8 replies to this topic

[BaconPancakes]

So I am curious to hear from people to see what ants they feel are good species to keep for beginners.  Something maybe not too small and not too hard to keep.  What species have you had good experiences with and have  been fun to keep?

[drtrmiller]

In California?  If you can manage to get an established colony from someone—even a small one—that would be infinitely easier than establishing a colony from a single queen.  In fact, colony foundation is probably the single most difficult task any antkeeper experiences.

 

If you want something "not too small," the genus Camponotus is both large and relatively easy to keep, although like most ants, colonies are extremely fragile and stupid when in the founding stage.  A small Camponotus colony of 10 or so workers and a queen would be a great place to start.

 

If you have the opportunity to acquire an even larger colony, Pogonomyrmex or Veromessor are good sized ants, and are easy to keep after the founding stage.

Edited by drtrmiller, February 6 2016 - 11:57 PM.

[Vendayn]

Pogonomyrmex isn't too much a beginner friendly species. They aren't hard though. I found ones I got by the beach/coastal areas died super fast. Like within 2-3 days fast. But, with that said, the ones out in the desert are vastly easier. Even though both that I got were Pogonomyrmex californicus, I found far more success if I got them out east instead of closer to the coast. The ones in the desert are far hardier and a lot faster too than the coastal/local variety. Overall, I found Veromessor to be a lot easier, but hard to find a queen of them. With that said, the Pogonomyrmex californicus I've found locally in Irvine seem to do really good, just ones right by the coast seem to die too fast in captivity.

 

Locally. I found Solenopsis invicta (which are much bigger than the native Solenopsis, AND rival the size of smaller Pogonomyrmex californicus workers) were far easier. They are so easy that even the worst ant keeper wouldn't have an issue with them. They were my first successful species. But, you'll have an issue of dealing with a huge population, very fast. My colony had one queen and 200 workers or so, and grew to over 100,000 ants in 6 months. But, they are actually pretty large (the ones in Irvine anyway). Even my current Pogonomyrmex californicus I have, are smaller than the bigger S. invicta majors I've found. Not many people may know, and it may depend on the area, but S. invicta are actually pretty big (I'd consider them a medium size ant for the majors, workers are smaller though). You can get S. invicta easily too, but if you dig into their mound, be prepared for a lot of ant stings. Can try flooding the mound, be easier.

 

A bit of a different suggestion, but probably not recommended. But, Acromyrmex versicolor are really easy and very active. Out of all the Leafcutters, they are probably easiest. I wouldn't recommend them for a first ant or second or even third ant though, but mine have been so far as easy as my S. invicta ever were. In some ways easier, because I don't have to worry about insects and barely have to do anything with them except watch them. The hardest part is a formicarium design for them, but even that doesn't sound too hard. Someone in my journal of them said he just has an acrylic box with a wet cotton in a hole that soaks up water. Although I may find them easier just because I did a ton of research, reading others journals and have kept ants for a long time lol.

 

I find Camponotus to be overall really hard, despite what Drtrmiller suggested. Most people don't have an issue with them, but when I keep them they get to worker stage and the workers die right away. And then it always takes 6-9 months for workers to eclose, even though I keep them in a really warm garage. No idea why, but that is one ant that I am no good with. With that said, I found Camponotus modoc vastly easier and they got workers in 3 and a half weeks, but those I found way up in northern california. I don't think you can find them down there. They were only Camponotus species I ever kept that did good though. All the Camponotus I find down here just do so terrible for me personally. No idea why I'd be so good with Camponotus modoc and not the others though, but oh well.

 

Another ant that is really easy, but its on the small side is Forelius pruinosus/mccooki. They are hard to see though (they are only a little bit smaller than Argentine ants, but its their coloring), but they always do good for me. And they are a VERY active ant species. I see them in 120 degree weather on pavement, the only ant that is out in that temperature. But, they are pretty small in size and their color kind of blends them into the desert environment. Huge colonies though and can have TONS of queens in them.

Edited by Vendayn, February 7 2016 - 2:43 PM.

[Ants4fun]

Solenopsis sp. are a great beginner ants.

Edited by Ants4fun, February 7 2016 - 5:19 PM.

[drtrmiller]

I didn't mention Solenopsis because they are relatively small.  Otherwise, I agree they are pretty easy to keep, provided you keep them warm and wet.

[Vendayn]

I didn't mention Solenopsis because they are relatively small.  Otherwise, I agree they are pretty easy to keep, provided you keep them warm and wet.

Solenopsis invicta are rather big (at least to me they are), the native ones tend to be pretty small though, yeah. Like I said in my post, the S. invicta here in Irvine are bigger than my current Pogonomyrmex californicus workers. I consider that to be pretty large. Some of the majors actually rival the size of my Acromyrmex versicolor workers. Not quite as big, but close. I think that is pretty impressive for size.

[john.harrold]

Hello BaconPancakes,

 

I was in the same boat you're in. I eventually decided to get a Camponotus species for the reasons Terry laid out. The only drawback here is that Camponotus seem to expand very slowly. But given my newness to the hobby, this wasn't really a big deal for me. It's given me time to experiment and better understand what I'm doing. 

 

If you're in Huntington Beach, then you should really consider getting an established colony from Drew (the guy who hosts this forum). He lives in Costa Mesa, and has a list of queens for sale here:

 

http://www.formicult...ern-california/

 

It looks like he's got a Crematogaster sp.2 colony for sale. He also has some Acromyrmex versicolor colonies for sale as well, but if I've read correctly these can be a bit fickle and probably not good to start with. Though Drew makes these really nice formicariums with a fascinating view of the fungus farms:

 

http://www.formicult...31-2016/page-10

 

If you message him he may have some others as well but the date stamp on the first post (February 5th 2016) suggests that list is pretty up to date.

 

I think the anting season is going to begin soon, so you might want to just try to catch some queens. If you follow this thread, it can give you an idea of when you might have a good chance near where you live:

 

http://www.formicult...issions/page-22

 

John

[BaconPancakes]

Thank you guys for all the great feedback!  I can't wait for the season to start so I can get my hands on a few of these different species.  Right now I am drawn to the Camponotus and just wanted to hear from someone that it wasn't too hard of a species to raise. 

[Roachant]

If you don't mind small ants, Tetramorium has worked wonders for me. but keep in mind they are tiny! Another very active ant is Lasius, ( are they in California?) but they may be too active they run so fast it's hard to do maintenance on their enclosures. They are fun to watch though.
Camponotus in my observation are boring although are fairly easy to keep if you get a good queen. At least they are large which makes viewing them easier!