The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

nightxwolf88 wrote:Is that just a little soil in there with them?

Yeah, more like some pebbles, which wasn't my intention. Also a lot of seeds -- I put some Eragrostis tef seeds in their foraging arena after the first workers started eclosing, thinking that they might grab a couple, but one little Tetramorium worker gathered every last piece almost immediately. I think that pile of brood has largely been fed on this hoard of seeds, ***** with sugars and insect protein.

The rest is coconut fiber, which is turning out to be a very useful substrate for all my ants.

My camera battery died before I could photograph my other ants. Those will come sometime in the future, hopefully after my Formica neogagates queen gets her first and only worker for the year.

That's amazing, I knew tetramorium would eat grain too but to hoard all those seeds wow haha. I think I'm gonna try some seeds for mine instead of just crickets and honey water.

nightxwolf88 wrote:That's amazing, I knew tetramorium would eat grain too but to hoard all those seeds wow haha. I think I'm gonna try some seeds for mine instead of just crickets and honey water.

Teff is supposedly the worlds smallest agricultural grain. I'm not sure what its availability is like, but Bob's Red Mill sells bags of it. Chia might work well too.

Thank you for the tips as usual . I'll see if the chai will work for them

Batspiderfish wrote:Tetramorium sp. E

What are the gray clumps?

Never mind lol I guess I should read all post before posting questions lol

Myrmica sp. "1"



Myrmica sp. "2"





Lasius latipes





Formica neogagates

Lasius latipes (and mites)
The host workers are from the flavus group, either Lasius flavus or L. nearcticus.





Lasius alienus
The queen did not make it through hibernation. These orphans will serve nicely as a host colony -- if they are still queenless by July, then I will give Lasius subumbratus another shot.

I have to say, I envy your collection! I know I'll get there though. One of my Camponotus subbarbatus has her first cocoons for the year! One of them is bigger than the other 2 so maybe I'm in for a surprise... Or just a bigger worker as she only has 6-7. I need to do a count really. Love your Camponotus pennsylvanicus pictures the most BTW! I will have that species before the year is up...I hope

xTNxANTMANx wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:25 am

I have to say, I envy your collection! I know I'll get there though. One of my Camponotus subbarbatus has her first cocoons for the year! One of them is bigger than the other 2 so maybe I'm in for a surprise... Or just a bigger worker as she only has 6-7. I need to do a count really. Love your Camponotus pennsylvanicus pictures the most BTW! I will have that species before the year is up...I hope

Thanks!
Camponotus subbarbatus is so pretty! C. pennsylvanicus are large and monochromatic, but I kind of like them for those reasons. My colony has a lot of potential to grow bigger than I can handle, which I am a little concerned about.

I've been keeping ants for quite a few years now, so recently I curb my impulses to catch queens so that I have a better chance at unique species. I have a few too many ants right now -- it's better to only have a few that you can take good care of. I'm going to eventually have to build formicariums for all of these ants.

I'm working on a whole-formicarium design that can be 3d-printed, but then cast in cement so that I can make a lot of them cheaply. It will be at a 20 degree angle instead of vertical/horizontal, for better viewing/photography.