8 replies to this topic

[Ants_Dakota]

Greetings everyone! I know some people on here have large Lasius colonies and may have observed colony behavior similar to what I have noticed this year. My colony specifically is Lasius neoniger but I think this applies to the entire Lasius genus.
I took my main Lasius neoniger colony out of diapause a few weeks ago for a presentation, and since then I have been regularly (about once a week) feeding them chopped mealworms along with a liquid feeder full of honey water. Not surprisingly they took to the honey right away, given they are named "sugar ants," but have completely ignored the mealworms. Not only have the mealworms visibly not changed but I have observed workers investigating them and the leaving them be without even trying to eat the protein. This colony has eaten mealworms in the past so it is not a preference issue. They currently have a pile of overwintered larvae that look healthy (ie. not yellow and shriveled) and are not heated. 

 

 

A few healthy larvae

 

My question is this: what is the typical behavior of your Lasius colony after diapause? Do they boom right away or also wait for a few weeks until laying eggs or eating protein? Anthony mentions a 'productive season' in his journal and I want to know what your experience about the timeframe of this is. I have been following his advice to power feed the colony to produce more brood but so far nothing. Any thoughts are appreciated!
Ants_Dakota

Edited by Ants_Dakota, March 21 2025 - 4:01 PM.

[rptraut]

Hello Ants Dakota;

 

I've only been keeping Lasius neoniger ants for a short time, but I have kept other Lasius colonies for a few years.   A founding L. neoniger colony of mine, that's been out of diapause for one month now, has only been taking much protein in the last two weeks.   The Lasius brevicornis founding colony that was taken out at the same time, has never really been all that excited about taking protein to this point, but they're a small colony, like yours, and I can see that their overwintered larvae are growing, and the queen recently produced a small clutch of eggs.   These colonies have all been heated.  

 

With respect to diet, I've never found that any of my colonies actually like mealworms.   They take them when desperate but they're not their first choice.   Mostly they just pile garbage on them.   Try offering yours some meat products like cooked chicken and turkey, or cooked chicken liver, they're always popular with mine.   Raw ground pork, canned dog food, and salmon are readily taken as well.   I feed mine insects like flies, earwig pieces, cricket pieces, and sow bugs as well.   I feed them small quantities every day, usually both a meat and insect portion.   

 

Spring is the perfect time to get your colonies accustomed to a meat and insect diet.    Most of my larger colonies get a meat only diet making them much easier to feed, but smaller and founding colonies seem to do better when some insects, particularly flies and crickets, are also offered.   More detail about what I feed my ants can be found here   Feeding Time at the Zoo - General Ant Keeping - Ants & Myrmecology Forum

 

Coming out of diapause, I would have to say that these two founding Lasius colonies are starting off slowly when compared to a Crematogaster colony that I took out at the same time.   

RPT

[Ants_Dakota]

Hello Ants Dakota;

 

I've only been keeping Lasius neoniger ants for a short time, but I have kept other Lasius colonies for a few years.   A founding L. neoniger colony of mine, that's been out of diapause for one month now, has only been taking much protein in the last two weeks.   The Lasius brevicornis founding colony that was taken out at the same time, has never really been all that excited about taking protein to this point, but they're a small colony, like yours, and I can see that their overwintered larvae are growing, and the queen recently produced a small clutch of eggs.   These colonies have all been heated.  

 

With respect to diet, I've never found that any of my colonies actually like mealworms.   They take them when desperate but they're not their first choice.   Mostly they just pile garbage on them.   Try offering yours some meat products like cooked chicken and turkey, or cooked chicken liver, they're always popular with mine.   Raw ground pork, canned dog food, and salmon are readily taken as well.   I feed mine insects like flies, earwig pieces, cricket pieces, and sow bugs as well.   I feed them small quantities every day, usually both a meat and insect portion.   

 

Spring is the perfect time to get your colonies accustomed to a meat and insect diet.    Most of my larger colonies get a meat only diet making them much easier to feed, but smaller and founding colonies seem to do better when some insects, particularly flies and crickets, are also offered.   More detail about what I feed my ants can be found here   Feeding Time at the Zoo - General Ant Keeping - Ants & Myrmecology Forum

 

Coming out of diapause, I would have to say that these two founding Lasius colonies are starting off slowly when compared to a Crematogaster colony that I took out at the same time.   

RPT

I appreciate the helpful response! After opening a can of meat, what do you do to keep it preserved? I only have a few growing colonies so preservation is key for me to save money.

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

I appreciate the helpful response! After opening a can of meat, what do you do to keep it preserved? I only have a few growing colonies so preservation is key for me to save money.

 

It should be ok longer term if kept frozen. Just chip off a bit of frozen and thaw it as needed.

I have had good success with dry fish food/fish flakes as a protein source. And they can last a good long while if kept cool and dry on a shelf.

I use this brand and this particular product:
https://www.brineshr...-ounce-85-grams

 

The 3oz jar was $6 USD and is a lot a lot of food for them.

Pay attention to the ingredient list if you go to buy. Like people food it is listed from most to least used ingredients. The cheaper junk food flakes/brands tend to have a lot more flours and fillers higher on the list and whatever shrimp/fish listed farther down. While the good stuff should list the shrimp/fish protein used first. I also like fish flakes as they won't leave any gunk or stains behind if there is no feeding dish. As well no trash is ever left over, the flakes are 100% eaten.
 

[Izzy]

Dang sorry to hear they're not eating. My double queen Lasius brevicornis colony has been voracious for protein from the moment I took them out of diapause. They're probably my best eating colony for protein just after my Pheidole. They've been doing well with cricket I gave them. Hopefully yours start eating soon!

[Ants_Dakota]

Dang sorry to hear they're not eating. My double queen Lasius brevicornis colony has been voracious for protein from the moment I took them out of diapause. They're probably my best eating colony for protein just after my Pheidole. They've been doing well with cricket I gave them. Hopefully yours start eating soon!

That is great to hear! They may have eaten some of the meal worms, but it appears they are content for now. The queen laid another batch of eggs so I am assuming they are content with whatever food stores they have. One of the reasons I was worried was there were a few ants always roaming around, which is a little unusual for a smallish colony but I solved the issue by giving them fresh water. How many workers does your colony have?

[Izzy]

 

Dang sorry to hear they're not eating. My double queen Lasius brevicornis colony has been voracious for protein from the moment I took them out of diapause. They're probably my best eating colony for protein just after my Pheidole. They've been doing well with cricket I gave them. Hopefully yours start eating soon!

That is great to hear! They may have eaten some of the meal worms, but it appears they are content for now. The queen laid another batch of eggs so I am assuming they are content with whatever food stores they have. One of the reasons I was worried was there were a few ants always roaming around, which is a little unusual for a smallish colony but I solved the issue by giving them fresh water. How many workers does your colony have?

 

 

Glad they're doing better! I'd say they're in the 250-300 range? Looks like they've got a healthy pile of cocoons and larvae as well. Their fluon has worn off in the corner now so I probably need to reapply it because they're getting quite unwieldy when I open the lid and starting to escape. Feels like the problem I always have with the Mini Hearth is they outgrow their outworld long before they outgrow their nest. Maybe time to hook up another outworld.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

Dang sorry to hear they're not eating. My double queen Lasius brevicornis colony has been voracious for protein from the moment I took them out of diapause. They're probably my best eating colony for protein just after my Pheidole. They've been doing well with cricket I gave them. Hopefully yours start eating soon!

That is great to hear! They may have eaten some of the meal worms, but it appears they are content for now. The queen laid another batch of eggs so I am assuming they are content with whatever food stores they have. One of the reasons I was worried was there were a few ants always roaming around, which is a little unusual for a smallish colony but I solved the issue by giving them fresh water. How many workers does your colony have?

 

 

Glad they're doing better! I'd say they're in the 250-300 range? Looks like they've got a healthy pile of cocoons and larvae as well. Their fluon has worn off in the corner now so I probably need to reapply it because they're getting quite unwieldy when I open the lid and starting to escape. Feels like the problem I always have with the Mini Hearth is they outgrow their outworld long before they outgrow their nest. Maybe time to hook up another outworld.

 

Yeah I have that problem with those nests too. I would recommend making some yourself if you are short on money. The process is really fun and you can customize it to look similar to the habitat that L. brevicornis live in! Here are a few I have made: https://www.formicul...pping/?p=162209

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

Glad they're doing better! I'd say they're in the 250-300 range? Looks like they've got a healthy pile of cocoons and larvae as well. Their fluon has worn off in the corner now so I probably need to reapply it because they're getting quite unwieldy when I open the lid and starting to escape. Feels like the problem I always have with the Mini Hearth is they outgrow their outworld long before they outgrow their nest. Maybe time to hook up another outworld.

 

100% on more outworld. Unlike nest space you can't give them too much outworld, they will just ignore some of it if it is "too big." Unlike their nest which they would try to fill in and make smaller if they felt it was too big for them.

I connected a 4x4 outworld to my mini hearth very early on(20+ range) and got way more interesting behavior to observe for it.
The more outworld you can provide the closer to fooling them into believing they are outside you can get. With an open air top outwortld being the maximum "out doors" illusion you can achieve.
Additionanlly an add on outworld lets you do all the outworld stuff without disturbing the nest at all when you open the lid, vacuum, etc.

Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, Today, 7:46 AM.