4 replies to this topic

[escoscottyb]

I'm a newbie, and have a Tarheel Ants formicarium.  In the foraging area, I put some sugar water and a dot of honey for food, and to hopefully lure my Camponotus sansabeanus queen and her workers out of their mini-formicarium.  But now, much smaller local ants have invaded the formicarium.  They're small enough to slip through gaps in the unit.  The queen has left the mini and moved into the base, but I don't see any of her workers.  Any thoughts on how to deal with the invaders and why I haven't seen any workers?

[Cameron C. Thomas]

More detail on your situation would be helpful. Given what you've provided, I hope this is beneficial for you.

 

If you're certain you're rearing C. sansabeanus, I can assume you're in the southwestern US. If you're in California, you may be in Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) territory. These small ants are very aggressive and can fit into tiny crevices, destroying enclosed colonies. I assume you're keeping your colony in the garage to maximize colony growth because it's warmer than the rest of the house, but garages are full of openings for other ants--and insects generally--to squeeze through. It may be better for you to keep the colony inside with an artificial heat source.

 

If you're dealing with an L. humile problem, they're also notorious for getting inside the home as well. I recommend using poison ant baits from your local hardware store to deal with them or any problematic ants you don't want getting inside. If your colonies' housing is secure, you won't have to worry about the ants you're keeping getting to it.

 

Regardless of the identity of your intruder, the act itself means it was an agressive species, and they likely killed your first workers. I've lost plenty of nanitics over the years for various reasons, and your queen may lay again. If I have to reset a queen for whatever reason, I've had pretty good success with these steps:

 

1. Put the queen in a small container. [I use 2.5 oz. plastic Solo brand soufflés cups with lids because I can buy them in bulk and I work with huge numbers of insects.]

2. Give her a cotton ball soaked with some sugar water. [If you want, give her some liquid protein as well.]

3. After 24-48 hours, set her up in a new test tube and treat her like a new queen. [After you put her in a new tube, it may help to chill her at hibernation temps for a week or two if she tugs at the cotton and seems stressed.]

 

If you're successful, keep in mind you really shouldn't be moving her until she has a sufficient number of workers and the test tube gets crowded or moldy. My Camponotus colonies usually stay in a test tube for two years before they're big enough to need an upgrade.

 

Good luck with everything!

Edited by Cameron C. Thomas, June 2 2017 - 6:42 AM.

[dspdrew]

Yes this was most likely an Argentine ant invasion. Many formicariums are not designed good enough to keep very small ants, or very flat ants like Dolichoderinae (which Argentine ants are) from passing in or out. Your workers and brood are probably gone for good. Argentine ants will kill your whole colony pretty quickly, so you want to make sure to keep the nest somewhere they can't reach.

 

One way to do this is to make a platform with Fluon-coated legs. Before I made my ant-proof cabinets, I used to have my formicariums sitting on pieces of plywood with smooth plastic Fluon-coated cylindrical collection containers acting as legs. What's even easier, but doesn't look as nice, is simply coating the outside of a plastic tub with Fluon, and setting the formicarium on that. If you're worried about your ants escaping, flip the tub over, coat the inside, and set the formicarium inside it. I do this a lot in temporary maintenance situations.

[escoscottyb]

More detail on your situation would be helpful. Given what you've provided, I hope this is beneficial for you.

 

If you're certain you're rearing C. sansabeanus, I can assume you're in the southwestern US. If you're in California, you may be in Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) territory. These small ants are very aggressive and can fit into tiny crevices, destroying enclosed colonies. I assume you're keeping your colony in the garage to maximize colony growth because it's warmer than the rest of the house, but garages are full of openings for other ants--and insects generally--to squeeze through. It may be better for you to keep the colony inside with an artificial heat source.

 

If you're dealing with an L. humile problem, they're also notorious for getting inside the home as well. I recommend using poison ant baits from your local hardware store to deal with them or any problematic ants you don't want getting inside. If your colonies' housing is secure, you won't have to worry about the ants you're keeping getting to it.

 

Regardless of the identity of your intruder, the act itself means it was an agressive species, and they likely killed your first workers. I've lost plenty of nanitics over the years for various reasons, and your queen may lay again. If I have to reset a queen for whatever reason, I've had pretty good success with these steps:

 

1. Put the queen in a small container. [I use 2.5 oz. plastic Solo brand soufflés cups with lids because I can buy them in bulk and I work with huge numbers of insects.]

2. Give her a cotton ball soaked with some sugar water. [If you want, give her some liquid protein as well.]

3. After 24-48 hours, set her up in a new test tube and treat her like a new queen. [After you put her in a new tube, it may help to chill her at hibernation temps for a week or two if she tugs at the cotton and seems stressed.]

 

If you're successful, keep in mind you really shouldn't be moving her until she has a sufficient number of workers and the test tube gets crowded or moldy. My Camponotus colonies usually stay in a test tube for two years before they're big enough to need an upgrade.

 

Good luck with everything!

Thanks a lot for the info.  A little rough start here out of the gate.  Oy.  FYI, I already did go the poison bait route that appears to have pulled the majority of the invaders out of the formicarium, however, I think the brood and workers are kaput.

 

I bought the queen and workers from a breeder, so I'm assuming she'd already been test-tubed for a while before she and her workers/brood were placed into the mini-formicarium.  And sounds lke I'm going to have brainstorm on new location as these Argentinian ants are everywhere...oh and yes, I'm in San Diego.  

Edited by escoscottyb, June 2 2017 - 7:49 AM.

[escoscottyb]

Yes this was most likely an Argentine ant invasion. Many formicariums are not designed good enough to keep very small ants, or very flat ants like Dolichoderinae (which Argentine ants are) from passing in or out. Your workers and brood are probably gone for good. Argentine ants will kill your whole colony pretty quickly, so you want to make sure to keep the nest somewhere they can't reach.

 

One way to do this is to make a platform with Fluon-coated legs. Before I made my ant-proof cabinets, I used to have my formicariums sitting on pieces of plywood with smooth plastic Fluon-coated cylindrical collection containers acting as legs. What's even easier, but doesn't look as nice, is simply coating the outside of a plastic tub with Fluon, and setting the formicarium on that. If you're worried about your ants escaping, flip the tub over, coat the inside, and set the formicarium inside it. I do this a lot in temporary maintenance situations.

Thanks so much for the info.  Fluon sounds like it'll be my Plan A, and I like your idea for the legs.