14 replies to this topic

[Ants_Texas]

Alright I'm very stressed out right now and need to get a container with a tight lid for my pseudomyrmex gracilis cause they are the best escape artists ever. Does anyone know of a medium to large sized container I could get at a store or order as an outworld? I need one ASAP.. cause they're getting out..

[Connectimyrmex]

In Hawaii, where P. gracilis is common, I found out how to raise them with very low mortality rates. I used no outworlds, just a flat-ended, plastic test tube. Here's how:
Step 1: Clean out a tube, with no water or cotton at all.

Step 2: Cut a piece from a clear drinking straw (one barely wide enough to accommodate a P. gracilis queen, they sure love small nests) that is about 1/3 the length of the tube.

Step 3: Insert it in.

Step 4: Press pieces of damp cotton around the straw, but keep the straw pressed up against the side of the tube (for visibility). Add cotton until the cotton reaches the tip of the straw.

Step 5: Add the queen and plug the tube. The queen should nest in the straw, with the open half of the tube serving as an outworld (in my experience, they prefer termites, pinhead crickets, raw honey, and the occasional queen gaster). Occasionally dampen the cotton a bit (not too much, this species likes it very dry)
Step 6: When the first workers eclose, put the entire tube in an outworld.

[Ants_Texas]

In Hawaii, where P. gracilis is common, I found out how to raise them with very low mortality rates. I used no outworlds, just a flat-ended, plastic test tube. Here's how:
Step 1: Clean out a tube, with no water or cotton at all.

Step 2: Cut a piece from a clear drinking straw (one barely wide enough to accommodate a P. gracilis queen, they sure love small nests) that is about 1/3 the length of the tube.

Step 3: Insert it in.

Step 4: Press pieces of damp cotton around the straw, but keep the straw pressed up against the side of the tube (for visibility). Add cotton until the cotton reaches the tip of the straw.

Step 5: Add the queen and plug the tube. The queen should nest in the straw, with the open half of the tube serving as an outworld (in my experience, they prefer termites, pinhead crickets, raw honey, and the occasional queen gaster). Occasionally dampen the cotton a bit (not too much, this species likes it very dry)
Step 6: When the first workers eclose, put the entire tube in an outworld.

Well you see.. I have a colony of about 100 and it's wild caught...... this is why I'm freaking right now

[Mettcollsuss]

What are you currently keeping them in?

[Hunter]

have you tried fluon

[T.C.]

You can use olive/vegetable oil as a quick and temporary barrier.

[Antsy]

Yes! An ant I understand! I would recommend a tall out world (large) with a lid or fine thing with small holes in it (you know the grid thing)

[Hunter]

You can use olive/vegetable oil as a quick and temporary barrier.

when i use that on small ants they tend to die

[Ants_Texas]

What are you currently keeping them in?

I seperated the workers from the queen and a few wokers and put them in a mini hearth. Then I'm planning on finding a tight fitted lid as their outworld and re adding the workers.

have you tried fluon

They climb past it if they're determined. 

Yes! An ant I understand! I would recommend a tall out world (large) with a lid or fine thing with small holes in it (you know the grid thing)

Yeah, I'm actually asking where I can get one.

You can use olive/vegetable oil as a quick and temporary barrier.

Even fluon is more of a temporary barrier.

[MegaMyrmex]

When in doubt use talcum powder, kept my T. Sessile in and they run over olive oil like a boss. Just keep them in a simple container- a small escape- proof deli cup, and put a ball of wet cotton or some damp paper towel(tge operative qord being DAMP. Sopping wet WILL drown them, learned it from Monomorium minimum before it was too late). Make TINY holes or no holes at all. I make mine with the thinnest sewing needles I have but for non- formic acid sprayers, this isn't necessary. Put the colony in. Make sure that you have a layer of fluon or talcum powder. Then, dump the colony in. It may also help to have some dirt or other objects from their wild nest. If they seem too hyperactive, put them in the refrigerator for about 2 or 3 minutes, but for a tropical species like this I am unsure of this. I'd just play it safe, and avoid regrigeration for your case. Then, after an hour or so, CAREFULLY peel open the lid and introduce a TINY drop of honey or a small fruit fly. I have kept Formica, aphaenogaster, tetramorium, ponera, monomorium, camponotus, and other species alive this way when I ran out of nests. I bolded the words that are most vital to each step.

[Ants_Texas]

When in doubt use talcum powder, kept my T. Sessile in and they run over olive oil like a boss. Just keep them in a simple container- a small escape- proof deli cup, and put a ball of wet cotton or some damp paper towel(tge operative qord being DAMP. Sopping wet WILL drown them, learned it from Monomorium minimum before it was too late). Make TINY holes or no holes at all. I make mine with the thinnest sewing needles I have but for non- formic acid sprayers, this isn't necessary. Put the colony in. Make sure that you have a layer of fluon or talcum powder. Then, dump the colony in. It may also help to have some dirt or other objects from their wild nest. If they seem too hyperactive, put them in the refrigerator for about 2 or 3 minutes, but for a tropical species like this I am unsure of this. I'd just play it safe, and avoid regrigeration for your case. Then, after an hour or so, CAREFULLY peel open the lid and introduce a TINY drop of honey or a small fruit fly. I have kept Formica, aphaenogaster, tetramorium, ponera, monomorium, camponotus, and other species alive this way when I ran out of nests. I bolded the words that are most vital to each step.

Sounds like a good plan for founding, but this colony has about 100 workers. I'm looking for a bigger container for their outworld

[Connectimyrmex]

 

In Hawaii, where P. gracilis is common, I found out how to raise them with very low mortality rates. I used no outworlds, just a flat-ended, plastic test tube. Here's how:
Step 1: Clean out a tube, with no water or cotton at all.

Step 2: Cut a piece from a clear drinking straw (one barely wide enough to accommodate a P. gracilis queen, they sure love small nests) that is about 1/3 the length of the tube.

Step 3: Insert it in.

Step 4: Press pieces of damp cotton around the straw, but keep the straw pressed up against the side of the tube (for visibility). Add cotton until the cotton reaches the tip of the straw.

Step 5: Add the queen and plug the tube. The queen should nest in the straw, with the open half of the tube serving as an outworld (in my experience, they prefer termites, pinhead crickets, raw honey, and the occasional queen gaster). Occasionally dampen the cotton a bit (not too much, this species likes it very dry)
Step 6: When the first workers eclose, put the entire tube in an outworld.

Well you see.. I have a colony of about 100 and it's wild caught...... this is why I'm freaking right now

 

Koko the Gorilla: "Cry, sad, frown"

 

I have no idea what to do in that situation. Maybe try putting (hollow and fairly wide) bamboo reeds in a large tupperware with a baby powder barrier.

[MegaMyrmex]

When in doubt use talcum powder, kept my T. Sessile in and they run over olive oil like a boss. Just keep them in a simple container- a small escape- proof deli cup, and put a ball of wet cotton or some damp paper towel(tge operative qord being DAMP. Sopping wet WILL drown them, learned it from Monomorium minimum before it was too late). Make TINY holes or no holes at all. I make mine with the thinnest sewing needles I have but for non- formic acid sprayers, this isn't necessary. Put the colony in. Make sure that you have a layer of fluon or talcum powder. Then, dump the colony in. It may also help to have some dirt or other objects from their wild nest. If they seem too hyperactive, put them in the refrigerator for about 2 or 3 minutes, but for a tropical species like this I am unsure of this. I'd just play it safe, and avoid regrigeration for your case. Then, after an hour or so, CAREFULLY peel open the lid and introduce a TINY drop of honey or a small fruit fly. I have kept Formica, aphaenogaster, tetramorium, ponera, monomorium, camponotus, and other species alive this way when I ran out of nests. I bolded the words that are most vital to each step.

Sounds like a good plan for founding, but this colony has about 100 workers. I'm looking for a bigger container for their outworld

This is basically their outworld and nesting area in one place but the size of the container depends on the size of the colony

[Works4TheGood]

I use high quality food storage containers for my S. molesta.

[Antsy]

What are you currently keeping them in?

I seperated the workers from the queen and a few wokers and put them in a mini hearth. Then I'm planning on finding a tight fitted lid as their outworld and re adding the workers.

have you tried fluon

They climb past it if they're determined. 

Yes! An ant I understand! I would recommend a tall out world (large) with a lid or fine thing with small holes in it (you know the grid thing)

Yeah, I'm actually asking where I can get one.

You can use olive/vegetable oil as a quick and temporary barrier.

Even fluon is more of a temporary barrier.

You can get it at kitchen or container stores and mesh from kitchen stores (In conclusion Ants= kitchen)