10 replies to this topic

[Kunphushun]

Hello all.  Logan from Louisiana here.  I'm getting ready to build my first formicarium and found your site hoping to connect with some local people who can help me.  Nice to meet you all!

[dspdrew]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Check this thread out for some ideas.

 

http://www.formicult...-and-outworlds/

[Jonathan21700]

Welcome!

[Kunphushun]

Thanks yall. I'm glad to see this forum is active. I have no problem building our "farm." I'm no stranger yo microecosystems having been a successful coral reef tank keeper for a decade.

My main issue is aquisition of a queen, preferably a gravid one! This far my attempts to locate a queen S. Invicta have been fruitless, and sometimes painful! Lol

[Crystals]

Welcome!  Ah, getting the first queen.  That is always the hardest step.

 

This link should be good for a rainy day: http://www.formicult...of-handy-links/

 

If you are truly after Solenopsis invicta and have patience, you may consider this approach: https://6legs2many.w...od-fire-ants/  All you need is a 5 gallon bucket, baby powder, the smallest nest you can find, a way to slowly drip water, and a lot of patience.  I also advise fluon, rubber gloves, and a really good backup plan in case of escapees. 

This only works on a couple of ant species.

[Gregory2455]

Welcome.

[drtrmiller]

...my attempts to locate a queen S. Invicta have been fruitless...

 

Maybe wait until May or June, which is when they will be flying.

 

http://www.formicult...7-2015/?p=18841

[Kunphushun]

Thanks for the info!  Sorry about the typo's earlier, darn phone.  The drip flotation method sounds like a possibility.  That system is very similar to the drip acclimation method we use when buying/selling/trading fish and coral in the saltwater aquarium industry. I already have everything I need here to setup such an extraction.

 

Those handy links are in fact...handy.  Lots of good info there, thanks again. 

 

I will definitely be keeping an eye out, and test tubes close by, for the nuptial flights in late spring drtrmiller. 

 

We will be posting pictures of our formicarium,.  Even if its empty, lol.

 

WooHoo.  Off to a start. 

 

PS.  Here is a picture of my reef tank before I sold it all to change direction. These are known as softies, or palythoanthid/zoanthid corals.  If you want to google "SPS reef tank," you will see the direction I'm headed. 

 

[Crystals]

Nice tank.  I had saltwater once, mostly zoos and mushrooms, with a few other SPS.  I eventually sold it and went back to planted freshwater tanks, much less maintenance considering how hard my local water is.

 

Keep some vinyl tubing or a test tube in your car and a small ziplock baggie in your pocket.  You never know when you will find a wandering queen, and as far south as you are, the odds are in your favor.  Keep your eyes open especially after a rain.

 

How to find and catch queens - http://www.formicult...tch-ant-queens/

[Trailandstreet]

Wow, nice tank! Welcome to the forum.

[LC3]

Welcome to the forums

I wonder if those fish will eat ants.