10 replies to this topic

[Katakros8]

As the title says I'm going to be getting a colony of myrmecocystus soon and was looking at a THAs mini hearth/xl to start with. My question is when selecting species size would they fall under medium or large?

[FinWins]

How big is the colony?

[Katakros8]

It would be a queen and maybe 10-15 workers

[B_rad0806]

I usually buy regular mini hearths for mine but an xl mini hearth would work fine

[ANTdrew]

As the title says I'm going to be getting a colony of myrmecocystus soon and was looking at a THAs mini hearth/xl to start with. My question is when selecting species size would they fall under medium or large?

Going back to your original question, the species size won’t affect much with a mini-hearth. I would go with medium.

[Katakros8]

Ok that's what I was thinking but I was unsure about medium/large for future expansions

[aznphenom]

This also depends on which myrmecocystus species you're talking about. I have mexicanus and it has been less than a year and I am already looking for a new nest for them. Big open space looks cool but its useless to ants. I definitely recommend the bifurcated mini health to start. 

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

Ok that's what I was thinking but I was unsure about medium/large for future expansions

I think for THA the ant size question relates most to the top down view nests. Not about the size of the colony, but the actual size of an individual ant of the species. That indicates how deep down the nest should be cut to accommodate how large of an ant to move around in it. Also might relate to the size of the entrance/exit holes used on any nest.

As a mini-hearth is a side view nest, i believe its chamber size (depth) is basically the same all the time, while something like a fallen fortress top down view would have a deeper or shallower cut to the nest space for a larger or smaller ant size to comfortably occupy.

Tiny ants won't like to much empty space around them, larger ants may be too cramped and unable to maneuver while carrying larvae/pupae/food in a nest.

[AntsCali098]

Ok that's what I was thinking but I was unsure about medium/large for future expansions

If you get an XL, and they grow out of that, I would just attach a second xl. When they grow out of both of those, I think they may be big enough for a fortress. Also, it really comes down to the species because mexicanas would fill up a nest in a shorter time since they are large.

Edited by AntsCali098, March 3 2023 - 8:34 AM.

[Katakros8]

Still deciding on species but I guess at this point I'm most concerned about the port/entrance sizes for expansion/tube connections rather than the size of the nest if that makes sense.

[FinWins]

Still deciding on species but I guess at this point I'm most concerned about the port/entrance sizes for expansion/tube connections rather than the size of the nest if that makes sense.

If you can you should start with M. mexicanus, their large size makes them the easiest to observe. Or M. placodops they are pretty large too.