48 replies to this topic

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Most camponotus start slow but they speed up around their second year.

[cooIboyJ]

ok

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

And when you go anting bring lots of test tubes/ vials.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Carpenter ants and harvester ants are in your area but harvesters grow way faster than carpenters but they are some of the med sized in your area.

I never knew carpenter ants were that small! I always thought of them like the Dinomyrmex gigas of the U.S. Thanks for informing me!

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 28 2024 - 3:32 AM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

i think i want a medium sized ant that grows medium speed

that is also polymorphis

Pogonomyrmex is a stinging harvester species with majors, but they might grow a bit faster than you’d like.
Veromessor is a polymorphic harvester.
You should be able to slow down growth by changing how much seeds you give them, but they will try to make reserves in their nest.


Formica is a medium sized genus, they look like Camponotus, but do not have majors to my knowledge. They do have acid so, there’s that.

According to AntWiki, you have Neviamyrmex army ants. I wouldn’t try to keep them though.

Pheidole is another harvester.

Iridomyrmex may not have majors, but they are quite beautiful ants.

If you count repletes as polymorphic, you have Myrmecocystus and Prenolepis which are honeypot ants. Prenolepis is on the smaller size, however they shouldn’t try to escape. Both can’t live in test tubes when they get workers, since the workers need a rough surface to hang from. Buy a mini hearth from TarHeelAnts, or build one yourself.


Polyergus are medium sized, but no majors. They are social parasites, so you can take Formica ants and put them in a tube with the Polyergus and they’ll mix colonies if it goes well.

Edited by The_Gaming-gate, March 28 2024 - 11:52 AM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

But for beginners I recommend Camponotus Carpenters which are large, and slow growing with majors. Lasius is also a good pick as long as you don’t let them escape. Do note that both of those have acid so if you leave them in a crammed test tube when disturbed, they may spray acid on themselves which will probably kill them all due to low ventilation.

[Flu1d]

Carpenter ants and harvester ants are in your area but harvesters grow way faster than carpenters but they are some of the med sized in your area.

What? Carpenter ants are quite literally the largest ants in the U.S. They are definitely not medium sized.

There are definitely smaller Camponotus species out there. Florida alone has SEVERAL of the Myrmentoma subgenus group species, such as C. discolor, C. decipiens, C. snellingi, C. nearcticus, etc. We also have Camponotus planatus, which is the smallest Camponotus species in Florida. I don't think he was stating that Camponotus are medium sized, but compared to other Camponotus species there are some that would be considered medium and even small. Some of our larger species in Florida are C. pennsylvanicus, C. socius, C. castaneus and C. floridanus. If you look at C. decipiens and C. discolor, they look like really small C. floridanus.

I'm pretty sure that's all they were saying.

[The_Gaming-gate]

Carpenter ants and harvester ants are in your area but harvesters grow way faster than carpenters but they are some of the med sized in your area.

What? Carpenter ants are quite literally the largest ants in the U.S. They are definitely not medium sized.

There are definitely smaller Camponotus species out there. Florida alone has SEVERAL of the Myrmentoma subgenus group species, such as C. discolor, C. decipiens, C. snellingi, C. nearcticus, etc. We also have Camponotus planatus, which is the smallest Camponotus species in Florida. I don't think he was stating that Camponotus are medium sized, but compared to other Camponotus species there are some that would be considered medium and even small. Some of our larger species in Florida are C. pennsylvanicus, C. socius, C. castaneus and C. floridanus. If you look at C. decipiens and C. discolor, they look like really small C. floridanus.

I'm pretty sure that's all they were saying.

That’s a fair point. In the pretty much man-made Central Florida I pretty much only find C. floridanus unless I look, so I never had much to compare too. They pretty much tower over most of the other common Florida ants such as Solenopsis and Lasius species. I shall now edit my comment.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

 

i think i want a medium sized ant that grows medium speed

that is also polymorphis

Pogonomyrmex is a stinging harvester species with majors, but they might grow a bit faster than you’d like.
Veromessor is a polymorphic harvester.
You should be able to slow down growth by changing how much seeds you give them, but they will try to make reserves in their nest.


Formica is a medium sized genus, they look like Camponotus, but do not have majors to my knowledge. They do have acid so, there’s that.

According to AntWiki, you have Neviamyrmex army ants. I wouldn’t try to keep them though.

Pheidole is another harvester.

Iridomyrmex may not have majors, but they are quite beautiful ants.

If you count repletes as polymorphic, you have Myrmecocystus and Prenolepis which are honeypot ants. Prenolepis is on the smaller size, however they shouldn’t try to escape. Both can’t live in test tubes when they get workers, since the workers need a rough surface to hang from. Buy a mini hearth from TarHeelAnts, or build one yourself.


Polyergus are medium sized, but no majors. They are social parasites, so you can take Formica ants and put them in a tube with the Polyergus and they’ll mix colonies of it goes well.

 

Their is no Pogonomyrmex in nevada that is poly

[The_Gaming-gate]

i think i want a medium sized ant that grows medium speed

that is also polymorphis

Pogonomyrmex is a stinging harvester species with majors, but they might grow a bit faster than you’d like.
Veromessor is a polymorphic harvester.
You should be able to slow down growth by changing how much seeds you give them, but they will try to make reserves in their nest.


Formica is a medium sized genus, they look like Camponotus, but do not have majors to my knowledge. They do have acid so, there’s that.

According to AntWiki, you have Neviamyrmex army ants. I wouldn’t try to keep them though.

Pheidole is another harvester.

Iridomyrmex may not have majors, but they are quite beautiful ants.

If you count repletes as polymorphic, you have Myrmecocystus and Prenolepis which are honeypot ants. Prenolepis is on the smaller size, however they shouldn’t try to escape. Both can’t live in test tubes when they get workers, since the workers need a rough surface to hang from. Buy a mini hearth from TarHeelAnts, or build one yourself.


Polyergus are medium sized, but no majors. They are social parasites, so you can take Formica ants and put them in a tube with the Polyergus and they’ll mix colonies of it goes well.

Their is no Pogonomyrmex in nevada that is poly

You sure? Because P. rugosus really looks like they have majors.

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[ReignofRage]

You sure? Because P. rugosus really looks like they have majors.

 

NA Pogonomyrmex aren't polymorphic in the sense of having a major caste. They have worker size variaition of a singular worker caste.

 

Additionally, Pogonomyrmex is fast growing and not polymorphic, Formica isn't polymorphic, Pheidole is small, Iridomyrmex is non-existent in all of the United States, and Polyergus is not polymorphic - Myrmecocystus is a decent choice, but their majors aren't too distinct, though they do have repletes.

 

 

 

i think i want a medium sized ant that grows medium speed

that is also polymorphis

 

For Nevada, a better suggestion for medium size, medium growth rate, and polymorphism (i.e. majors) would be Camponotus.

Edited by ReignofRage, March 28 2024 - 12:43 PM.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I second on Camponotus for a good species.

[Flu1d]

You sure? Because P. rugosus really looks like they have majors.

NA Pogonomyrmex aren't polymorphic in the sense of having a major caste. They have worker size variaition of a singular worker caste.

Additionally, Pogonomyrmex is fast growing and not polymorphic, Formica isn't polymorphic, Pheidole is small, Iridomyrmex is non-existent in all of the United States, and Polyergus is not polymorphic - Myrmecocystus is a decent choice, but their majors aren't too distinct, though they do have repletes.

i think i want a medium sized ant that grows medium speed

that is also polymorphis

For Nevada, a better suggestion for medium size, medium growth rate, and polymorphism (i.e. majors) would be Camponotus.

I absolutely love the fact Florida has P. badius, because their majors are awesome!

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

I agree I went on an anting trip in Florida and found a badius colony and the worker size diversity is incredible!

[ReignofRage]

I absolutely love the fact Florida has P. badius, because their majors are awesome!

 

P. badius are pretty nice. I meant to put NV rather than NA, but that's my mistake. 

[Flu1d]

I agree I went on an anting trip in Florida and found a badius colony and the worker size diversity is incredible!

They're the only truly polymorphic Pogonomyrmex species in NA

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

 

I absolutely love the fact Florida has P. badius, because their majors are awesome!

 

P. badius are pretty nice. I meant to put NV rather than NA, but that's my mistake. 

 

We all mess up sometimes  In my opinion they are the best harvesters.

[Flu1d]

I absolutely love the fact Florida has P. badius, because their majors are awesome!

P. badius are pretty nice. I meant to put NV rather than NA, but that's my mistake.

We all mess up sometimes In my opinion they are the best harvesters.

ReignofRage, you post so much accurate, quality stuff that a small typo like "NA" from "NV" is hardly a mess up. I think the majority of us probably knew what you meant!

To GOCAMPONOTUS, I absolutely adore P. badius, and I agree, they probably are easily my favorite Pogonomyrmex. That being said, I wish we also had P. rugosus because they are also extremely cool! I love the coloration on them.

Besides, you guys on the other side over there, on the West and Southwest get P. rhea! I WISH we had P. rhea! Our biggest Pheidole is P. obscurithorax. I do love them, however.. but I think we can all agree that Pheidole rhea blow them out of the water.

[GOCAMPONOTUS]

Yeah but P.rhea is mostly found in Arizona but in Cali we also get P.californica and they have a nice coloration. But I agree P.rhea is the best.

[Flu1d]

Yeah but P.rhea is mostly found in Arizona but in Cali we also get P.californica and they have a nice coloration. But I agree P.rhea is the best.

We don't have any of the trimorphic Pheidole out here in Florida, you guys on the west coast have all of them 😭😂