34 replies to this topic

[Barristan]

We first have to wait until one species will be invasive all over the world regardless of climate zone, than we can choose this species for the ant keeping contest, agreed?

Edited by Barristan, June 24 2018 - 4:20 PM.

[AntsAreUs]

Well about that, the only Pheidole in my area make small colonies of ~200 so I can't really win that.

[Serafine]

This contest is a stupid idea for multiple reasons:

 

- Ants have different genetics with local substrains and even queens caught from the same area grow at different speed. Someone posted a journal of around half a dozen Tetratmorium queens caught during the same day at the same place and after 3 months one had 30 workers while two others only had around a dozen larvae.

 

- It's nigh impossible to for everyone to get the same species anyway because ants have an astounding amount of local gene pools (Messor in Central Europe just got revised from 1 species into 5 and just think about the 30+ subspecies of the Tetramorium ceaspitum-impurum complex - Tetramorium spE probably has even more subspecies they just haven't been analyzed yet.

 

- What are people supposed to do with their colonies when the contest is over? You'll have around 30+ forum members sitting on rapidly growing Solenopsis, Pheidole or Tetramorium colonies that will soon reach a size where they become unsustainable for most of their owners and likely end up getting dumped into their gardens.

 

- As I said before quantity of journals is not an issue, quality of journals is. Just go to the journal section and browse through all the journals and you notice that there is in fact a quality problem - pick the best 5% of the journals and that's the average journal quality in german antkeeping forums.

The problem is that neither is there even a single guide about how to make a proper journal (probably have to write one at some point) nor do high quality journals get called out and highlighted as an inspiration for others to improve their own journals.

Seriously, you can even find journals without pictures on Formiculture that basically constist of tables listing the colony's current population.

 

What Formiculture needs is something like a "journal of the month" contest to highlight high quality journals and probably a guide on how to actually make a good journal as well (because in a lot of cases it's clearly not a lack of willingness, it's simply a lack of knowledge on how to actually do it right).

Edited by Serafine, June 29 2018 - 6:31 AM.

[Leo]

I don't have a garden 

[TennesseeAnts]

I do like the "Journal of the month" idea, but I still think the contest should be a thing.

[sirjordanncurtis]

Tetramorium

[littlebandicoot]

I say go through each state, country  ect... (there has to be an easy way to do it) and find suitable species for that region, I live in Arizona USA and I'm not able to get species from outside my state, and i have species that can't be found in any other state. So that could be an option maybe?

[TennesseeAnts]

I say go through each state, country  ect... (there has to be an easy way to do it) and find suitable species for that region, I live in Arizona USA and I'm not able to get species from outside my state, and i have species that can't be found in any other state. So that could be an option maybe?

I meant the contest runner picks a GENUS of ant.

[sgheaton]

 

I think keeping Solenopsis invicta is probably best idea, cause they are always available and fly all the time and are wonderful ants for ant keeping, especially with cats and little children around.


But in honesty, I agree with Serafine.

How are S. invicta good ants especially with cats and little kids around? They are fire ants........ They are escape artistes.........???

 

 

......The internet is going to be too dangerous of a place for you.....

[TennesseeAnts]

I think keeping Solenopsis invicta is probably best idea, cause they are always available and fly all the time and are wonderful ants for ant keeping, especially with cats and little children around.
But in honesty, I agree with Serafine.

How are S. invicta good ants especially with cats and little kids around? They are fire ants........ They are escape artistes.........???

 
......The internet is going to be too dangerous of a place for you.....

???

[Skwiggledork]

No one spoil it.

[Canadian anter]

Other factors are brood boosting and pleometrophuc foundings

[StopSpazzing]

Contest is dead due obvious reasons, which if you don't understand then read Serafine's posts in this thread. If you want to contest your friends in your local area and post about it then by all means have at it.

[TennesseeAnts]

Yes, I now understand. The quality of journals is an issue. I will challenge all friends!

[TennesseeAnts]

I like Pheidole too. I'm probably just biased though because the only Pheidole around here are small, fast growing, polygynous ants that are just about to nuptial fly.

Yeah, I caught a nice red Pheidole queen in Nashville yesterday. She is around 8 millimeters long.