47 replies to this topic

[laowai]

Just realized no Queen excluder is going to stop the production of sexuals or keep them in a place that is easy to track. So dud idea. 

[spinyeti]

Just realized no Queen excluder is going to stop the production of sexuals or keep them in a place that is easy to track. So dud idea.

But how do museums/zoos do this? The leafcutter colony I saw in Montreal was an open enclosure.

[yen_saw]

 

Just realized no Queen excluder is going to stop the production of sexuals or keep them in a place that is easy to track. So dud idea.

But how do museums/zoos do this? The leafcutter colony I saw in Montreal was an open enclosure.

 

The place is probably too cold during winter for the queen to survive? That's a reason why Atta texana doesn't live any state above Texas, probably not even as far north as to Dallas.

 

I'm lucky to live in East TX where Atta texana exists. However, the museum here use another Atta species for display instead. I offered to the museum a colony of Atta texana, which was sold to Houston Zoo later. 

[William. T]

Atta colonies have workers in varying millions, and some colonies have different behaviors. 

Edited by William. T, September 21 2015 - 11:30 AM.

[James C. Trager]

Not Mississippi, Oklahoma, or New Mexico so far, Mercutia.

[Mercutia]

Lol. Okay.

[Roachant]

[quote name="spinyeti" post="27778" timestamp="1442844177"][quote name="laowai" post="27776" timestamp="1442841682"]
But how do museums/zoos do this? The leafcutter colony I saw in Montreal was an open enclosure.[/quote]

Hmmm that brings up another idea, should ants that cannot live in certain countries if they should escape be allowed to be kept in those particular countries legally? Makes you wonder...

[laowai]

Yeah it's all so confusing. But I think ants whose colonies die out once the Queen dies are ok.

 

But I assume the hobby in the US isn't big enough to make the keeping of exotics viable. 

 

I think the educational benefit of having the ants on display is immense and should be encouraged, as how many people can afford to fly to South America to see such ants in the wild.

 

With all the emphasis on AI and technology these days, anything that encourages people to have an interest in nature, and other animals, and possibly help creating mico-economies around those things, in this case exotic ants, is a good thing. 

Edited by laowai, September 22 2015 - 6:49 PM.