hard to chew all the way through a cotton plug and INTO a test tube. What was in the test tube other than a little ant colony?

[gcsnelling]

How long were you away?

[T.C.]

Did you take any pictures?

[That_one_ant_guy]

I think the reason why they went for my colonies was because I gave them tons of food, and byformica nector before we left, and I guess they smelled it. For my C. Semitestaceus they bit through the vinyl tubing, the same for my B. Patagonicus. My solenopsis xyloni was in a ac portal + test tube, and they were able to squeeze though the air holes. And the rest were in Test tubes, and they bit through the cotton

I'm not sure I understand how Argentine ants bit through vinyl tubing. There is just no way. Are you sure there wasn't some other way they got in? What I also don't get is why they would work that hard to chew all the way through a cotton plug and INTO a test tube. What was in the test tube other than a little ant colony?

sorry I should've specified, but they didn't burrow directly though the tubing, they made a big enough gap so they could fit in the outworld and as for the test tunes I didn't put much cotton, and I also gave each of them nector, and a piece of superworm

Edited by That_one_ant_guy, June 22 2022 - 5:24 PM.

[That_one_ant_guy]

How long were you away?

2 weeks

[buglover123]

Do you mind posting pictures of your setup? How were argentine ants able to get in to begin with?

[That_one_ant_guy]

The blue line represents their trail, and the red represent where my colonies were

[dspdrew]

What does the black represent?

 

Did you make that hole where the vinyl tubing went into that container?

[NickAnter]

 In regards to the tube plugs, just how tight were they? I don't see how they would be able to get into something that Brachymyrmex patagonicus or Solenopsis molesta wouldn't be able to get out of. Were the tubes connected to outworlds, or just standard founding setups? If it's the latter it seems even more unlucky, and extremely difficult to prevent.

[PurdueEntomology]

Put your ants on a desk or table with its legs resting in dishes of vinegar and water mixture.

Yes, we should all try such a technique to keep our escapee's in and unwanted visitors (raiders) out!!!

[Idontexist]

This makes my blood boil. I would capture the argentine queens and burn them, torture them, cut their heads off, ugh

[That_one_ant_guy]

What does the black represent?

Did you make that hole where the vinyl tubing went into that container?

the black is just to cover something, and yes I melted the plastic in the outworld