190 replies to this topic

[dspdrew]

Apparently given a good enough edge, and enough time, Acromyrmex will chew through Polypropylene. They must have some sharp mandibles...
 

[Subverted]

Well...their mandibles did evolve for cutting/sawing through foliage... In the desert I imagine that means a lot of dry foliage!

[dspdrew]

Well I doubt it's unique to them. Lots of ants chew through all sorts of stuff that's not really any different than what Acromyrmex chew through in the wild. I'm sure other ants could do this too.

[dspdrew]

I 3D printed a little frame for the circular tiles I'm using now. This is a million times better and easier than gluing them in. I just press the tile in with a vice, and then the frame just snaps right into the container.
 
I decided to make a version of this formicarium for regular ants too, and that's actually what this particular tile is for.
 

 

 

 

 
 
Bottom
 

 
 
With Hydrostone poured around it.
 

 
 
It's nice because like this, the tile only sticks up about 3mm, which puts it perfectly flush with the Hydrostone.
 
Lots of tiles.
 

[dspdrew]

I designed this one for regular ants. The chambers are the same size, but I think most ants don't care one bit. I just need to make connectors with smaller holes for smaller ants so they will feel more secure. It's nice to be able to use Hydrostone again, now that I can keep it isolated from the hydrating tile. These also are not designed to be stacked, unlike the fungus-grower ones. These are really designed for top viewing. I might even have the lids cut out so acrylic plates can be placed in them instead of the polystyrene with the injection mold nub in the center.
 

[Vendayn]

That actually looks a lot better for normal ants.

 

There is however one thing to keep in mind for some small ants. Like my Pheidole megacephala, they prefer dragging food (especially insects) INTO the nest. Which small insects are fine and can fit in the holes, but I fed them a cockroach and they had a really hard time bringing it into their nest. I'm not sure if its really an issue overall, and only really an issue if someone puts the entire insect into it without making it smaller. But, I've tried cutting them up and they ignore the insect after that for some reason. But if you make the holes smaller, it could pose a problem for the smaller species of ant that likes to drag food into the nest itself.

 

Other than that though, it actually looks a lot better for non-Acromyrmex/Leafcutter ant species from what you've shown of it. Especially since most ants don't really need all that humidity and moisture that the Acromyrmex need for the fungus.

[dspdrew]

I'm going to make connectors with different sized inner diameters, so you could put whatever size you want in them. And yeah, the humidity is less than in the fungus-grower nests, because the tile is a lot smaller.

[drtrmiller]

 
A critical problem with this design, is that ants like surfaces.  You think this is fantastic because it is "modular" and stackable?  What about all that unused space?
 
You should design some sort of surface scaffolding for your "nest" side, in which the ants may deposit brood and rest, rather than resorting to the side walls of the container.

[dspdrew]

A critical problem with this design, is that ants like surfaces.  You think this is fantastic because it is "modular" and stackable?  What about all that unused space?

 

You should design some sort of surface scaffolding for your "nest" side, in which the ants may deposit brood and rest, rather than resorting to the side walls of the container.

 

True it is wasted space, except these are not supposed to be stackable because I want to be able to view them from the top. The only thing that would be better is having an extra vertical wall or two in the nest container. I was also trying to keep them as simple as possible, so this was the easiest way. I was basically just trying to come up with a quick and easy alternative to laying a test tube in one of those foraging containers.

[dspdrew]

So the Crematogaster colony is doing really well in this nest so far.
 

 
 
By now they have almost completely covered every bit of surface area inside the nest container. I noticed when removing the nest from the water source, almost the entire colony went inside the nest. I'm pretty sure they liked the lower humidity better.
 
I decided to test the humidity, and here were the results.
 
I used the container in the picture below with either a hole straight through to pure water, or a round saturated tile like the one in the picture. I tried it with the 16mm hole in the side, and with the hole sealed up. The temperature in the room was 75F.
 

 
Ambient/room: 75F / 45%
Container (sealed, 15mm pure water): 55%
Container (sealed, 9mm tile): 75%
Container (sealed, 15mm tile): 85%
Container (sealed, 27mm tile): 85%
Container (16mm opening, 9mm tile): 70%
Container (16mm opening, 15mm tile): 75%
Container (16mm opening, 27mm tile): 80%

[dspdrew]

I just finished one of the 8-chamber fungus grower formicariums with a second level for someone. I'm interested in seeing how the second level works out. It isn't hydrated, so the only humidity has to travel to the second level. I tested the humidity, and it was a bit low, but not any different than it is in the entrance chamber when I keep it dry. I have had colonies grow fungus in that chamber before so I think it might work alright. I still don't have a mesh lid designed for these yet, so I just had to wing this one.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NightsWebs]

Looks great Drew!

[kellakk]

Very nice! I hope it works well!

[ParaStatic]

Want to say, I have read all these pages from start till here and you have provided me with many great ideas. (As well as making me want a 3d printer). You have documented things wonderfully, and I thank you.

[dspdrew]

Yeah, I can't believe I didn't get one earlier.

[dspdrew]

Lots of tile inserts.
 

[spider_creations]

Are these for sale? If so how much

[dspdrew]

Not exactly, but I could sell them if someone really wants them.

[spider_creations]

Not exactly, but I could sell them if someone really wants them.

Sorry hot the tiles but the formicariums as I in the near future will need some setups for my Acromyrmex

[dspdrew]

Oh yeah I have started selling these. I just haven't made a listing for them yet on my Market Place thread because I still don't have a final design for the lids.

 

1-chamber - $40

3-chamber - $80

8-chamber - $190