Hi,
The ants have settled very nicely into the bifurcated Mini Hearth. I wanted to share my observations of Monomorium minimum so far.
- M. minimum seems to be fairly reclusive. Unless I have provided them food, I can only spot 2-4 workers in the outworld at a time, who are usually taking a trip to the liquid feeder.
- But the ants will happily amass numbers whenever i provide them fruit flies to eat, swarming and breaking down the food. (I freeze the fruit flies then let them sit at room temp before feeding, if anyone cares to know)
- The gals love to drink sunburst. You'll see in some of the photos below several ants that have engorged themselves in the liquid.
- As of yesterday (2/22) I have provided the ants a liquid feeder with water. So far the ants don't seem interested.
- M. minimum seems to exhibit a far less refined tandem running, to me it seems more like just traveling in buddy-pairs (more of an inference than an observation)
- DO NOT use the plastic stoppers with the bifurcated Mini Hearth. There was a small gap that workers could easily slip through. Using the black rubber stopper solved the problem.
Overall i'm really enjoying Monomorium minimum so far. At this stage they are chill and easy to manage
Pics (Sorry for some of the more blurry photos. Middling phone camera + tiny ants)
(Feb 17)
(Feb 23)
Edited by Nincadaguy, February 23 2024 - 4:38 PM.
