4 replies to this topic

[Moonlight_wolf]

Hi, I have noticed that my Lasius Neoniger ants are very good at bringing their trash into their outworld and disposing of it out there. But my camponotus nearcticus tend to store their trash in the corner of their nest, and I'm wondering if it's because they are wood nesting ants so their outworld wouldn't necessarily always be above them in the wild. Both my colonies have their outworld's above them, but I'm wondering if adding a second outworld to the side of my camponotus nearcticus colony might help them bring their trash out there. I would still use the first outworld, but the second one I'm wondering might be helpful for them to bring their trash into, because I read that some ants do better bringing their trash to an outworld that's next to them rather than above them. But would it be confusing to my ants if they had two separate outworlds?

[ANTdrew]

No, it would not.

[FinWins]

Hi, I have noticed that my Lasius Neoniger ants are very good at bringing their trash into their outworld and disposing of it out there. But my camponotus nearcticus tend to store their trash in the corner of their nest, and I'm wondering if it's because they are wood nesting ants so their outworld wouldn't necessarily always be above them in the wild. Both my colonies have their outworld's above them, but I'm wondering if adding a second outworld to the side of my camponotus nearcticus colony might help them bring their trash out there. I would still use the first outworld, but the second one I'm wondering might be helpful for them to bring their trash into, because I read that some ants do better bringing their trash to an outworld that's next to them rather than above them. But would it be confusing to my ants if they had two separate outworlds?

Some ants are just like to keep trash in their nest, whether or not they have a outworld next to them. It also may be because they have too much space in their nest and lots of people have multiple outworlds for their ants.

Edited by FinWins, August 16 2022 - 11:55 AM.

[Moonlight_wolf]

Okay thanks guys! I'm gonna go ahead and buy an extra outworld for them. It doesn't hurt to try and see if that encourages them to bring their trash out. i don't think that the space is too large for them because they cover around 1/3 of the nest area, maybe a little bit more. But if they just like to keep their trash in their nest then I guess that's okay. It's a tar heel ants one so I can always just remove the glass and remove their trash every so often. But I'm gonna add an extra outworld to the side just in case that helps encourage them to remove their trash lol. 

[Serafine]

No, they would not.

In fact with Camponotus i'd always recommend adding a second outworld with about half a meter of tubing as dying workers will attempt to remove themselves from the colony  and if they can't they will just run round in the outworld until they drop dead which can be fairly disruptive for the rest of the workers there.

 

Also Camponotus storing cocoon hulls in the nest is normal. When they need the space they will remove them and drop them somewhere else (mine usually do that once in the spring and whenever they need the space).

Edited by Serafine, August 16 2022 - 3:39 PM.