14 replies to this topic

[SamKeepsAnts]

Trying to buy an ant colony live in anyone it so cal willing to sell me a colony or a queen?don't care the species much(other than argentine ants).

[drtrmiller]

What am I reading?

 

If you could kindly read what you type before posting, it will make life easier for all of us.

Edited by drtrmiller, December 1 2016 - 8:23 PM.

[Saftron]

Unfortunately I don't think you'll be able to buy this year since it's already winter and you can no longer find queens outside now. Wait until next spring and buy some queens or catch your own.

[Californian Anter]

Just reword his sentence. He switched the positions of So Cal, live, anyone, and a bunch of other words. Also, it had bad grammar even if rearranged. Reworded:

 

"Trying to buy ant colony. Anyone living in SoCal willing to sell me a colony or a queen? I don't care about the species much (other than Argentine Ants)." - SamKeepsAnts

 

I don't think it is likely at the moment, it's winter and Drew is sold out I believe.

[SamKeepsAnts]

yeah i gues i started ant keeping at the wrong time

[Serafine]

Trying to buy an ant colony live in anyone it so cal willing to sell me a colony or a queen?don't care the species much(other than argentine ants).

The species DOES matter and you should do at least a few considerations.

 

Do you want ants that are easy to keep?

Lasius niger is almost indestructible and Tetramorium sp can adapt to an extremely wild variety of conditions (both also eat almost everything). Several Camponotus species (pensylvanicus, herculeanus) are also very easy to raise. RIFA (Solenopsis invicta, aka red imported fire ants) is also very resilient.

Messor (Harvester ants aka seed eaters) are also fairly easy to keep but need it calm, they do not like vibrations/constant disturbance at all.

Any sort of fungus growers (Leafcutters) is more difficult and tropical ants usually don't do well in northern countries unless they have a very sophisticated setup (temperature, humidity, etc. need to fit their needs).

 

Should the ants be easy to handle without harming you?

If yes fire ants and Leafcutters are not for you. Fire ant stings hurt like hell and Leafcutter soldiers can easily pierce your skin. Also fire ants are born escapists.

 

What size should your ants have?

Lasius and RIFA are pretty much the middle ground but there are also bigger ants (most Camponotus and Messor), huge ants (Leafcutters like Atta), small ants (Tetramorium/Pavement ants) and super tiny ants (Ghost ants or Thief ants). Very tiny ants are hard to see and also need special escape proof setups as they can squeeze through the tiniest gaps (like those between glass and plastics or the edges of connectors.

 

What growth rate do you want?

Most Camponotus grow very slow (10-50 workers after year 1, 80-200 after year 2, explosions into the thousands at year 3), red fire ants (like all Solenopsis) grow ridiculously fast and can fill even a large setup within a year (and the won't stop growing at that point, demanding constant addition of more nest space and food and driving maintenance to ridiculous levels by producing enormous amounts of waste).

Lasius are about middle ground in terms of reproduction and Tetramorium are a chunk above average (their hibernation period is also a bit shorter) but due to their smaller size they do require about the same space.

 

 

 

 

Giving these things a few thoughts really pays off. You don't want to end up with a colony that is too difficult to raise for a beginner, or a colony with such a ridiculous growth rate that it constantly pushes your setup to it's limit if you aren't prepared to constantly add new nesting space and handle to high maintenance they require or the painful stings they can deliver.

 

Also the growth rate vs ant size decision matters, some people want small ants that multiply quickly because they love the swarming others want big ants that are easy to observe but take longer to grow into a large colony.

Edited by Serafine, December 2 2016 - 4:39 AM.

[dspdrew]

yeah i gues i started ant keeping at the wrong time

 

Just wait a couple months. Here in California the season starts as early as January sometimes. In the mean time there is plenty to learn about, and lots of preparation to do. For some people, there's lots of stuff to build as well. For me, the season always seems to come too early.

[SamKeepsAnts]

How many AC omni nests would it take to hold an adult Solenopsis xyloni?

[Serafine]

I'd say for the start a test tube placed in an outworld/plastic container is fine. You shouldn't put ants in a formicarium until they are AT LEAST 20-50 workers - the smaller the ants the more workers they need to do properly in a nest (=not die).

I'd say a test tube and once they are big enough a Tetramorium hybrid or a regular omni should do. Solenpsis xyloni multiplies fast but also is pretty small - they can probably live fine in a larger test tube up to a size of 200-300 workers.

 

Fire ants are born escapists so use a good fluon barrier to keep them contained. And use surgical gloves to not get stung.

Edited by Serafine, December 2 2016 - 1:55 PM.

[Californian Anter]

How many AC omni nests would it take to hold an adult Solenopsis xyloni?

These ants grow really fast, and I heard somewhere they reach colonies of up to 80,000. I would say probably 1-2 omni nest x-larges or about 3+ omni nest larges.

[FSTP]

I'd say do a lot of reading and research over the winter then come anting season find your own ants. Its incredibly rewarding to find your first ants. Then once you start to get the hang of it you can purchase ants. Its a lot less problematic to loose ants that you caught for basically free (if you don't count time and travel, if there is any) then to loose ants you payed for, and ants can be expensive. 

 

This is what I did and I'm glad I did. I did a lot of reading and research for about a year before I joined the forums and went on my first anting excursion. The cool thing is the very first time I went out looking for ants I came home with a bunch of queens. Had I not done my research I wouldn't know how or what to look for when anting. But once you do its not nearly as hard as you think. If I can do it being Wheelchair bound, I think most everyone has a chance at anting.

[Saftron]

For you, I don't recommend Acromyrmex, Formica, Novomessor, Myrmecocystus, Pogonomyrmex, Atta, etc. You would probably kill the colony because these ants are more needy and need to be handled/keeped carefully

[Alabama Anter]

For you, I don't recommend Acromyrmex, Formica, Novomessor, Myrmecocystus, Pogonomyrmex, Atta, etc. You would probably kill the colony because these ants are more needy and need to be handled/keeped carefully

I agree but Pogonomyrmex and Novemmesor are okay for beginners. Formica r definitely a beginning ant genus... Why add Formica here??

Edited by dspdrew, December 3 2016 - 11:24 AM.
Fixed quote code

[Serafine]

Lasius, Tetramorium, most Camponotus, Messor and the bigger Solenopsis are all easy to raise (with only Solenopsis having handling issues due to the painful stings and Messor requiring a very calm and dark environment to start).

[TheAnswerIsTheLogic]

 

Trying to buy an ant colony live in anyone it so cal willing to sell me a colony or a queen?don't care the species much(other than argentine ants).

The species DOES matter and you should do at least a few considerations.

 

Do you want ants that are easy to keep?

Lasius niger is almost indestructible and Tetramorium sp can adapt to an extremely wild variety of conditions (both also eat almost everything). Several Camponotus species (pensylvanicus, herculeanus) are also very easy to raise. RIFA (Solenopsis invicta, aka red imported fire ants) is also very resilient.

Messor (Harvester ants aka seed eaters) are also fairly easy to keep but need it calm, they do not like vibrations/constant disturbance at all.

Any sort of fungus growers (Leafcutters) is more difficult and tropical ants usually don't do well in northern countries unless they have a very sophisticated setup (temperature, humidity, etc. need to fit their needs).

 

Should the ants be easy to handle without harming you?

If yes fire ants and Leafcutters are not for you. Fire ant stings hurt like hell and Leafcutter soldiers can easily pierce your skin. Also fire ants are born escapists.

 

What size should your ants have?

Lasius and RIFA are pretty much the middle ground but there are also bigger ants (most Camponotus and Messor), huge ants (Leafcutters like Atta), small ants (Tetramorium/Pavement ants) and super tiny ants (Ghost ants or Thief ants). Very tiny ants are hard to see and also need special escape proof setups as they can squeeze through the tiniest gaps (like those between glass and plastics or the edges of connectors.

 

What growth rate do you want?

Most Camponotus grow very slow (10-50 workers after year 1, 80-200 after year 2, explosions into the thousands at year 3), red fire ants (like all Solenopsis) grow ridiculously fast and can fill even a large setup within a year (and the won't stop growing at that point, demanding constant addition of more nest space and food and driving maintenance to ridiculous levels by producing enormous amounts of waste).

Lasius are about middle ground in terms of reproduction and Tetramorium are a chunk above average (their hibernation period is also a bit shorter) but due to their smaller size they do require about the same space.

 

 

 

 

Giving these things a few thoughts really pays off. You don't want to end up with a colony that is too difficult to raise for a beginner, or a colony with such a ridiculous growth rate that it constantly pushes your setup to it's limit if you aren't prepared to constantly add new nesting space and handle to high maintenance they require or the painful stings they can deliver.

 

Also the growth rate vs ant size decision matters, some people want small ants that multiply quickly because they love the swarming others want big ants that are easy to observe but take longer to grow into a large colony.

 

+1 I have a lasius colony which I forgot about it for like 3 months (they were in a test tube and a outworld (aquarium) with a water source and some apples and a little substrat of soil) and from 2 workers they went to 80 soo yeah lasius is a very adaptive species. (sorry for my grammar)

Seems like they can eat anything they can find also they are very smart (as they protected the enterance of test tube by putting soil on it, also imagine that I had no protection for the aquarium so after I forgot about them a ton of spiders made their nest in the aquarium but there is no sign of dead ants).

Edited by GeniusNutella12, December 4 2016 - 12:12 PM.