A bunch of stuff about FOOD!

[Batspiderfish]

Wingless Melanogaster are an excellent food for ants and breed very rapidly. As long as you set up a new culture every couple of weeks, you will have hundreds of flies. When I am starting a new culture, I like to freeze however many adults I don't need; this ensures a nearly constant supply of food. I ***** their diets with Tenebrio and the occasional Plodia moth.

I've started a Dubia roach colony, but they are so darn cute that I'm not sure how often I'll be using them as a food source.

I'm going to try out teff grain, and see if any of my ants like that. I only have Tetramorium as a myrmicine, but I've seen Formica carry around seeds before.

[Batspiderfish]

Tetramorium has brought every Eragrostis tef seed they could find into their nest. Looks like a win for myrmicines! I wouldn't have thrown so many seeds into their foraging arena if I thought they were going to be that obsessive about it.

The seeds are tiny enough for even a Tetramorium nanitic to carry around.

My very young Formica colony used the seeds as a building material. I guess I'd better give them something proper like coconut fiber.