Hey guys! I've just finished a tutorial on how to care for ant associates that live in or near the nest!! People without the necessary ants can now rejoice when they find a weird ant silverfish or a branch covered in aphids!
Here it is. If you have any questions or recommendations, just post it in a reply.
Aphids
-Readily available (on plants)
-Easy to feed
-Hardy
-Easy to breed in captivity
-Most aphids are female and can breed via parthenogenesis
Mealybugs
-Less available (on plants)
-Easy to feed
-Very hardy
-Hard to breed in captivity
-Male mealybugs have a complete life cycle and female mealybugs resemble large nymphs
Ant-Loving Silverfish
-Very hard to obtain (in the nest)
-Eats with your ants
-Relatively hardy
-Difficult to breed in captivity
-Sexual dimorphism is unapparent
Ant-Loving Cricket
-Easy to obtain if you have local ant populations who move all the time (otherwise, they are in the nest)
-Eats extra stored food in ant colonies
-Relatively hardy
-Semi-easy to breed in captivity (one of my friends at my old school in the mainland US [I live in Hawaii] once bred some Ant-Loving Crickets. He was definitely a beginner. Every time that I've ever tried, though, I've failed.)
-Look for an ovipositor. Males do not have an ovipositor.
Ant-Loving Cockroach (Leafcutter symbiote)
-Hard to obtain (unless you catch nuptial Leafcutter Ants)
-Eats Leafcutter Ant fungus
-Hardy if you have fungus
-Breeding status unknown
-Sexual dimorphism is unapparent
BONUS: Keeping Termites!
Termites
-Easy to obtain
-Requires Queen AND King
-Can be kept in a test tube (they will eat the cotton)
-Takes two months for nymphs to hatch
-DON'T MIX WITH ANTS!
My alias is OchetellusPheidoleGeminata if anybody reads the other forums. I posted this somewhere else some time ago.
Edited by Hawaiiant, November 29 2016 - 10:20 PM.
