10 replies to this topic

[DesertAntz]

Yesterday we had a good 20 minute rain shower. Nothing too heavy. The weather was nice, calm, and humid so I decided to go to my local park/golf course to look for ants (which I've never gone before to look for ants, strangely). 

 

Anyway, on the outskirts of the park there's a bunch of desert (surprise!) and I stumbled across this ~50yd stretch that was full of Veromessor pergandei. I found a couple nests that had midden piles a good ~2ft in diameter, even after the rain we had flushed some of it away. There was, I would say, thousands of them foraging in total throughout that stretch of desert coming from about 6-8 different nest sites. By the way, I was hopping around trying to not have them crawling up my leg. These guys don't form nice neat foraging lines. It feels like they fan out 360 degrees, and they were EVERYWHERE. 

 

I then came across 2 nests that are probably ~20ft away from each other and the inhabitants of said nests looked like they were fighting. Dozens upon dozens of groups of 3-4 of them would look like they were sizing each other up whilst you had dozens of 1 on 1 tackle fights. None of it looked that serious so I'm unsure if any colony had the intention of raiding the other one because it didn't seem like an assault but just a case of too many foragers coming into contact after a big rain. It was a cool site to see for sure. 

 

If I'm not mistaken Veromessor pergandei are able to form super colonies in the wild? 

 

 

 

One more thing that I got excited about was that I came into contact with about 5 workers of Odontomachus clarus. I was pumped because I've never seen trap jaw ants before. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to locate the nest site though. It threw me off how big they were. Biggest ant I've seen around here by far. Veromessor p. held that title before. Definitely a pretty species. I must get my hands on some queens! Anyone here know if trap jaws are high or low maintenance? 

[dspdrew]

That's awesome. V. pergandei actually do form pretty organized trails usually, so much that I am probably going to use them instead of Liometopum occidentale for an art exhibit I am helping out with. They need ants that trail.

[DesertAntz]

I guess there were just so many it felt like they fanned out   Luckily they are not that aggressive. 

 

That's cool that you help out exhibits and such. Do they pay you or do you volunteer? 

[Gregory2455]

Veromessor and Pogonomyrmex use a "tree branch" method for foraging. Which means you will see some very large, organized trails close to the nests, but they start splitting up as they get farther and farther from the nest.

 

As for Veromessor fighting, that is a common thing, I have seen them clash with Pogonomyrmex rugosus, and I know Drew has a video of them fighting Pheidole givlescens.

 

As for Odontomachus clarus, they are pretty easy, but there may be some trial and error involved. The queens are semi-clausteral, so they will need to eat during the founding stage, and I think they like their prey alive, so when the colony is still small, fruit flies work, and as they grow, use small, then increasingly larger crickets/termites. I do not know their need for a sugar source, so if you were to get one, be safe and provide one. As for water, LOTS of water, as far as I know, 90% or so of Odontomachus spp. are tropical.

[DesertAntz]

I imagine I can get fruit flies as feeders at a pet store? 

 

Edit: Never mind. Just looked it up. 

 

According to the mating chart I'll have to wait until next summer to have a real shot at Odontomachus. I can wait. 

Edited by DesertAntz, September 27 2014 - 2:05 PM.

[Gregory2455]

I love Odontomachus, so maybe drop one into a package headed to me? Yeah you can get fruit-flies at pet stores.

[dspdrew]

I guess there were just so many it felt like they fanned out   Luckily they are not that aggressive. 

 

That's cool that you help out exhibits and such. Do they pay you or do you volunteer? 

Like Greg said, they fan out, but a lot of times they have a main highway back to the nest.

[123LordOfAnts123]

I have a good amount of experience with Odontomachus brunneus and through trial and error, have found them to be extremely easy to maintain so long as they are provided a humid, warm environment, and an adequate food supply. They prefer solo hunting so prey items the size of the workers themselves and smaller are preferred. They will scavenge larger prey items, albeit with some difficulty due to the shape of theirs jaws limiting their ability to dismember. I feed my colony only insects, consisting of pinhead crickets, fruit flies, small earwigs, roach nymphs, baby mealworms, flies, etc.. They will take to sweets but seem to thrive and keep fat and healthy upon only protein. I've managed to get winged queens from mature, wild colonies, to mate successfully with males drawn in through blacklights/porch lights. O. clarus may be similar although will probably require slightly drier conditions.

Edited by 123Lord Of Ants123, September 27 2014 - 11:18 PM.

[Gregory2455]

Wait, where are you located 123Lord Of Ants123?

[DesertAntz]

Thanks for the info Lord of Ants. I take it you live in the tropics?? 

 

It's interesting that this genus likes to solo hunt seeing how ants were meant to work together. When I did observe them though, even the foragers near each other seemed to be on their own schedule. Seems strange to me but this has only sparked a bigger flame of excitement to get me one of these colonies! I want to know what their behavior is in the nest. 

[dspdrew]

Wait, where are you located 123Lord Of Ants123?

He's in Florida.