11 replies to this topic

[collin1008]

I am trying to move my tetramorium queen and her small worker pop and brood into a mini hearth. Currently working with about 10-15 workers. Currently using an LED light bulb however they only seem to clump together at that point and cover the pupae to shield them from the light. Very little to NO effort to seek out a darker place to move to. Any ideas? I was considering using heat BUT wasnt sure how Tetra would respond to heat. Ideas?

 

Thanks

[Alabama Anter]

Heat is not that of a huge contribute so I would recommend tapping the test tube gently to annoy them and just wait. My invicta took me 3 days to move

[Mdrogun]

I am trying to move my tetramorium queen and her small worker pop and brood into a mini hearth. Currently working with about 10-15 workers. Currently using an LED light bulb however they only seem to clump together at that point and cover the pupae to shield them from the light. Very little to NO effort to seek out a darker place to move to. Any ideas? I was considering using heat BUT wasnt sure how Tetra would respond to heat. Ideas?

 

Thanks

Is this a life or death situation? If not, I would recommend you just let them be. In the wild changing nesting sites with less than 50 workers is suicide for Tetramorium so they will often refuse to move when the colony is this young. I would recommend you wait until they have at least 30 or 40 workers until you try and get them to move. If you use heat or manually move them you would probably end up cooking them or severely stressing the colony out.

[collin1008]

The test tube is pretty dirty and I'm worried about mold growth, tried cleaning it out to the best of my ability, for now ill just tape it to the side and shine a led bulb on it and wait and see what happens. 

[benjiwuf]

to be honest i wouldn't worry too much about mold. I personally feed my colonies once a week and leave the food in the test tube the whole week. I've yet to see mold growth on anything in my colonies. the cotton turns black from being lived on by the ants yes, but I've yet to see any mold growth as long as ants are alive in the test tube. I'd say as long as there is water in there and it hasn't changed colors, then leave them be.

[collin1008]

Thanks for all the tips! What about once water is dried up?

[benjiwuf]

depends on the species i believe. I have no proof really, but i don't believe the ants need as much moisture for every species as we tend to think. I haven't had any water in the formicarium of one of my founding formicaria tests in at least a month, and the queen is still alive and raising brood. As i said i have no proof, just an observation i've made on only one tetramorium queen. take that with a grain of salt...

[collin1008]

Interesting note! on the plus side, after my observations, it took about 12 hours of indirect light from an LED light bulb for them to decide to move! It was about midnight when the migration started to happen and I am very happy I was awake to witness it. Was just about to go to bed too. I noticed increased movement from multiple workers into the Mini Hearth and then I saw one out of the corner of my eye starting to move eggs and pupae. that's when I new it was starting! Was amazing to see a worker come back and literally grab the queen and tug on her to get her to move. By the morning all the workers had moved and were settled in! They are fairly tucked away in a hideyhole in the nesting area. 

 

[Alabama Anter]

That's great!!! My Camponotus Pennyslvanicus colony found a grout nest that I made in less then 30 minutes and were fully moved in!!! I love my pennsylvanicus. Colony

[collin1008]

Very cool, hopefully next season I can secure a Camponotus queen! They seem like a very fun species to work with.

[Alabama Anter]

Yes they are very fun but very slow growing!!! Good luck next year

[collin1008]

That is what I've heard! Thank you, you as well!