21 replies to this topic

[JoJoAnt]

Hi, my name is JoJo and I am 10 years old.  I have several ant farms which I have started from queens I have found.  Can you tell me how to find honeypot ants?  Of where I could buy a queen in Central Texas?

[antsinvirgina]

Welcome JoJoAnt to Formiculture   

 

we have lots of people that can help you with your questions(sadly I can't) I live in Virginia

 

I hope you will have fun showing us your ant colony's(please do I would love to see them)  

[AntsCali098]

Hello, welcome to the forum. 

 

I don't know much about Texas ants, but if it is similar to here, just go to a desert in the summer, you're bound to find some!

 

As far as queens, you'll have to go a day after a rainstorm, and you may find queens.

 

You live in an amazing state for leafcutter ants, Atta texana, a species I wish I could keep. The queens will be everywhere (if I'm not mistaken in desert after rain as well). What's awesome about texana, is they're polygynous, you can put multiple queens together!

 

Wish you luck, and I'd love to see your ants.

[JoJoAnt]

Thank you for your answers.  This is a picture of a queen and her workers, I found them at our camp site at Ink's Lake State Park.  I am pretty sure they are fire ants.

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Edited by JoJoAnt, May 26 2023 - 9:10 AM.

[JoJoAnt]

This is my colony of tiny, tiny black ants.  I found them under rocks.  I started the queen in a test tube and then moved her to a small tank with gasoline on the top edge.  I give them nectar and smashed roach bits.  They are really doing well. 

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Edited by JoJoAnt, May 26 2023 - 9:06 AM.

[JoJoAnt]

I found a bunch of queens and I have them in a tube, but I don't know what kind they are or if I should separate them.  They don't seem to be hurting each other.

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Edited by JoJoAnt, May 26 2023 - 9:12 AM.

[JoJoAnt]

and lastly, here is a queen with her workers.  They are really tiny like my little black ants, but they are yellowy-orange.  

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Edited by JoJoAnt, May 26 2023 - 9:16 AM.

[OiledOlives]

The fire ants are fire ants, the little black ants are Monomorium minimum-complex, and the little yellow ones are Forelius

Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk

[ANTdrew]

I don’t recommend using gasoline for escape prevention.

[JoJoAnt]

Thank you for helping me find out what kind of ants I have.  

 

if you don't think vaseline is good to keep them in the tank, what do you use?

 

I caught a bunch more fire ant queens yesterday.  

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Edited by JoJoAnt, May 27 2023 - 6:34 PM.

[AntsCali098]

Vaseline is fine, you can also use fluon or olive oil (it autocorrected to gasoline in the last post lol)

If you are keeping fire ants, you are warned. They can get into the 1000s in months and you will have to have the money to buy large setups. They can also escape easily without proper escape prevention, use fluon or olive oil for them.

[OiledOlives]

Vaseline is fine, you can also use fluon or olive oil (it autocorrected to gasoline in the last post lol)

If you are keeping fire ants, you are warned. They can get into the 1000s in months and you will have to have the money to buy large setups. They can also escape easily without proper escape prevention, use fluon or olive oil for them.

Vaseline is probably the worst barrier that I've ever used

Olive oil comes in a close second. I see a lot of people advocating for olive oil use as a barrier, but after 3+ years of experience with it, I highly DO NOT recommend using oil as a barrier because ants will break out whenever they want to.

Fluon and talcum powder are the only good commonly used barriers.

Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk

[Flu1d]

Talcum powder mixed with alcohol is better than fluon, mind you. There are ants that walk right over fluon like it's nothing. Also, if your state is even remotely humid, your fluon will be basically useless.

I have used one application of talcohol on every outworld I have ever used and never has even one ant been able to crawl over it. The moment they step on if, they fall. The tiny bits of talcum powder cannot hold an ants weight. So far, this even works for tiny ants like Brachymyrmex patagonicus and their nanitics as well.

I'm sure fluon works for some people, but for me and a lot of other people I know, it's better used to maybe put some on the bottom of the lid of your outworld as opposed to rimming the outworld with it. I use fluon on the bottom of my outworld lids and talcohol to rim it, I do a solid inch of talcohol.

[ANTdrew]

I should try the talc at some point, but none other than EO Wilson says that fluon is the “preferable” option (page 631, The Ants). He does admit that it is unsatisfactory under humid conditions, though.

[antsriondel]

 

Vaseline is fine, you can also use fluon or olive oil (it autocorrected to gasoline in the last post lol)

If you are keeping fire ants, you are warned. They can get into the 1000s in months and you will have to have the money to buy large setups. They can also escape easily without proper escape prevention, use fluon or olive oil for them.

Vaseline is probably the worst barrier that I've ever used

Olive oil comes in a close second. I see a lot of people advocating for olive oil use as a barrier, but after 3+ years of experience with it, I highly DO NOT recommend using oil as a barrier because ants will break out whenever they want to.

Fluon and talcum powder are the only good commonly used barriers.

Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk

 

I find Olive oil works fine as long as you re-apply it every two-three weeks.

[Flu1d]

Vaseline is fine, you can also use fluon or olive oil (it autocorrected to gasoline in the last post lol)

If you are keeping fire ants, you are warned. They can get into the 1000s in months and you will have to have the money to buy large setups. They can also escape easily without proper escape prevention, use fluon or olive oil for them.

Vaseline is probably the worst barrier that I've ever used

Olive oil comes in a close second. I see a lot of people advocating for olive oil use as a barrier, but after 3+ years of experience with it, I highly DO NOT recommend using oil as a barrier because ants will break out whenever they want to.

Fluon and talcum powder are the only good commonly used barriers.

Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk

I find Olive oil works fine as long as you re-apply it every two-three weeks.

What ants are you keeping that don't walk on olive oil? I used it before I got fluon or talcohol and not a single ant minded walking right over it

[antsriondel]

 

 

 

Vaseline is fine, you can also use fluon or olive oil (it autocorrected to gasoline in the last post lol)

If you are keeping fire ants, you are warned. They can get into the 1000s in months and you will have to have the money to buy large setups. They can also escape easily without proper escape prevention, use fluon or olive oil for them.

Vaseline is probably the worst barrier that I've ever used

Olive oil comes in a close second. I see a lot of people advocating for olive oil use as a barrier, but after 3+ years of experience with it, I highly DO NOT recommend using oil as a barrier because ants will break out whenever they want to.

Fluon and talcum powder are the only good commonly used barriers.

Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk

I find Olive oil works fine as long as you re-apply it every two-three weeks.

What ants are you keeping that don't walk on olive oil? I used it before I got fluon or talcohol and not a single ant minded walking right over it

 

Liometopum, Formica, Camponotus and I have successfully used it on Aphaenogaster.

[Flu1d]

I wonder if Florida humidity degrades olive oil

[OiledOlives]

It's not that, I've had the same experience with olive oil here in Virginia.

I thought it worked until I found hundreds of escaped workers in discarded test tubes.

In addition, I've seen ants just run right over it (Tapinoma sessile, Aphaenogaster rudis, Crematogaster cerasi, Vollenhovia emeryi, Tetramorium immigrans, etc.)

Clearly those who believe olive oil works as a barrier have not kept a large enough colony of ants because the oil repels the ants and ants can walk right over it if they want to.

Sent from my IN2015 using Tapatalk

[JoJoAnt]

Thank you I will mix some alcohol and talcum power and try that.