31 replies to this topic

[antsriondel]

I was wondering what my goal this year for ant keeping was and I thought why not start a thread dedicated to your 2024 ant keeping goal (sorry this might be a little late). In example: I hope to find some Strumigenys or Stenamma species. I would also like to get my colony of Liometopum luctuosum into the thousands. I am excited to see your responses.

[ZATrippit]

My only goals are to raise a queen to workers and to not kill my Chelaner antarcticus colony... nothing really long term

[futurebird]

• Get a new Dorymyrmex queen. Start again. No one can replace her... but I must move on.
• Take good care of the orphans-- (they are so tiny and cute and when they look up at me I'm full of guilt)
• Add another log to my Camponotus pennslyvanicus colony
• Find at least two species of local wild queens and raise them. 
• Post more videos of ants "in the wild" in NYC, showing how we have many ants in the city and how they help ecology
• Continue to learn more vocabulary and practice identifying ants on iNaturalist
• Get my feeder roaches to reproduce so I don't need to buy them again
• Read the rest of "Ant Ecology"
• Write a computer simulation of ants digging a nest in java

[AsdinAnts]

the only 2024 goal that I have for ant keeping is to (hopefully) get my aphaenogaster occidentalis alates early so that they inbreed.

[JesseTheAntKid]

My goal is to get out of just invicta colonies and start keeping other ants, successfully. 

Edit: Oh, and to catch an Atta texana queen. Obvi.

Edited by JesseTheAntKid, February 16 2024 - 3:48 PM.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

I hope to aquire a few new species, and grow my current colonies to more impressive numbers.

I also hope to help out locally with the schools. I was able to give a colony to a local school about a year or so ago.

[Artisan_Ants]

I hope to find C. castaneaus, my dream species found in my state, along with many other carpenter ant species. I’m looking forward to raising an L. umbratus de-alate (think it’s claviger now though) in captivity too.

[ANTdrew]

I hope to find C. castaneaus, my dream species found in my state, along with many other carpenter ant species. I’m looking forward to raising an L. umbratus de-alate (think it’s claviger now though) in captivity too.

Put up a blacklight trap on good nights in late May-early June, and you’ll find them.

[BleepingBleepers]

I've always wanted to get an ant species that hunt based on sight like the bulldog ants (Myrmecia) or Harpegnathos saltator / venator.

 

 

But other than that, for my colony I got right now:

 

- CA02: get my first full size Major so I can play with it and see how hard it can bite me. Also get my colony to 1k worker and then I'll be good. Don't want a giant colony, just a couple of full size Majors and 1k workers. I do hope my late cooldown is successful though.

- Ecto ants:  That they get to 100 workers and the Queen is like "alright, lets keep the colony at this size and not get bigger" but so far, these guys are gaining on the CA02 during the cooldown and I'm hoping for a smaller colony of 100~. I can hear one scratching on the glass right now while I type this, how can it be so loud?? lol . I almost got stung yesterday while I was trying to pat some on the head, they're so adorable, yeah I'm weird I do keep and handle giant centipedes each day. But I still don't wanna get stung tho haha, could develop an allergy to the sting, which could be really bad.

 

But I do plan to sell a lot of my tarantula / spider collection when the weather gets warmer. I'm a centipede + ants kinda guy now, realized it after keeping them.

[ZATrippit]

I've always wanted to get an ant species that hunt based on sight like the bulldog ants (Myrmecia) or Harpegnathos saltator / venator.


But other than that, for my colony I got right now:

- CA02: get my first full size Major so I can play with it and see how hard it can bite me. Also get my colony to 1k worker and then I'll be good. Don't want a giant colony, just a couple of full size Majors and 1k workers. I do hope my late cooldown is successful though.
- Ecto ants: That they get to 100 workers and the Queen is like "alright, lets keep the colony at this size and not get bigger" but so far, these guys are gaining on the CA02 during the cooldown and I'm hoping for a smaller colony of 100~. I can hear one scratching on the glass right now while I type this, how can it be so loud?? lol . I almost got stung yesterday while I was trying to pat some on the head, they're so adorable, yeah I'm weird I do keep and handle giant centipedes each day. But I still don't wanna get stung tho haha, could develop an allergy to the sting, which could be really bad.

But I do plan to sell a lot of my tarantula / spider collection when the weather gets warmer. I'm a centipede + ants kinda guy now, realized it after keeping them.

I wouldn't handle ants or centipedes if I were you. Ants are very delicate creatures that don't want to be tapped on the head and centipedes give very painful bites and, depending on the species, the venom can do a mark too.

[BleepingBleepers]

 

I wouldn't handle ants or centipedes if I were you. Ants are very delicate creatures that don't want to be tapped on the head and centipedes give very painful bites and, depending on the species, the venom can do a mark too.

 

Yeah I know, that's why in my profile picture, my hand is swollen, the culprit is the same centipede I'm holding several hours after it tagged me. I've been stung a few times. I'm old enough to deal with whatever consequences come my way.

 

I've dealt with them for years now, same with tarantulas and true spiders (though I've not been bitten by one that I've kept)

[bmb1bee]

My goal this year is to expand more on the commercial part of the hobby. I'd like to go for species that I didn't have the chance to catch last year (especially the local Camponotus vicinus and essigi), I've got a whole log on nuptial flight info and notes on where to find them. Permits might be acquired this year as well, for native species I intend to import from other states or that I can collect myself. Eventually hoping to even have a website dedicated to selling ants, and maybe a YouTube channel to document species that I keep or find. I'll also be hunting for other random bugs while out anting including beetles, which I've recently taken quite the interest in.

[ReignofRage]

Try to get published if procuring specimens of a few species happens successfully. Only four figures worth of miles of driving ahead of me... already surpassed 2k for this year, haha.

[Ernteameise]

Installing the new custom nest Mack from Tarheel Ants made for me, my Messor girls will be so excited.

 

I am also looking forward to my ant keeping talks at the veterinary conferences and share the love (and I am still stoked that one of the global leading researchers endorses me!).

 

Other than that, I will just sit back and enjoy watching my current colonies growing and thriving, I am running out of space, so nothing new will be added.

[ColAnt735]

I would like to grow my ants to a size where they are easier to take care of. Also get an internship at a university.

[Manitobant]

My main goal is raising more parasitic species to biological workers (like always) as well as find harpagoxenus again and formica spatula (difficilis group)

[Manitobant]

I was wondering what my goal this year for ant keeping was and I thought why not start a thread dedicated to your 2024 ant keeping goal (sorry this might be a little late). In example: I hope to find some Strumigenys or Stenamma species. I would also like to get my colony of Liometopum luctuosum into the thousands. I am excited to see your responses.

i hate to burst your bubble here, but to my knowledge the only native Canadian strumigenys species are found in extreme southern Ontario. Stenamma is definitely possible though.

[antsriondel]

 

I was wondering what my goal this year for ant keeping was and I thought why not start a thread dedicated to your 2024 ant keeping goal (sorry this might be a little late). In example: I hope to find some Strumigenys or Stenamma species. I would also like to get my colony of Liometopum luctuosum into the thousands. I am excited to see your responses.

i hate to burst your bubble here, but to my knowledge the only native Canadian strumigenys species are found in extreme southern Ontario. Stenamma is definitely possible though.

Oh sorry, I meant Stigmatomma. My mistake. 

[Manitobant]

Now that is something you can definitely find! If i were you I would also keep an eye out for pheidole californica, pogonomyrmex salinus and myrmecocystus testaceus, all of which are endemic to extreme southern BC (in canada)

[antsriondel]

Now that is something you can definitely find! If i were you I would also keep an eye out for pheidole californica, pogonomyrmex salinus and myrmecocystus testaceus, all of which are endemic to extreme southern BC (in canada)

Yes! All of those would be awesome. Here's hoping.