12 replies to this topic

[Ottercl]

I’ve heard that feeding Camponotus live insects such as fruit flies can beneficial to them, and I wanted to know at what size colony should I start feeding them live insects? My chromaiodes colony has 4 workers and my castaneus colony has 1 worker (with about 8 more on the way). Also, both colonies have a small outworld in the form of an AntsCanada test tube portal.

[DevinTheAntKeeper]

Its better to not do live feeding. But if you do want to (which I don't recommend) is around 15 workers.

[BleepingBleepers]

My ant colony is new as well (8 workers) and one thing I noticed with my nanitics is that they're rather afraid of confrontations. There's so few of them so I think the reason is, if they went out and readily confronted live bugs that they don't know about, they might get killed and at the early stage, that could mean the end of the colony. That's my thought at least. Their goal in the early stage is scavenge for easy meals and survive until they have the numbers to afford some sacrifices, that's why they get bolder and braver and more active later on.

 

So far, I just feed them the bottom portions of a roach nymph. Most of the time when I give them something that resembles a whole insect, they end up attacking it over and over, wasting a ton of energy and not even eating it.

 

Even if you do have the flies, I would do a prekill and try two or three and see how they react. But there's no rush to feed the fruit flies, you can just feed them regular prekills like roaches and mealworms etc for the time being.

 

Fruit flies are usually bred in higher amounts, they don't live all that long and founding nanitics can only eat so many. My new colony also doesn't seem to crave protein nearly as much as they do sugar water. They probably won't need as much protein until the colony starts picking up. For me, I'd just stick to roaches until year two when they, hopefully, start picking up the pace. So 40+ workers is my guess.

[Manitobant]

I usually only feed live prey to very large colonies, and even then it has to be a more aggressive species that can successfully take it down.

[ANTdrew]

One of the best things about keeping ants is that they do NOT need live food. I’m spending all my afternoons running around with a net like a fool trying to catch live flies for my mantises. One thing to really look out for with fruit flies is mites. Commercial cultures are often sold teeming with trash mites.

[Ottercl]

One of the best things about keeping ants is that they do NOT need live food. I’m spending all my afternoons running around with a net like a fool trying to catch live flies for my mantises. One thing to really look out for with fruit flies is mites. Commercial cultures are often sold teeming with trash mites.

Ok, no need to worry about live feedings then. Also, if I freeze the fruit flies for several days before feeding my colonies, does that get rid of any possible mites?

[ANTdrew]

Mite eggs can easily survive freezing. I only feed fruit flies after dipping them in boiling water for three seconds.

[antperson24]

Wait, I can see the mites all over in my fruit fly culture. Will they harm the ants? I thought they just ate the food and decaying matter.

I feed my Camponotus colony live fruit flies because they don't seem to eat dead things for some reason. My colony has about 40 workers, and the larger ones don't seem to fear the fruit flies at all. Other than that, I normally kill the insects first.

[ANTdrew]

They won’t harm your ants really, but they’re really unsightly and sooner or later may explode in population. They can easily slip through the mesh or any other tiny gaps and get all over your ant collection. This is why I never, ever feed live fruit flies to my colonies.

[antperson24]

They won’t harm your ants really, but they’re really unsightly and sooner or later may explode in population. They can easily slip through the mesh or any other tiny gaps and get all over your ant collection. This is why I never, ever feed live fruit flies to my colonies.

Well, surprisingly they seem to have all died. I don't know why they would have, but I can't spot a single one. I guess I don't have to worry about them any more. 

[ANTdrew]

If you frequently start new fruit fly cultures, the mites can’t complete their life cycle and you can eliminate them over time.

[antperson24]

If you frequently start new fruit fly cultures, the mites can’t complete their life cycle and you can eliminate them over time.

Thanks, I'll try this; maybe they're just hiding.  

[ANTdrew]

They did not just disappear, believe me.