11 replies to this topic

[Bcam43]

Hi all,

 

I managed to find a spider ant (Leptomyrmex erythrocephalus) and a Camponotus suffusus yesterday. 

 

I wasn't able to locate their nest and I was hoping someone has some knowledge of these ants that will help me locate them and also a queen. 

 

Thanks guys, photos attached.

 

 

[Jonathan21700]

Amazing!

[dspdrew]

That thing's awesome.

[iXvXi]

Deep down this hurts! I want THESE

[Sisyphe]

 

 

I wasn't able to locate their nest and I was hoping someone has some knowledge of these ants that will help me locate them and also a queen. 

 

 

 

Are you saying that you're about to pillage a whole nest in natura? Not cool bro, this is not the way you raise ants.

[Ants4fun]

I wasn't able to locate their nest and I was hoping someone has some knowledge of these ants that will help me locate them and also a queen.

 
 
 
Are you saying that you're about to pillage a whole nest in natura? Not cool bro, this is not the way you raise ants.

I wouldn't be so quick to determine his motives or judge how he gets his colonies. Many people have chosen to capture whole colonies of ants. As long as it is legal, we don't have the right to tell him how to 'raise ants'.

[Bcam43]

 

 

 

I wasn't able to locate their nest and I was hoping someone has some knowledge of these ants that will help me locate them and also a queen. 

 

 

 

Are you saying that you're about to pillage a whole nest in natura? Not cool bro, this is not the way you raise ants.

 

 

No, I am not interested in digging up mature colonies. 

 

I would like to find the nest so I can monitor it for alates to help me determine their nuptial flight.

[gcsnelling]

I would try setting out baits and track back to the nests.

[Sisyphe]

 

 

 

 

No, I am not interested in digging up mature colonies. 

 

I would like to find the nest so I can monitor it for alates to help me determine their nuptial flight.

 

 

 

 

Well that's a relief

No matter what Ants4fun said, I think digging up mature colonies is despicable, and nobody doing so should and could call themselves ant lovers.

 

 

As for the alates, I don't know in what conditions the queens of this species begin their colonies, but I know that with the European species of Camponotus, you have a chance to catch queens by setting up "traps" that are basically optimum founding chambers in which the new queens rapidly settle after the nuptial flight.

Edited by Sisyphe, February 10 2016 - 1:10 AM.

[Barristan]

Well that's a relief

 

No matter what Ants4fun said, I think digging up mature colonies is despicable, and nobody doing so should and could call themselves ant lovers.

 

 

 

I find that quite ironic since you also keep some Asian and a South American ant species. You know that most ant colonies from Asia or South America are dug up by local collectors and sent to the ant shops? They collect large mature Polyrhachis dives colonies for example and sent them to Europe.  Some stores than split up the colony into separate smaller colonies and sell them to the customers. Also some native European species are dug up, like Myrmica rubra, Formica fusca etc...

 

Don't get me wrong I keep some of these species too, but I don't blame someone for digging up an ant colony. If the species is quite common it isn't any big harm to the environment. Polyrhachis dives for examples are also collected for use in traditional Chinese medicine and this species is also quite common in Asia (as most of the sold species are).

 

If you thought that ant shops raises every colony from a single queen: Welcome to reality, that's not the case.

[dspdrew]

I don't really like the idea of gouging out an entire colony, but if a hobbyist or researcher digs up an occasional colony somewhere out in a vast open space, I don't think that's a very big deal as long as they fill the hole back in and make it look semi nice again. I would save the word despicable for someone going around ripping colony after colony out of the ground disfiguring the landscape just so they could sell these colonies to some store or something.

[Sisyphe]

 

Well that's a relief

 

No matter what Ants4fun said, I think digging up mature colonies is despicable, and nobody doing so should and could call themselves ant lovers.

 

 

 

I find that quite ironic since you also keep some Asian and a South American ant species. You know that most ant colonies from Asia or South America are dug up by local collectors and sent to the ant shops? They collect large mature Polyrhachis dives colonies for example and sent them to Europe.  Some stores than split up the colony into separate smaller colonies and sell them to the customers. Also some native European species are dug up, like Myrmica rubra, Formica fusca etc...

 

Don't get me wrong I keep some of these species too, but I don't blame someone for digging up an ant colony. If the species is quite common it isn't any big harm to the environment. Polyrhachis dives for examples are also collected for use in traditional Chinese medicine and this species is also quite common in Asia (as most of the sold species are).

 

If you thought that ant shops raises every colony from a single queen: Welcome to reality, that's not the case.

 

 

True that, but every one of my exotic colony was founded by a single queen.