30 replies to this topic

[Galacticly45]

Hello! I'm new to ant stuff, and I wanted to do a research project on ants, it needs to be completed before April, I was wondering what would be a good ant species to use that is relatively cheap and have a colony size of 200-300 ants total that either grow quickly, or come with a lot of workers, and a good place to buy ant farms that are relatively cheap and can house up to around 200-300 ants. I would like the ant farm to be thin, and to be able to see the vast majority of the ants all at the same time. My budget for each ant colony is $100 MAX, ideally less than $20 but I feel like that's not going to happen. Links would be appreciated but any help, is great!

 

UPDATE 9/10 2:10 pm EST (pls read): colony needs to reach minimum 100 ants (no max) like ASAP (idealy 6-8 weeks but idk that's going to happen, cause I need probably at least 2 months to actually do the research once they reach that size colony), and budget is a HARD LINE, also, ants that can cause significant harm to a human are off limits, (eg: all fire ants). Ant colonies will all be kept indoors, Thank you all for the help, but I still need some more

Edited by Galacticly45, September 10 2024 - 10:09 AM.

[AntsTx]

Hello! I'm new to ant stuff, and I wanted to do a research project on ants, it needs to be completed before April, I was wondering what would be a good ant species to use that is relatively cheap and have a colony size of 200-300 ants total that either grow quickly, or come with a lot of workers, and a good place to buy ant farms that are relatively cheap and can house up to around 200-300 ants. I would like the ant farm to be thin, and to be able to see the vast majority of the ants all at the same time. My budget for each ant colony is $100 MAX, ideally less than $20 but I feel like that's not going to happen. Links would be appreciated but any help, is great!

If you're in the US, I would recommend getting a nest from Tar Heel Ants here ($40) and getting a colony of Black Carpenter Ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) from Stateside ants here if your ($29) the only problems with this type of ant is that they have to hibernate during the winter (November-February) they will eventually surpass your size of 200-300 workers and the nest but that will take about 2-3 years (the max size of a colony is around 5000-10000 in my experience but that would take years). The total would be around $75 (w/ shipping) but you wouldn't have to get the nest immediately because they could reside in the test tube for a while. They love eating crickets, fruit flies, and sugar water. In my opinion they are a very rewarding and fun species to keep. If you don't like the idea of buying an ant colony, then you can go and catch a queen. In my opinion this is the best way to keep a colony because you get to have the colony all throughout their life. The only issue is it's not really their mating season right now. If you can't buy the colony because of the range here is a link to some Western Carpenter ants (Camponotus modoc). These guys are basically the same just native to different areas. If you want them to grow a bit faster you can heat them with a heating cable or heat pad. Just make sure not to put this next to the hydration gradient.

Edited by AntsTx, September 9 2024 - 11:16 AM.

[Galacticly45]

 

Hello! I'm new to ant stuff, and I wanted to do a research project on ants, it needs to be completed before April, I was wondering what would be a good ant species to use that is relatively cheap and have a colony size of 200-300 ants total that either grow quickly, or come with a lot of workers, and a good place to buy ant farms that are relatively cheap and can house up to around 200-300 ants. I would like the ant farm to be thin, and to be able to see the vast majority of the ants all at the same time. My budget for each ant colony is $100 MAX, ideally less than $20 but I feel like that's not going to happen. Links would be appreciated but any help, is great!

If your in the US, I would recommend getting a nest from Tar Heel Ants here ($40) and getting a colony of Black Carpenter Ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) from Stateside ants here if your ($29) the only problems with this type of ant is that they have to hibernate during the winter (November-February) they will eventually surpass your size of 200-300 workers and the nest but that will take about 2-3 years (the max size of a colony is around 5000-10000 in my experience but that would take years). The total would be around $75 (w/ shipping) but you wouldn't have to get the nest immediately because they could reside in the test tube for a while. They love eating crickets, fruit flies, and sugar water. In my opinion they are a very rewarding and fun species to keep. If you don't like the idea of buying an ant colony, then you can go and catch a queen. In my opinion this is the best way to keep a colony because you get to have the colony all throughout their life. The only issue is it's not really their mating season right now. If you can't buy the colony because of the range here is a link to some Western Carpenter ants (Camponotus modoc). These guys are basically the same just native to different areas. If you want them to grow a bit faster you can heat them with a heating cable or heat pad. Just make sure not to put this next to the hydration gradient.

 

Thank you for the reply, I'm in Virginia, and I was planning on keeping the farms indoors, would hibernation still be an issue? Also, I was more looking for a farm that was like two thin sheets of glass so I could observe burrowing patterns as well, if that is not feasible within my price range, it's alright, but I can't seem to find anything like that that would be large enough for a colony of my ideal size

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

Hello! I'm new to ant stuff, and I wanted to do a research project on ants, it needs to be completed before April, I was wondering what would be a good ant species to use that is relatively cheap and have a colony size of 200-300 ants total that either grow quickly, or come with a lot of workers, and a good place to buy ant farms that are relatively cheap and can house up to around 200-300 ants. I would like the ant farm to be thin, and to be able to see the vast majority of the ants all at the same time. My budget for each ant colony is $100 MAX, ideally less than $20 but I feel like that's not going to happen. Links would be appreciated but any help, is great!

If your in the US, I would recommend getting a nest from Tar Heel Ants here ($40) and getting a colony of Black Carpenter Ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) from Stateside ants here if your ($29) the only problems with this type of ant is that they have to hibernate during the winter (November-February) they will eventually surpass your size of 200-300 workers and the nest but that will take about 2-3 years (the max size of a colony is around 5000-10000 in my experience but that would take years). The total would be around $75 (w/ shipping) but you wouldn't have to get the nest immediately because they could reside in the test tube for a while. They love eating crickets, fruit flies, and sugar water. In my opinion they are a very rewarding and fun species to keep. If you don't like the idea of buying an ant colony, then you can go and catch a queen. In my opinion this is the best way to keep a colony because you get to have the colony all throughout their life. The only issue is it's not really their mating season right now. If you can't buy the colony because of the range here is a link to some Western Carpenter ants (Camponotus modoc). These guys are basically the same just native to different areas. If you want them to grow a bit faster you can heat them with a heating cable or heat pad. Just make sure not to put this next to the hydration gradient.

 

Thank you for the reply, I'm in Virginia, and I was planning on keeping the farms indoors, would hibernation still be an issue? Also, I was more looking for a farm that was like two thin sheets of glass so I could observe burrowing patterns as well, if that is not feasible within my price range, it's alright, but I can't seem to find anything like that that would be large enough for a colony of my ideal size

 

For this project, you will need a species that does not hibernate, such as tetramorium immigrans found here ($34, with $10 shipping). They are affordable to keep your budget as low as possible, as well as they are very hard to kill. You can read about how fast these ants can grow here, as this is the kind of growth I believe you need. A cheap heating pad like this would probably be required to reach this level of growth. You can also Personal Message members from Virginia who have a shop and sell this species, for example, here. I would not recommend getting Camponotus like the previous user said as they grow super slow. If you wish to start with a larger colony (available with up to 100 workers, for a price of course), Brachymyrmex patagonicus, another fast growing species, can be found here. They are far smaller than T. immigrans however. I would recommend T. immigrans; all you have to do is read the journal I posted above to see why. To continue to keep costs at a minimum for you, as well as to satisfy your criteria of seeing the ants dig, I would recommend purchasing a nest from Por Amor here, as this contains everything you need at an affordable price to watch the colony's digging pattern. You can customize the size to your liking, price range, and ideal colony size. I believe a 16*10*14mm nest with 6mm nesting chamber width will hold 300 ants more than comfortably, and will keep you under your budget (it is around $50, plus shipping). In total, this would probably cost you nearly $100, because of shipping and taxes. You really can't go cheaper than that in the current ant market.

Edited by Ants_Dakota, September 9 2024 - 12:38 PM.

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

 

Hello! I'm new to ant stuff, and I wanted to do a research project on ants, it needs to be completed before April, I was wondering what would be a good ant species to use that is relatively cheap and have a colony size of 200-300 ants total that either grow quickly, or come with a lot of workers, and a good place to buy ant farms that are relatively cheap and can house up to around 200-300 ants. I would like the ant farm to be thin, and to be able to see the vast majority of the ants all at the same time. My budget for each ant colony is $100 MAX, ideally less than $20 but I feel like that's not going to happen. Links would be appreciated but any help, is great!

If your in the US, I would recommend getting a nest from Tar Heel Ants here ($40) and getting a colony of Black Carpenter Ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) from Stateside ants here if your ($29) the only problems with this type of ant is that they have to hibernate during the winter (November-February) they will eventually surpass your size of 200-300 workers and the nest but that will take about 2-3 years (the max size of a colony is around 5000-10000 in my experience but that would take years). The total would be around $75 (w/ shipping) but you wouldn't have to get the nest immediately because they could reside in the test tube for a while. They love eating crickets, fruit flies, and sugar water. In my opinion they are a very rewarding and fun species to keep. If you don't like the idea of buying an ant colony, then you can go and catch a queen. In my opinion this is the best way to keep a colony because you get to have the colony all throughout their life. The only issue is it's not really their mating season right now. If you can't buy the colony because of the range here is a link to some Western Carpenter ants (Camponotus modoc). These guys are basically the same just native to different areas. If you want them to grow a bit faster you can heat them with a heating cable or heat pad. Just make sure not to put this next to the hydration gradient.

 

carpenter ants is an easy but slow growing, I would recommend tetramorium immigrans or lasius niger, they are easy and have explosive growth speed and are very hardy, good for small experiments, but you can always use another species. Formica is recommended for you if you want a big species, they grow insanely fast for their size but in my experience, all three that I mentioned hibernate

Also, if you want to observe ants digging, you have to use a specialized mixture for tunnel digging usually called “dig fix” it does not collapse and kill your ants when they dig too much or use a mixture of sand and clay, aka loam if you can’t buy any

and there are not many digging nest so you can try to diy one, use a box as an out world and a bead container as a nest (just an example) there are also more cheap alternatives like Por amor ant shop, you can buy the nest and ship them to the US but not the ants and they have a nest that allows them to dig and it has instructions 

Edited by OwlThatLikesAnts, September 9 2024 - 1:07 PM.

[AntsTx]

 

 

Hello! I'm new to ant stuff, and I wanted to do a research project on ants, it needs to be completed before April, I was wondering what would be a good ant species to use that is relatively cheap and have a colony size of 200-300 ants total that either grow quickly, or come with a lot of workers, and a good place to buy ant farms that are relatively cheap and can house up to around 200-300 ants. I would like the ant farm to be thin, and to be able to see the vast majority of the ants all at the same time. My budget for each ant colony is $100 MAX, ideally less than $20 but I feel like that's not going to happen. Links would be appreciated but any help, is great!

If your in the US, I would recommend getting a nest from Tar Heel Ants here ($40) and getting a colony of Black Carpenter Ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) from Stateside ants here if your ($29) the only problems with this type of ant is that they have to hibernate during the winter (November-February) they will eventually surpass your size of 200-300 workers and the nest but that will take about 2-3 years (the max size of a colony is around 5000-10000 in my experience but that would take years). The total would be around $75 (w/ shipping) but you wouldn't have to get the nest immediately because they could reside in the test tube for a while. They love eating crickets, fruit flies, and sugar water. In my opinion they are a very rewarding and fun species to keep. If you don't like the idea of buying an ant colony, then you can go and catch a queen. In my opinion this is the best way to keep a colony because you get to have the colony all throughout their life. The only issue is it's not really their mating season right now. If you can't buy the colony because of the range here is a link to some Western Carpenter ants (Camponotus modoc). These guys are basically the same just native to different areas. If you want them to grow a bit faster you can heat them with a heating cable or heat pad. Just make sure not to put this next to the hydration gradient.

 

carpenter ants is an easy but slow growing, I would recommend tetramorium immigrans or lasius niger, they are easy and have explosive growth speed and are very hardy, good for small experiments, but you can always use another species. Formica is recommended for you if you want a big species, they grow insanely fast for their size but in my experience, all three that I mentioned hibernate

Also, if you want to observe ants digging, you have to use a specialized mixture for tunnel digging usually called “dig fix” it does not collapse and kill your ants when they dig too much or use a mixture of sand and clay, aka loam if you can’t buy any

and there are not many digging nest so you can try to diy one, use a box as an out world and a bead container as a nest (just an example) there are also more cheap alternatives like Por amor ant shop, you can buy the nest and ship them to the US but not the ants and they have a nest that allows them to dig and it has instructions 

 

The thing is with a fast growing species you can easily want it, but it may not be a good species for Galacticly45 because he said he wanted a species with around 200-300 workers max and they sometimes get out of hand. In my experience it is nearly impossible to keep tetramorium at 200-300 workers. However, since they are a small species Galacticly45 may like them because they can fit in nests that a bigger species couldn't at around 1000 workers.

Edited by AntsTx, September 9 2024 - 2:05 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Here in Virginia the ideal species sounds like either Nylanderia vividula or Pheidole bicarinata since they grow super fast but also have short lived workers, so colonies cap out at very manageable sizes. I wish I still had some of these, but I just sold my last ones. One species I have that could fit your needs is Lasius neoniger, but they will need to hibernate.

[AntsTx]

Here in Virginia the ideal species sounds like either Nylanderia vividula or Pheidole bicarinata since they grow super fast but also have short lived workers, so colonies cap out at very manageable sizes. I wish I still had some of these, but I just sold my last ones. One species I have that could fit your needs is Lasius neoniger, but they will need to hibernate.

That's probably the best option

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

 

Hello! I'm new to ant stuff, and I wanted to do a research project on ants, it needs to be completed before April, I was wondering what would be a good ant species to use that is relatively cheap and have a colony size of 200-300 ants total that either grow quickly, or come with a lot of workers, and a good place to buy ant farms that are relatively cheap and can house up to around 200-300 ants. I would like the ant farm to be thin, and to be able to see the vast majority of the ants all at the same time. My budget for each ant colony is $100 MAX, ideally less than $20 but I feel like that's not going to happen. Links would be appreciated but any help, is great!

If your in the US, I would recommend getting a nest from Tar Heel Ants here ($40) and getting a colony of Black Carpenter Ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) from Stateside ants here if your ($29) the only problems with this type of ant is that they have to hibernate during the winter (November-February) they will eventually surpass your size of 200-300 workers and the nest but that will take about 2-3 years (the max size of a colony is around 5000-10000 in my experience but that would take years). The total would be around $75 (w/ shipping) but you wouldn't have to get the nest immediately because they could reside in the test tube for a while. They love eating crickets, fruit flies, and sugar water. In my opinion they are a very rewarding and fun species to keep. If you don't like the idea of buying an ant colony, then you can go and catch a queen. In my opinion this is the best way to keep a colony because you get to have the colony all throughout their life. The only issue is it's not really their mating season right now. If you can't buy the colony because of the range here is a link to some Western Carpenter ants (Camponotus modoc). These guys are basically the same just native to different areas. If you want them to grow a bit faster you can heat them with a heating cable or heat pad. Just make sure not to put this next to the hydration gradient.

 

carpenter ants is an easy but slow growing, I would recommend tetramorium immigrans or lasius niger, they are easy and have explosive growth speed and are very hardy, good for small experiments, but you can always use another species. Formica is recommended for you if you want a big species, they grow insanely fast for their size but in my experience, all three that I mentioned hibernate

Also, if you want to observe ants digging, you have to use a specialized mixture for tunnel digging usually called “dig fix” it does not collapse and kill your ants when they dig too much or use a mixture of sand and clay, aka loam if you can’t buy any

and there are not many digging nest so you can try to diy one, use a box as an out world and a bead container as a nest (just an example) there are also more cheap alternatives like Por amor ant shop, you can buy the nest and ship them to the US but not the ants and they have a nest that allows them to dig and it has instructions 

 

The thing is with a fast growing species you can easily want it, but it may not be a good species for Galacticly45 because he said he wanted a species with around 200-300 workers max and they sometimes get out of hand. In my experience it is nearly impossible to keep tetramorium at 200-300 workers. However, since they are a small species Galacticly45 may like them because they can fit in nests that a bigger species couldn't at around 1000 workers.

 

Everyone on this thread has good points, but there are specific parameters that Galacticly45 noted that need to be thoroughly read and understood. Camponotus even in summer could never get to 300 workers from 15 in 7 months, that is a 2-year colony goal. Formica is also the same, and on top of that they are very finicky and there is a large amount of genetic diversity in the queens, meaning Galacticly45 could easily buy a queen that does not grow as fast as they want (if you can prove me wrong for either of these species go for it!). Furthermore, both aforementioned species need diapause, as well as Lasius neoniger/niger, meaning they would stop laying even if they were not put into hibernation. At best those colonies would get one more generation of workers in by April if you took them out of diapause in February (if they even lay being out that early), and that is a best-case scenario and that generation would probably be around 30 more ants max. ANTdrew has the best options besides what I outlined in my post in P. bicarinata. It is important to note however, P. bicarinata found here would put Galacticly45 over budget at $56 with shipping (here is slightly cheaper but still more than T. immigrans). Still, the journal I posted above by RushmoreAnts is clear proof that T. immigrans can meet the goals Galacticly45 laid out in their original post, while I have no idea regarding P. bicarinata (if there is a journal that proves this, please post it!). I agree with AntsTx that T. immigrans has the potential, depending on genetics and care, to outgrow 300 workers by April, but this is the only way to get up to an ant count that high so fast. Beyond that, Galacticly45 never stated that they didn't plan on keeping the colony after the research project (not experiment). Hope that helps!
Ants_Dakota

Edited by Ants_Dakota, September 9 2024 - 4:59 PM.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

Hello! I'm new to ant stuff, and I wanted to do a research project on ants, it needs to be completed before April, I was wondering what would be a good ant species to use that is relatively cheap and have a colony size of 200-300 ants total that either grow quickly, or come with a lot of workers, and a good place to buy ant farms that are relatively cheap and can house up to around 200-300 ants. I would like the ant farm to be thin, and to be able to see the vast majority of the ants all at the same time. My budget for each ant colony is $100 MAX, ideally less than $20 but I feel like that's not going to happen. Links would be appreciated but any help, is great!

If your in the US, I would recommend getting a nest from Tar Heel Ants here ($40) and getting a colony of Black Carpenter Ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) from Stateside ants here if your ($29) the only problems with this type of ant is that they have to hibernate during the winter (November-February) they will eventually surpass your size of 200-300 workers and the nest but that will take about 2-3 years (the max size of a colony is around 5000-10000 in my experience but that would take years). The total would be around $75 (w/ shipping) but you wouldn't have to get the nest immediately because they could reside in the test tube for a while. They love eating crickets, fruit flies, and sugar water. In my opinion they are a very rewarding and fun species to keep. If you don't like the idea of buying an ant colony, then you can go and catch a queen. In my opinion this is the best way to keep a colony because you get to have the colony all throughout their life. The only issue is it's not really their mating season right now. If you can't buy the colony because of the range here is a link to some Western Carpenter ants (Camponotus modoc). These guys are basically the same just native to different areas. If you want them to grow a bit faster you can heat them with a heating cable or heat pad. Just make sure not to put this next to the hydration gradient.

 

carpenter ants is an easy but slow growing, I would recommend tetramorium immigrans or lasius niger, they are easy and have explosive growth speed and are very hardy, good for small experiments, but you can always use another species. Formica is recommended for you if you want a big species, they grow insanely fast for their size but in my experience, all three that I mentioned hibernate

Also, if you want to observe ants digging, you have to use a specialized mixture for tunnel digging usually called “dig fix” it does not collapse and kill your ants when they dig too much or use a mixture of sand and clay, aka loam if you can’t buy any

and there are not many digging nest so you can try to diy one, use a box as an out world and a bead container as a nest (just an example) there are also more cheap alternatives like Por amor ant shop, you can buy the nest and ship them to the US but not the ants and they have a nest that allows them to dig and it has instructions 

 

I just wanted to point out two things in a friendly critique:

1. It appears you did not read my post right above yours, which outlined many of the same things you posted. It may benefit you in the future to read an entire thread before jumping in and adding to the conversation.

2. The used did mention that they desired links, and it will improve your posts and impact if instead of describing a Por Amor nest, you take an extra minute to find the link and add it to your post.
Please don't take this as harsh, I am just trying to improve the quality of content posted on the forum!
Ants_Dakota

[AntsTx]

Everyone on this thread has good points, but there are specific parameters that Galacticly45 noted that need to be thoroughly read and understood. Camponotus even in summer could never get to 300 workers from 15 in 7 months, that is a 2-year colony goal. Formica is also the same, and on top of that they are very finicky and there is a large amount of genetic diversity in the queens, meaning Galacticly45 could easily buy a queen that does not grow as fast as they want (if you can prove me wrong for either of these species go for it!). Furthermore, both aforementioned species need diapause, as well as Lasius neoniger/niger, meaning they would stop laying even if they were not put into hibernation. At best those colonies would get one more generation of workers in by April if you took them out of diapause in February (if they even lay being out that early), and that is a best-case scenario and that generation would probably be around 30 more ants max. ANTdrew has the best options besides what I outlined in my post in P. bicarinata. It is important to note however, P. bicarinata found here would put Galacticly45 over budget at $56 with shipping (here is slightly cheaper but still more than T. immigrans). Still, the journal I posted above by RushmoreAnts is clear proof that T. immigrans can meet the goals Galacticly45 laid out in their original post, while I have no idea regarding P. bicarinata (if there is a journal that proves this, please post it!). I agree with AntsTx that T. immigrans has the potential, depending on genetics and care, to outgrow 300 workers by April, but this is the only way to get up to an ant count that high so fast. Beyond that, Galacticly45 never stated that they didn't plan on keeping the colony after the research project (not experiment). Hope that helps!

Ants_Dakota

 

 

I agree with this and I'd like to say that a Western Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis) colony could potentially work.

 

Pros:

• The colony could grow to the hundreds in this time if Galacticly45 fed them enough seeds and feeder insects and heated them properly.
• They cannot climb glass or plastic very well so they'd be easy to contain in the setup he/she houses them in.
• They are medium-sized ants (5-8mm) so they'd be very interesting to watch by observers.
• They are a very interesting species to keep and make pretty big chambers to observe.
• This species does not need hibernation. (diapause)

Cons:

• They do require heating so Galacticly45 would have to purchase a heating mat or heat cable for the ants.
• They sting, which is self-explanatory.
• If not fed or heated properly they could not grow fast enough to even meet 100 workers.

Links:

• Ant nest that Ants_Dakota recommended here, $45 included shipping. Dimensions for the nest, 12 x 7 x 7 cm, nest chamber width, 8mm, tubing diameter 9.5mm (3/8).
• The western harvester ants here, $48 included shipping.
• Heat mat that I use for my harvester ants and works great here, $13.

Although it is a bit over ($106) it is worth it as the harvester ant is one of my favorite species and is a very rewarding and interesting species to keep.

If anyone thinks that this is not the right species or some info on here is wrong, please let me know as I am definitely not the most experienced antkeeper on here and this is just MY opinion and thoughts.

Edited by AntsTx, September 10 2024 - 6:29 AM.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

Everyone on this thread has good points, but there are specific parameters that Galacticly45 noted that need to be thoroughly read and understood. Camponotus even in summer could never get to 300 workers from 15 in 7 months, that is a 2-year colony goal. Formica is also the same, and on top of that they are very finicky and there is a large amount of genetic diversity in the queens, meaning Galacticly45 could easily buy a queen that does not grow as fast as they want (if you can prove me wrong for either of these species go for it!). Furthermore, both aforementioned species need diapause, as well as Lasius neoniger/niger, meaning they would stop laying even if they were not put into hibernation. At best those colonies would get one more generation of workers in by April if you took them out of diapause in February (if they even lay being out that early), and that is a best-case scenario and that generation would probably be around 30 more ants max. ANTdrew has the best options besides what I outlined in my post in P. bicarinata. It is important to note however, P. bicarinata found here would put Galacticly45 over budget at $56 with shipping (here is slightly cheaper but still more than T. immigrans). Still, the journal I posted above by RushmoreAnts is clear proof that T. immigrans can meet the goals Galacticly45 laid out in their original post, while I have no idea regarding P. bicarinata (if there is a journal that proves this, please post it!). I agree with AntsTx that T. immigrans has the potential, depending on genetics and care, to outgrow 300 workers by April, but this is the only way to get up to an ant count that high so fast. Beyond that, Galacticly45 never stated that they didn't plan on keeping the colony after the research project (not experiment). Hope that helps!

Ants_Dakota

 

 

I agree with this and I'd like to say that a Western Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis) colony could potentially work.

 

Pros:

• The colony could grow to the hundreds in this time if Galacticly45 fed them enough seeds and feeder insects and heated them properly.
• They cannot climb glass or plastic very well so they'd be easy to contain in the setup he/she houses them in.
• They are medium-sized ants (5-8mm) so they'd be very interesting to watch by observers.
• They are a very interesting species to keep and make pretty big chambers to observe.
• This species does not need hibernation. (diapause)

Cons:

• They do require heating so Galacticly45 would have to purchase a heating mat or heat cable for the ants.
• They sting, which is self-explanatory.
• If not fed or heated properly they could not grow fast enough to even meet 100 workers.

Links:

• Ant nest that Ants_Dakota recommended here, $45 included shipping. Dimensions for the nest, 12 x 7 x 7 cm, nest chamber width, 12mm, tubing diameter 9.5mm (3/8).
• The western harvester ants here, $48 included shipping.
• Heat mat that I use for my harvester ants and works great here, $13.

Although it is a bit over ($106) it is worth it as the harvester ant is one of my favorite species and is a very rewarding and interesting species to keep.

If anyone thinks that this is not the right species or some info on here is wrong, please let me know as I am definitely not the most experienced antkeeper on here and this is just MY opinion and thoughts.

 

I absolutely agree, I was considering recommending that species, I am just not sure how fast it grows when in the founding stages. Do you have a rough estimate, or think they could make it to 200 in 7 months? I have personally never kept them. I know the feeding would be a lot easier and it is really satisfying to see them store seeds. One thing I might recommend though is a thinner nest chamber width so that they can see the ants at all times. Maybe 8mm? Por Amor recommends that for Formica, which is similarly sized.

Edited by Ants_Dakota, September 9 2024 - 7:44 PM.

[AntsTx]

 

I agree with this and I'd like to say that a Western Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis) colony could potentially work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pros:

• The colony could grow to the hundreds in this time if Galacticly45 fed them enough seeds and feeder insects and heated them properly.
• They cannot climb glass or plastic very well so they'd be easy to contain in the setup he/she houses them in.
• They are medium-sized ants (5-8mm) so they'd be very interesting to watch by observers.
• They are a very interesting species to keep and make pretty big chambers to observe.
• This species does not need hibernation. (diapause)

Cons:

• They do require heating so Galacticly45 would have to purchase a heating mat or heat cable for the ants.
• They sting, which is self-explanatory.
• If not fed or heated properly they could not grow fast enough to even meet 100 workers.

Links:

• Ant nest that Ants_Dakota recommended here, $45 included shipping. Dimensions for the nest, 12 x 7 x 7 cm, nest chamber width, 12mm, tubing diameter 9.5mm (3/8).
• The western harvester ants here, $48 included shipping.
• Heat mat that I use for my harvester ants and works great here, $13.

Although it is a bit over ($106) it is worth it as the harvester ant is one of my favorite species and is a very rewarding and interesting species to keep.

If anyone thinks that this is not the right species or some info on here is wrong, please let me know as I am definitely not the most experienced antkeeper on here and this is just MY opinion and thoughts.

 

I absolutely agree, I was considering recommending that species, I am just not sure how fast it grows when in the founding stages. Do you have a rough estimate, or think they could make it to 200 in 7 months? I have personally never kept them. I know the feeding would be a lot easier and it is really satisfying to see them store seeds. One thing I might recommend though is a thinner nest chamber width so that they can see the ants at all times. Maybe 8mm? Por Amor recommends that for Formica, which is similarly sized.

 

One of my friends has a Pogonomyrmex occidentalis colony and he loves it and they got to 100 workers in 4 months, they are at around 1000 workers now. As for the nest size I don't know if that would work because queens are usually 10mm, but I guess 8mm could work too.

Edited by AntsTx, September 10 2024 - 6:23 AM.

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

 

 

 

Hello! I'm new to ant stuff, and I wanted to do a research project on ants, it needs to be completed before April, I was wondering what would be a good ant species to use that is relatively cheap and have a colony size of 200-300 ants total that either grow quickly, or come with a lot of workers, and a good place to buy ant farms that are relatively cheap and can house up to around 200-300 ants. I would like the ant farm to be thin, and to be able to see the vast majority of the ants all at the same time. My budget for each ant colony is $100 MAX, ideally less than $20 but I feel like that's not going to happen. Links would be appreciated but any help, is great!

If your in the US, I would recommend getting a nest from Tar Heel Ants here ($40) and getting a colony of Black Carpenter Ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) from Stateside ants here if your ($29) the only problems with this type of ant is that they have to hibernate during the winter (November-February) they will eventually surpass your size of 200-300 workers and the nest but that will take about 2-3 years (the max size of a colony is around 5000-10000 in my experience but that would take years). The total would be around $75 (w/ shipping) but you wouldn't have to get the nest immediately because they could reside in the test tube for a while. They love eating crickets, fruit flies, and sugar water. In my opinion they are a very rewarding and fun species to keep. If you don't like the idea of buying an ant colony, then you can go and catch a queen. In my opinion this is the best way to keep a colony because you get to have the colony all throughout their life. The only issue is it's not really their mating season right now. If you can't buy the colony because of the range here is a link to some Western Carpenter ants (Camponotus modoc). These guys are basically the same just native to different areas. If you want them to grow a bit faster you can heat them with a heating cable or heat pad. Just make sure not to put this next to the hydration gradient.

 

carpenter ants is an easy but slow growing, I would recommend tetramorium immigrans or lasius niger, they are easy and have explosive growth speed and are very hardy, good for small experiments, but you can always use another species. Formica is recommended for you if you want a big species, they grow insanely fast for their size but in my experience, all three that I mentioned hibernate

Also, if you want to observe ants digging, you have to use a specialized mixture for tunnel digging usually called “dig fix” it does not collapse and kill your ants when they dig too much or use a mixture of sand and clay, aka loam if you can’t buy any

and there are not many digging nest so you can try to diy one, use a box as an out world and a bead container as a nest (just an example) there are also more cheap alternatives like Por amor ant shop, you can buy the nest and ship them to the US but not the ants and they have a nest that allows them to dig and it has instructions 

 

I just wanted to point out two things in a friendly critique:

1. It appears you did not read my post right above yours, which outlined many of the same things you posted. It may benefit you in the future to read an entire thread before jumping in and adding to the conversation.

2. The used did mention that they desired links, and it will improve your posts and impact if instead of describing a Por Amor nest, you take an extra minute to find the link and add it to your post.
Please don't take this as harsh, I am just trying to improve the quality of content posted on the forum!
Ants_Dakota

 

Sorry, I was writing this and then I stopped for a bit, then I finally posted the topic and I only realized you had posted just now

and the tips you gave me, I will try to use them

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

I agree with this and I'd like to say that a Western Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis) colony could potentially work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pros:

• The colony could grow to the hundreds in this time if Galacticly45 fed them enough seeds and feeder insects and heated them properly.
• They cannot climb glass or plastic very well so they'd be easy to contain in the setup he/she houses them in.
• They are medium-sized ants (5-8mm) so they'd be very interesting to watch by observers.
• They are a very interesting species to keep and make pretty big chambers to observe.
• This species does not need hibernation. (diapause)

Cons:

• They do require heating so Galacticly45 would have to purchase a heating mat or heat cable for the ants.
• They sting, which is self-explanatory.
• If not fed or heated properly they could not grow fast enough to even meet 100 workers.

Links:

• Ant nest that Ants_Dakota recommended here, $45 included shipping. Dimensions for the nest, 12 x 7 x 7 cm, nest chamber width, 12mm, tubing diameter 9.5mm (3/8).
• The western harvester ants here, $48 included shipping.
• Heat mat that I use for my harvester ants and works great here, $13.

Although it is a bit over ($106) it is worth it as the harvester ant is one of my favorite species and is a very rewarding and interesting species to keep.

If anyone thinks that this is not the right species or some info on here is wrong, please let me know as I am definitely not the most experienced antkeeper on here and this is just MY opinion and thoughts.

 

I absolutely agree, I was considering recommending that species, I am just not sure how fast it grows when in the founding stages. Do you have a rough estimate, or think they could make it to 200 in 7 months? I have personally never kept them. I know the feeding would be a lot easier and it is really satisfying to see them store seeds. One thing I might recommend though is a thinner nest chamber width so that they can see the ants at all times. Maybe 8mm? Por Amor recommends that for Formica, which is similarly sized.

 

One of my friends has a Pogonomyrmex occidentalis colony and he loves it and they got to 100 workers in 4 months, they are at around 1000 workers now. As for the nest size I don't know if that would work because queens are usually 10mm, but I guess 8mm could work too.

 

Remember that is only the length, not the width, so 8mm should be fine.

[AntsTx]

Remember that is only the length, not the width, so 8mm should be fine.

 

Ok then, I will edit the original post

Edited by AntsTx, September 10 2024 - 6:30 AM.

[Galacticly45]

UPDATE 9/10 2:10 pm EST (pls read): colony needs to reach minimum 100 ants (no max) like ASAP (idealy 6-8 weeks but idk that's going to happen, cause I need probably at least 2 months to actually do the research once they reach that size colony), and budget is a HARD LINE, also, ants that can cause significant harm to a human are off limits, (eg: all fire ants). Ant colonies will all be kept indoors, Thank you all for the help, but I still need some more

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

Try acorn ants, they are in the Myrmicinae subfamily and are relatively small, about 2-3 mm for the workers and the queen is about 4mm, they are very polygynous, even having gamergate looking workers and colony grows only to 100-200 workers. And according to ant maps, you have a handful of species there, so that means that if you look enough, you can find a mature colony in a nut for free

[Galacticly45]

Try acorn ants, they are in the Myrmicinae subfamily and are relatively small, about 2-3 mm for the workers and the queen is about 4mm, they are very polygynous, even having gamergate looking workers and colony grows only to 100-200 workers. And according to ant maps, you have a handful of species there, so that means that if you look enough, you can find a mature colony in a nut for free

interesting, how do I know where to look? like are they all in acorns or something or are they in a variety of nuts, and are they like commonly found? also how fast do they grow? I would need more information on how to get them and their maintenance, but so far that sounds like a very viable option

[OwlThatLikesAnts]

 

Try acorn ants, they are in the Myrmicinae subfamily and are relatively small, about 2-3 mm for the workers and the queen is about 4mm, they are very polygynous, even having gamergate looking workers and colony grows only to 100-200 workers. And according to ant maps, you have a handful of species there, so that means that if you look enough, you can find a mature colony in a nut for free

interesting, how do I know where to look? like are they all in acorns or something or are they in a variety of nuts, and are they like commonly found? also how fast do they grow? I would need more information on how to get them and their maintenance, but so far that sounds like a very viable option

 

They are found in acorns and walnuts you can tell if they are there if there is a small hole. The speed they grow depends on the amount of queens in the colony, which also affects the worker count