33 replies to this topic

[Mdrogun]

To get started this colony has done something amazing. They are actually killing off the Tetramorium sp. E in my backyard! Anyway, the colony was actually was put in my yard by me. I got them from one of the GAN farmers along with another colony. I didn't know what to do with them so I let them loose in my yard. When I released them they had 100+ workers and 5 queens. However they are probably at 100+ queens now (This is an estimate i could be completely wrong about the number of queens) and they are easily over 200,000 workers. I wouldn't care about these ants normally. However, they are killing off all of the other species in my yard. I know they've killed off 2-3 mature Formica colonies a large Crematogaster colony and a Camponotus pennsylvanicus. colony. The Tetramorium colony was at about 10,000 workers when I released the Tapinoma colony. Now they are probably under 1,000. I'm not sure if I should try to kill the Tapinoma or not because they are native. i expect this colony to grow much more as they are only 1 year and 4 months old.

 

I will try to post some pictures/vids later tonight or tomorrow

Edited by Mdrogun, September 1 2015 - 5:08 PM.

[William. T]

Why did you release them? T. Sessile will clean off ever ant colony in your area that's not forested. Trust me, I know. 

[Mdrogun]

Why did you release them? T. Sessile will clean off ever ant colony in your area that's not forested. Trust me, I know. 

I expected the Tetramorium sp. E to convince them to move. I know drew said in a post once that they pick up and move when faced with opposition from other ants.

[drtrmiller]

Never, ever, ever release captive ant colonies into the wild, especially ones acquired from others.  Tapinoma sessile are easily confused with Linepithema humile, as they look almost identical.

 

Either way, you risk major ecological damage to local fauna by releasing any ant species, exactly as you describe.

 

Always destroy colonies you can no longer keep by freezing or burning.

[ctantkeeper]

but terry, freezing and incinerating only applies to ants gathered from outside your state. that rule does not apply to ants caught within your state.

[drtrmiller]

No! State lines mean nothing to the environment.  If you introduces ants, or any other organism, to an environment where they previously were not present, and the introduced organism not only thrives, but also kills or displaces other organisms, then you have done wrong.

 

The long term consequences of an introduction could range from inconsequential to catastrophic, depending on a whole host of factors.  It's these types of scenarios ("got ants from a guy, let them loose in my yard") that cause scientists and environmentalists to support the ridiculous laws we have in this country for not being able to sleep at night.

 

If you did not personally collect ants from your yard or nearby area, do not release them into your yard!  Period.

Edited by drtrmiller, August 27 2015 - 4:38 PM.

[ctantkeeper]

ok!!! sorry, i have not done that!!! i have only released ant species back into the environment, where population were already present. is that fine?

[drtrmiller]

Yes.

[ctantkeeper]

ok, thank you. i was worried for a second

[Mdrogun]

No! State lines mean nothing to the environment.  If you introduces ants, or any other organism, to an environment where they previously were not present, and the introduced organism not only thrives, but also kills or displaces other organisms, then you have done wrong.

 

The long term consequences of an introduction could range from inconsequential to catastrophic, depending on a whole host of factors.  It's these types of scenarios ("got ants from a guy, let them loose in my yard") that cause scientists and environmentalists to support the ridiculous laws we have in this country for not being able to sleep at night.

 

If you did not personally collect ants from your yard or nearby area, do not release them into your yard!  Period.

They are native to my state. I picked them up from about an hour away from my home. This is not Illegal in any way. If they weren't native they would not of been able to get so many queens.

 

 

The GAN farmer who gave them to me was Alex Wild. I know he was not lying about collecting them from illinois.

Edited by Mdrogun, August 27 2015 - 5:23 PM.

[William. T]

 

Why did you release them? T. Sessile will clean off ever ant colony in your area that's not forested. Trust me, I know. 

I expected the Tetramorium sp. E to convince them to move. I know drew said in a post once that they pick up and move when faced with opposition from other ants.

 

Terry is right. Always freeze captive colonies. You never know, they might have contacted some disease in captivity. Only a few ant species are endangered out of the many, despite all the persecution. You aren't destroying the ecosystem by killing them. 

 

 

No! State lines mean nothing to the environment.  If you introduces ants, or any other organism, to an environment where they previously were not present, and the introduced organism not only thrives, but also kills or displaces other organisms, then you have done wrong.

 

The long term consequences of an introduction could range from inconsequential to catastrophic, depending on a whole host of factors.  It's these types of scenarios ("got ants from a guy, let them loose in my yard") that cause scientists and environmentalists to support the ridiculous laws we have in this country for not being able to sleep at night.

 

If you did not personally collect ants from your yard or nearby area, do not release them into your yard!  Period.

They are native to my state. I picked them up from about an hour away from my home. This is not Illegal in any way. If they weren't native they would not of been able to get so many queens.

 

 

The GAN farmer who gave them to me was Alex Wild. I know he was not lying about collecting them from illinois.

 

It is good to be safe. Did he tell you to release them? T. Sessile have the ability to confiscate all the food in an area. May not be exotic, but please don't release ants. 

Before you go to work, just put the colony in the freezer. When you return, they are dead. Simply as that.

[drtrmiller]

If you think I'm talking about what is legal, you are mistaken.  I am talking about the possible ecological consequences of introducing an organism to an environment where it was not previously present.
 
Environment, defined, is a designated area of land, including its flora and fauna.  If certain ants can be found some miles down the road, it is still ill advised to introduce them elsewhere where they are not immediately present, for the reasons you so aptly explained in the below quote.

...[The ants I introduced] are killing off all of the other species in my yard. I know they've killed off 2-3 mature Formica colonies a large Crematogaster colony and a Camponotus pennsylvanicus. colony.

[gcsnelling]

Aargh. it never fails.

Edited by gcsnelling, August 28 2015 - 2:22 AM.

[dspdrew]

 

Why did you release them? T. Sessile will clean off ever ant colony in your area that's not forested. Trust me, I know. 

I expected the Tetramorium sp. E to convince them to move. I know drew said in a post once that they pick up and move when faced with opposition from other ants.

 

 

I don't remember ever saying that. I actually thought I remember reading that they are quite tolerant of other species. The very first queen I ever found, which happened to be a Crematogaster was living right next to them in the same log.

 

 

The GAN farmer who gave them to me was Alex Wild. I know he was not lying about collecting them from illinois.

 

Say what?

[Vendayn]

If you live in an area like California, where there is mostly Argentine ants or another area with invasive ants. Releasing native ants is a good thing. I've been VERY successful with introducing Pogonomyrmex californicus, Forelius pruinosus/mccooki and Monomorium ergatogyna. They have defeated the Argentine ants AND I actually saw a horny toad lizard (that is what it was) by one of the apartment units. It disappeared though as I was taking out my phone.

 

Also, the Forelius pruinosus had alates when I got them, so they all flew everywhere.

 

Don't see a harm releasing native ants to bring back a native ecosystem. Even got a Horny toad lizard in the area! You almost never see those anymore.

 

However, releasing a potentially invasive ant (or any other ant really) in an area with native ants doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

 

You can't disagree with introducing native ants to try to bring back a native diversity. It happens all the time with other ant species, fish, animals and all kinds of things. And it isn't just scientists that do that, but volunteers (so the average person that just wants to help) that didn't even go to college. I did that at Torrey Pines State Beach for one summer and I'm just an average joe who hasn't gone to college.


Though in this case, the guy sounds like he had a lot of native ants in his area and the Tapinoma sessile drove them off. That doesn't seem very nice to the native ants or help the environment at all.

 

I believe more people should help the environment. Ants play a big part in that. And if someone knows the ant is native, they should be able to help the area by getting rid of invasive ants. But if the area just has native ants, introducing other ants can actually have the opposite effect even if the introduced ants are native.

Edited by Vendayn, August 27 2015 - 9:16 PM.

[gcsnelling]

This is exactly why I am so against the GAN scenario. You should never ever release ants, native or not. Vendayn, when other animals are released in an effort to bring back a species it is done after careful study of the potential impact and all is done to be sure the released animals are disiease free. It is  even illegal most places to release an animal you capture and hold in captivity for more than just a few hours. This does make good data for a paper I am working on though.

[William. T]

The T.Sessile still displaced the native ant in the area. They are not native there.

[James C. Trager]

Tapinoma sessile is easily controlled with Terro borate baits placed where you see them trailing.

[JakobS]

Ant communties can change within meters of each other in many cases, as can many insect communities.  Ant communities form dominance hierarchies which fundamentally shape the environment around them, change in these hierarchies will change explicit niches each species currently inhabits and thus how the environment is exploited by each species. This can change how ants species apply predatory pressure on arthropod pest populations or detritivores, how the soil is aerated and moved, and thus the nutrients and growing conditions plants are faced with. This can change the type of flora that can grow in an environment. Ant eusociality allows them to overcome many obstacles in an environment that solitary or semi social insects cannot, and often at a fast pace. They can do so through the force of numbers but also with the use of scent trails and other olfactory cues that allow for quick understanding of the environment that surrounds them. Even if two species of ant tend aphids for example, does not mean they fill the same niche, have the same nesting behavior or have the same predatory pressure in the environment as the other. One ant species may feed on spiders, who are benefical predators themselves, whereas the other ant species feeds on fly or moth larvae. It is a dynamic situation that can be significantly changed by the introduction of an ant species that is not part of the dominance structure. 

Edited by JakobS, August 28 2015 - 9:39 AM.

[Mdrogun]

At the time I didn't realize what I was doing was bad. I will never do anything like this again. Also I will do my best to kill them.