24 replies to this topic

[Mathiacus]

I got a colony of these today. I have them in an old cricket breeding box, awaiting their formicarium. Ill have to scrap most of my fancy ideas so I can get them housed asap.

I placed a petri dish full of sugar water in with them thinking their size would prevent them from drowning, within seconds they had swarmed it and were crushing each other in their bid to bury their heads in it!it got worse than this.
It was my first major.mistake with these gals and it cost me a few. They must have been starving! I used my tweezers and pulled them out but more kept swarming. Eventually the fell upon the soaked ones and licked them clean. By the time I got the situation under control the dish had gone from full to less than 1/4 full. I am just glad the queen got out early. She was one of the first to dive on it. 😠 I will not be doing that again!

[Mathiacus]

I could not sleep. Couple indigestion with paranoia and you have matt only half asleep, waking up every few minutes convinced that he has inch long ants swarming his bed. I dislike not having these buggers housed properly.

I checked on them and the mass drowning was not as bad as I thought. Out of the few hundred in the box there are maybe 3 dead total. This is much better than the usual mass die off that is to be expected after collecting a colony.

[dspdrew]

I could not sleep. Couple indigestion with paranoia and you have matt only half asleep, waking up every few minutes convinced that he has inch long ants swarming his bed. I dislike not having these buggers housed properly.

I can imagine what that's like. I thought it was bad enough finding a random Pogonomyrmex worker wondering around every so often because of two crappy containers of mine. I have since moved them so they aren't directly over my head while sleeping anymore.

[Mathiacus]

*shudders* nope! We had M.nigrocincta in the bedroom for a while but they were well contained and on the other side of the room.

[Oz Ant]

Give them slices of apple instead

[Mathiacus]

beautiful ant!
I love the colouring.

[Gregory2455]

Brave! Stick your hand in the whole nest now.

[Mathiacus]

he did. that's how he got it out.

[dspdrew]

Now let's see you make a Bull Ant glove like the Amazonian Bullet Ant glove and try it on. :]
 

[Mathiacus]

Ill make a bull ant condom!

Edited by Mathiacus, November 27 2014 - 12:54 AM.

[Crablord]

Lol Jesus Christ

[Mathiacus]

Well, they have trashed the place!


I was trying to give them the most natural setup I could. I was warned this could happen but I thought I took precautions. They are not through the mesh but they have burrowed into the tiny layer of soil on top of it.
That is it! A sterile, plastic environment is what they want? It is what they will get. 😐

[Mathiacus]

the grass is starting to grow.

the larvae are pupating.

queen is here.. somewhere.

place looks terrible!

[Mathiacus]

Despite my ineptitude they are not dead yet. The die off from the collection stresses seems to have stopped. Unfortunately this species seems to be much faster in captivity than they were in the wild. I can not get into the tank to do any cleaning. They seem to have a 24 hour rotating roster of assigned lid guards 😐. I am happy that the grass is growing. Even if it is not growing where I had intended it to grow.

I have not spotted any eggs yet but ill have a good look a little later.

[dean_k]

Does insect a slip work on bull ants?

 

If so, you are probably going to want it.

Edited by dean_k, December 2 2014 - 6:40 PM.

[Mathiacus]

It probably does. But I am hoping to avoid and unsightly barriers. After a while they should avoid the lid like my other colonies do.

[drtrmiller]

[Fluon] probably does [work for these ants]. But I am hoping to avoid and unsightly barriers. After a while they should avoid the lid like my other colonies do.

 

The Fluon I sell is premixed at a 1/16 ratio and goes on silky smooth, with just a faint, milky translucency.

 

You can use up to 1/16 dilution on glass and it still be effective.  With most plastics, you can dilute it even further.

 

I'm hoping to produce some comparison videos or photos showing how my product and unique applicator bottles perform in various use case scenarios, soon.

Edited by drtrmiller, December 3 2014 - 1:05 AM.

[Mathiacus]

How much mate $?

[Mathiacus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIQoN9p_MAg&list=UUsYUyGlEHhadLsLXu57J_Fg

not sure if this works. here is a crappy video.

why is this the only place on the whole internet that ctrlV does not work?!?

[Mathiacus]

I was stung by this species today. I was 3 feet down in the ground getting a different Myrmecia species when a random one of these took exception to my avtivities. 20 mins later another one tagged me. I do not recommend it! Burns like fire!