13 replies to this topic

[Ikerrilove]

I'm looking to make lids for my homemade outworlds so I'm trying to figure out what size of wire mesh to buy.

 

I have an Amazon gift card I can use, if they have something suitable that can be bought in Canada. I have Solenopsis molesta currently which I hear like to escape so something small enough for them would be great. I may not keep this species but I don't think many ants are smaller so that should work for a lot of ants. 

 

I just received a Mini Hearth and the mesh is super tiny so something that size would be great. My plan is to use a few homemade formicariums (tubs and tubes types) and then buy a nice larger one when they get older. I'll know by then which ants I want to keep and I can buy the one best suited to them.

 

Any help would be very appreciated. My brain has the numerical ability of a 1st grader so I'm hoping to not buy the wrong size like I did with the test tubes. A damaged frontal lobe does not go well with a lot of mathematical abilities and visualizing scale is one of the things I find most difficult. Even harder when my eyes see one number but my brain sees another but it keeps life interesting.

 

At least I have all winter to figure this out so thanks for all the great information provided here, I'll get it all straight eventually.

[ANTdrew]

I was thinking an easy way to do this would be to buy one of those reusable coffee filters or reusable k-cup filters that come with super fine mesh. You could just cut out the pieces you needed. They sell these at most grocery stores now.

[Lazarus]

I used to use wire mesh from frying pan splash guards that I bought at the dollar store, but even some camponotus would sneak through on occasion.

 

Now I use 100 micron mesh from eBay like the url below. A fair sized roll costs less that $7 CDN shipping included. Very pliable to shape. But there is the 6-7 week wait for it to arrive.

 

https://www.ebay.ca/...=item1ec2fd7c99

[DaveJay]

Going on what I've read on this forum what is known as "100 mesh" is fine enough to stop even the smallest ants escaping. This means there are 100 holes in a linear inch. 100 micron mesh is even finer, approx 140 holes per linear inch, either would be ok I'd guess although as the mesh becomes finer so does the 'thread' it's woven from so a finer mesh must mean a loss in strength to my thinking. In a thread I asked if 100 mesh was the optimum mesh because of the balance of fine holes vs strength but got no reply but I think it is so. I ordered sheets of both 100 mesh and 60 mesh and both have very small holes but the 60 mesh seems thicker and stronger, both were very cheap for a sheet as opposed to a roll.
I should mention that you need stainless steel mesh.

Edited by DaveJay, September 8 2018 - 6:42 PM.

[CampoKing]

I bought this 200 mesh once on Amazon, and it's slightly stiff but probably escape proof for every insect imaginable:

https://www.amazon.c...s/dp/B01N37KG3P

I use it for all of my Camponotus habitats

Edited by CampoKing, September 8 2018 - 6:54 PM.

[DaveJay]

Something else you might consider is that you can buy 2cm circles of fine stainless steel mesh meant to go in the bowl/cone piece of pipes and hookahs. It's very fine but not quite as fine as 100 mesh. I found one listing on ebay with 10 (2 packs of 5) for about $1.50aud then came across another listing for 100 pieces for $1.49aud. I ordered more rather than cut up the mesh I have, it's so easy to drill a hole and glue a precut circle over it, neat too.

[Ikerrilove]

I bought this 200 mesh once on Amazon, and it's slightly stiff but probably escape proof for every insect imaginable:

https://www.amazon.c...s/dp/B01N37KG3P

I use it for all of my Camponotus habitats

 

 

This may seem like a basic question but is 200 mesh tighter or looser then 100? Sorry but I'm kind of allergic to numbers. 

[DaveJay]

200 mesh has twice the number of holes in 1 linear inch as 100 mesh does so it is twice as fine. (Twice as tight if you prefer)
Even 100 mesh looks more like cloth than mesh, 200 mesh would be very fine.

Edited by DaveJay, September 9 2018 - 4:27 AM.

[CampoKing]

 

I bought this 200 mesh once on Amazon, and it's slightly stiff but probably escape proof for every insect imaginable:

https://www.amazon.c...s/dp/B01N37KG3P

I use it for all of my Camponotus habitats

 

 

This may seem like a basic question but is 200 mesh tighter or looser then 100? Sorry but I'm kind of allergic to numbers. 

 

 

200 mesh is exceptionally fine steel mesh.  Take the typical bug screen found in a window.  The bug screen has around 20 holes or stitches per inch, so the "mesh grade" of bug screen is 20 mesh.  So, 200 mesh is 200 holes or stitches per square inch.  The holes are extremely tiny.  Take a look at the product image from Amazon below. The 200 mesh is so fine that it looks like fabric compared to a US penny:

 

[Ikerrilove]

 

 

I bought this 200 mesh once on Amazon, and it's slightly stiff but probably escape proof for every insect imaginable:

https://www.amazon.c...s/dp/B01N37KG3P

I use it for all of my Camponotus habitats

 

 

This may seem like a basic question but is 200 mesh tighter or looser then 100? Sorry but I'm kind of allergic to numbers. 

 

 

200 mesh is exceptionally fine steel mesh.  Take the typical bug screen found in a window.  The bug screen has around 20 holes or stitches per inch, so the "mesh grade" of bug screen is 20 mesh.  So, 200 mesh is 200 holes or stitches per square inch.  The holes are extremely tiny.  Take a look at the product image from Amazon below. The 200 mesh is so fine that it looks like fabric compared to a US penny:

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much, That really helps  

 

Only I'd find my very first ant colonies and have them be Camponotus novaeboracensis and Solenopsis molesta

[Barristan]

A good way to determine the maximum mesh size for a specific ant species is to look at the diameter of the head of the smallest workers. If an ant's head fits through a mesh probably the rest will too. But if the head doesn't fit through the rest won't. The head of an ant is quite stiff compared to other parts like the gaster (which can expand or shrink depending on how much food the ant collected).

 

You can find pictures with a scale on antweb.org for almost all ant species.

[DaveJay]

I bought this 200 mesh once on Amazon, and it's slightly stiff but probably escape proof for every insect imaginable:

https://www.amazon.c...s/dp/B01N37KG3P

I use it for all of my Camponotus habitats

This may seem like a basic question but is 200 mesh tighter or looser then 100? Sorry but I'm kind of allergic to numbers.

200 mesh is exceptionally fine steel mesh. Take the typical bug screen found in a window. The bug screen has around 20 holes or stitches per inch, so the "mesh grade" of bug screen is 20 mesh. So, 200 mesh is 200 holes or stitches per square inch. The holes are extremely tiny. Take a look at the product image from Amazon below. The 200 mesh is so fine that it looks like fabric compared to a US penny:

I had thought it was holes per square inch but every search I do says that it is holes per linear inch, even on engineering and industrial sites so I'm confused now.

[CampoKing]

Darn good question  

 

Unfortunately, the Oxford Dictionary of Mechanical Engineering requires a subscription in order to see the official definition of mesh size, but if you happen to have an OUP account, that's one way to settle the confusion.

 

http://www.oxfordref...V55&result=3828

 

Update:  I found the definition via Amazon's book preview.  Mesh Size refers you to Sieve, which is defined as:

 

 

Sooo....200 mesh is 200 parallel wires along a unit of width, aka linear inch maybe? 

It has to be linear, because we're dealing with a unit of width, NOT a unit of area (which would logically be square)

Edited by CampoKing, September 11 2018 - 11:04 PM.

[DaveJay]

Darn good question

Unfortunately, the Oxford Dictionary of Mechanical Engineering requires a subscription in order to see the official definition of mesh size, but if you happen to have an OUP account, that's one way to settle the confusion.

http://www.oxfordref...V55&result=3828

Update: I found the definition via Amazon's book preview. Mesh Size refers you to Sieve, which is defined as:



Sooo....200 mesh is 200 parallel wires along a unit of width, aka linear inch maybe?
It has to be linear, because we're dealing with a unit of width, NOT a unit of area (which would logically be square)

This is what I found on many sites today, I had always thought it was per square inch before today.