5 replies to this topic

[Senbonzakura]

So my Aphaenogaster queen just had her first worker and I have read that these ants have no social stomach and won't take liquid food sources. I ended up putting a piece of chocolate in for food. What is the usual way to give these ants sugar? Do I leave substrate in there so they can soak up honey with it?

[Batspiderfish]

They have social stomachs, but really small ones. They like to bring their sugar sources back on bits of debris. Chocolate is not a particularly good sugar source for ants -- they should be receiving sugar dissolved in water.

Edited by Batspiderfish, October 1 2017 - 4:56 AM.

[drtrmiller]

My personal observation is Aphaenogaster species feed on Sunburst held in byFormica liquid feeders similarly to other ants, but will attempt to place particulates on the orifices where the liquid is exposed.

[ColKurtz]

Great and timely topic as I have an aphaenogaster with some larval offspring. When workers arrive, if you are starting from a test tube setup, would you recommend placing the tube in an outworld or creating a small outworld foraging area and placing therein some sort of debris, like bits of leaves, for them to use for transporting liquids?

[Flame.Hyped]

In a test tube they use the cotton to soak up liquids, mine do at least. I've also heard offering them dirt or sponge works.

[Connectimyrmex]

After testing several sugary liquids (sugar water, honey, honey water, watermelon juice, syrup, etc), I learned that plain honey is the best for this species. Give them tiny drops (with a toothpick) inside of their tube.