4 replies to this topic

[Voidley]

Hey guys, so I’ve seen how Australian Aphaenogaster seem to love making massive mounds for their nests, (they are commonly called funnel ants because of these nests) But from what I’ve read, it seem that North American species of Aphaenogaster don't typically exhibit this behavior. Instead, they actually prefer nesting in rotting wood rather than in dirt. I have an Aphaenogaster picea queen who just got her first batch of workers and I was wondering if I could house her in a dirt setup this coming spring to let her colony dig their own nest, but now I’m wondering if they would even prefer this over some other type of formicarium. If I did put them in a dirt setup, is there a chance that they make their characteristic “funnels”? Because that would be super neat.

 

Also, I was wondering when to hibernate this colony. I have all my other colonies preparing for hibernation on my window sill, but I was keeping this queen on heat until her pupae eclosed, which they now have. However, she still has a few large larvae and has just laid a new batch of eggs, so I really don’t know when she wants to go into diapause.

 

Any insights or advice from some more experienced ant keepers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Edited by Voidley, October 23 2023 - 7:06 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Aphaenogaster do nest in soil, but I recommend a standard nest for the sake of observation. Dirt nests are cool for the first day while the ants are digging, but after that, you lose sight of them and sort of defeat the purpose of keeping a colony.

[Manitobant]

In my experience aphaenogaster don’t really like to diapause and actually do better without it.

[Virginian_ants]

I've kept Aphaenogaster in soil and they don't have big mounds.

[Voidley]

Thanks for the help guys.

In that case I’ll pick some other setup to house these gals. I’m thinking about trying a THA mini hearth since it seems that that works alright for other people on here. It also makes sense seeing as in the wild they supposedly make large, central chambers similar to the one in the mini hearth. But that is much further down the line now. For the time being I’ll just keep them in their test tube and move them when once they’ve grow a little. Also, I think I’ll skip diapause unless they show signs of slowing down.

As for the natural setup; I’m still brainstorming some cool ideas to house a colony in dirt while still having them be visible, but I might shelve those plans until I get some more colonies or some dirt-lovers like Dorymyrmex Bureni. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see though.