225 replies to this topic

[ANTdrew]

Reading this journal makes me feel like an ant loser.

[kiedeerk]

Reading this journal makes me feel like an ant loser.

Ant keeping takes a lot time especially when you have as many colonies as I have kept.

Although the hobby is cheap to start and cheap compared to other hobbies if you only keep a few colonies.
Buying formicarium can quickly become expensive.

The reason I got into Diy, even then still require money for the raw materials although cheap compared to buying.

Do some research on ants and specific species. Some require special care.

My recommendations for all other ant keepers:
1. Test tube is the best for founding queens
2. Keep colonies inside test tube for as long as possible
3. Invest in a couple ant Canada test tube portals.
4. Don’t move colonies to large formicariums too quickly
5. Ant keeping takes time, most colonies will require daily feedings
6. Do research on unique species with special care
7. Learn to DIY

Edited by kiedeerk, August 9 2023 - 11:41 AM.

[Jonathan5608]

A little love for my native ant species

1. Newly caught solenopsis molesta queens and their large egg pile

2. Myrmica sp queen with large larva soon to be pupae. I have raised
All the semi claustral species inside test tubes without outworld even my trap jaws

3. Camponotus castaneus major vs minor. Castaneus I feel have overall larger minor
Workers but their majors even in the wild do not get large heads compared to pennsylvanicus
Or chromaoides

4. Aphaenogaster lamellidens

5. Aphaenogaster tennesseensis

6. Multi queen Formica pallidefulva colony

7. Camponotus pennsylvanicus and chromaoides coming along nicely

really wanted to catch some solenopsis molesta this year. Unfortunately only saw males at my blacklight. I’m assuming not but these solenopsis aren’t polymorphic right?

[kiedeerk]

 

A little love for my native ant species

1. Newly caught solenopsis molesta queens and their large egg pile

2. Myrmica sp queen with large larva soon to be pupae. I have raised
All the semi claustral species inside test tubes without outworld even my trap jaws

3. Camponotus castaneus major vs minor. Castaneus I feel have overall larger minor
Workers but their majors even in the wild do not get large heads compared to pennsylvanicus
Or chromaoides

4. Aphaenogaster lamellidens

5. Aphaenogaster tennesseensis

6. Multi queen Formica pallidefulva colony

7. Camponotus pennsylvanicus and chromaoides coming along nicely

really wanted to catch some solenopsis molesta this year. Unfortunately only saw males at my blacklight. I’m assuming not but these solenopsis aren’t polymorphic right?

 

They were flying here for a while, had a massive flight like 1 week ago, literally millions were in the air

the swarms you can see from hundreds of feet away. queens were everywhere on the side walks. I caught like 20, put 4-5 in a test tube. They are not fighting much so maybe they are poly or at least pleo like tetra. We will see when workers arrive. 

[kiedeerk]

These are some of the less common kept species that I have kept in the past. 

 

Some have been released, some have been sold to local ant keepers. Some I got bored of, others were just too much effort/work to keep such as proceratium and stigmatomma.

 

 

1. Stigmatomma pallipes

 

2. Proceratium sp.

 

3. Temnothorax longispinosus

 

4. Myrmecina americana

 

5. Colobopsis obliqua

 

6. Formica pallidefulva (red variant) and subsericea

 

7. Camponotus nearcticus (black and yellow variant)

 

8. Camponotus subbarbatus

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[Virginian_ants]

I've been looking for cryptic ants I already have some but mostly I want Proceratium I know they eat spider eggs but what else, same thing for Stigmatomma pallipes and myrmecina americana with their diets.

[ANTdrew]

Reading this journal makes me feel like an ant loser.

Ant keeping takes a lot time especially when you have as many colonies as I have kept.

Although the hobby is cheap to start and cheap compared to other hobbies if you only keep a few colonies.
Buying formicarium can quickly become expensive.

The reason I got into Diy, even then still require money for the raw materials although cheap compared to buying.

Do some research on ants and specific species. Some require special care.

My recommendations for all other ant keepers:
1. Test tube is the best for founding queens
2. Keep colonies inside test tube for as long as possible
3. Invest in a couple ant Canada test tube portals.
4. Don’t move colonies to large formicariums too quickly
5. Ant keeping takes time, most colonies will require daily feedings
6. Do research on unique species with special care
7. Learn to DIY

I have neither time nor money, so I limit my colonies to five or six at a time. I only find run of the mill species in my ghetto yard, but I raise them all the way to alates usually. My diy attempts are invariably trash.

Edited by ANTdrew, August 9 2023 - 3:32 PM.

[Jonathan5608]

These are some of the less common kept species that I have kept in the past.

Some have been released, some have been sold to local ant keepers. Some I got bored of, others were just too much effort/work to keep such as proceratium and stigmatomma.


1. Stigmatomma pallipes

2. Proceratium sp.

3. Temnothorax longispinosus

4. Myrmecina americana

5. Colobopsis obliqua

6. Formica pallidefulva (red variant) and subsericea

7. Camponotus nearcticus (black and yellow variant)

8. Camponotus subbarbatus

Stigmatomma pallipes must of been a challenge given their diet. Did you raise them to alates.

[kiedeerk]

These are some of the less common kept species that I have kept in the past.

Some have been released, some have been sold to local ant keepers. Some I got bored of, others were just too much effort/work to keep such as proceratium and stigmatomma.


1. Stigmatomma pallipes

2. Proceratium sp.

3. Temnothorax longispinosus

4. Myrmecina americana

5. Colobopsis obliqua

6. Formica pallidefulva (red variant) and subsericea

7. Camponotus nearcticus (black and yellow variant)

8. Camponotus subbarbatus

Stigmatomma pallipes must of been a challenge given their diet. Did you raise them to alates.

Most cryptic species like stigmatomma, proceratium are challenging and not really to be kept in captivity for long.

I kept them for a few months and got really tired of looking for centipedes or spider eggs etc… so either released or sold

[Ernteameise]

I still admire your pictures and I am also very appreciative at the knowledge you acquired.

Keeping that many amazing species even for a short amount of time would have yielded invaluable information for the ant keeping world.

[ChenZ]

 

The title looks hilarious at first glance but this journal is EPIC indeed!
 
Glad to see someone actually keeping honey pots successfully in those "THA lair formicarium" type of nest. It's said to work well for honey pots on THA's website, but I rarely (if ever) saw people keeping honey pots in it. But now the statement is confirmed!

The ones in my diy lair formicarium are doing good but I do believe for honey pots the cavern style formicariums are better suited for them

 

I currently have a honey pot colony in lair formicarium, the thing I love about that is I can have the formicarium in a large outworld without tube connection, which makes the set up easy to move around. But I agree with your point and am considering to move them to a hearth eventually...

[kiedeerk]

Pictures of brood

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[kiedeerk]

Placadops 01 repletes. They really are thriving.

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[100lols]

Some truly awesome shots!!!

[SYUTEO]

Reading this journal really makes me miss my old colonies

 

Awesome ants you've got! Keep it up!

[kiedeerk]

Update:

1. Unfortunately, myrmica queen died unsure the reason as she had pupae already.

2. Molesta queens have a bunch of large larva

3. pennsylvanicus and chromaoides are chugging along. The queens are well fed.

4. Placadops continues to do well. The colony in the lair type nest is definitely lagging behind the two in the cavern style nest. The best colony is in the largest nest. Unsure if nest space has anything to do with it. But honey pots definitely need a cavern style nest to do well. The pupae of these large repletes are huge

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[ANTdrew]

Very nice!

[100lols]

Definitely looking great! Sad to hear about the loss of the myrmica queen.

[kiedeerk]

Close look at Odontomachus clarus

All trap jaws require high humidity. The problem is almost always larva failing to pupate because many colonies will move substrate out of the nest over time

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[Jonathan5608]

Close look at Odontomachus clarus

All trap jaws require high humidity. The problem is almost always larva failing to pupate because many colonies will move substrate out of the nest over time

yours seem to be nailin it. I’ve been debating whether it’s worth the hassle to get these guys(permits and such). How rewarding would you say is your colony. The main attraction to me I guess would be their feeding response.