Indiana is a bland, boring ***hole. Any ants to see?

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SpeciesK

Indiana is a bland, boring ***hole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16208Post SpeciesK
Sat Jan 21, 2017 10:13 pm

It would be nice to see someone's ants. It could be a personal colony, or a zoo, or university, or any ant colony at all. Indiana is about as bland and boring as life can possibly get! A few years ago someone told me they had a friend, who had a brother, who put a chunk of wood with termites in it into a big bottle as a kid and they have kept it ever since as a pet termite colony. It sounds like an urban myth or something, but I have thought about doing that ever since. But I have never seen termites anywhere, and no one else has ever claimed to have seen any termites either, so I have never had a chance to try it. I have tried to attract ants to the yard but don't know how except trying to put bread or seeds in different places. No luck though. So having an ant colony sounds appealing to me.

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Batspiderfish
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Re: Indiana is a bland, boring hellhole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16213Post Batspiderfish
Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:46 am

http://antmaps.org/?

There are over 140 ant species in Indiana, so it doesn't sound too boring to me.

Only certain kinds of ants would be interested in grains or capable of digesting them. The majority of ants are insectivorous, with a fondness for sugary liquids.
If you enjoy my expertise and identifications, please do not put wild populations at risk of disease by releasing pet colonies. We are responsible to give our pets the best care we can manage for the rest of their lives.

SpeciesK

Re: Indiana is a bland, boring hellhole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16227Post SpeciesK
Sun Jan 22, 2017 6:44 am

Is there any kind I am most likely to see or find queens for? Then I can read about them, maybe, before I see them. It is very warm lately, I wonder if any are likely to be tricked into flying this time of year? :geek:
I realize now that a few years ago I saw an enormous black ant queen somewhere. I wanted to keep it (as if I would have known how) but it was sooo big and the middle was so sturdy looking that I thought it must be a very fat wingless wasp and didn't want to get stung. But it didn't act like a wasp, and it looked like a very sturdy ant walking around not very excitedly like it was looking for something. I think I did catch it in something to take it home, but decided it was such a nice ant and I didn't really have any idea what to do with it, so I walked it back to where I found it and let it go. It just stood there looking at me for a while and then walked off. I missed it immediately of course. I went to try finding it the next day but didn't see it. :cry:

Martialis
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Location: Indiana

Re: Indiana is a bland, boring ***hole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16232Post Martialis
Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:40 am

Makes me sad you think our state is so bland.

But some common ants here are Tetramorium sp., Camponotus sp., Lasius sp., Prenelopis imparis, Crematogaster sp., even
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Martialis
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Location: Indiana

Re: Indiana is a bland, boring ***hole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16233Post Martialis
Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:51 am

It cut me off. :| Lemme rewrite it...

But some common ants here are Tetramorium sp., Camponotus sp., Lasius sp., Prenelopis imparis, Crematogaster sp., Formica sp. (including some wood ants), even a species of Solenopsis! If you look closer, or even at collection records, you can reach the true biodiversity of our great state.
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Re: Indiana is a bland, boring hellhole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16376Post SpeciesK
Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:01 am

I think whoever starred out my title made it sound much worse by using three stars. :P But anyway...

Oh no! :o You must be running a high fever! These hallucinations about Indiana being a great State are a sure sign of it! :shock: Call an ambulance! Break out the iodine! Prepare an ice bath before the fever cooks you! Do you smell something burning? We might be too late! :mrgreen:
There is an Indiana ant expert who is not a GAN farmer? :twisted: [*scrapes finger at you*] Where did you find the queens you have? Like that unusual one that lives in woods under leaves and has 200 or less workers. (I can't see it by your name now for some reason but I looked it up yesterday) Also, I think Tetramorium must be what I think of as those tiny ants that eat dropped candy on sidewalks, and suddenly show up everywhere. What do you keep your Tetramorium colony in? What about the unusual one? What do you feed them? What problems have you had so far? Are there any other people around keeping ants? Do you have any short videos of your ants doing anything or nothing at all? :geek:

SpeciesK

Re: Indiana is a bland, boring hellhole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16377Post SpeciesK
Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:10 am

That unusual kind = Ponera pennsylvanica

SpeciesK

Re: Indiana is a bland, boring ***hole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16378Post SpeciesK
Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:25 am

Solenopsis are fire ants but there are no imported fire ants in Indiana, its way too cold (and bland ;) ). So what species lives in Indiana? Have you ever seen any? Keeping fire ants like the Fire Nation would be quite a challenge, I wonder if they are all that difficult?

Martialis
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Location: Indiana

Re: Indiana is a bland, boring hellhole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16381Post Martialis
Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:55 am

SpeciesK wrote:I think whoever starred out my title made it sound much worse by using three stars. :P But anyway...

Oh no! :o You must be running a high fever! These hallucinations about Indiana being a great State are a sure sign of it! :shock: Call an ambulance! Break out the iodine! Prepare an ice bath before the fever cooks you! Do you smell something burning? We might be too late! :mrgreen:
There is an Indiana ant expert who is not a GAN farmer? :twisted: [*scrapes finger at you*] Where did you find the queens you have? Like that unusual one that lives in woods under leaves and has 200 or less workers. (I can't see it by your name now for some reason but I looked it up yesterday) Also, I think Tetramorium must be what I think of as those tiny ants that eat dropped candy on sidewalks, and suddenly show up everywhere. What do you keep your Tetramorium colony in? What about the unusual one? What do you feed them? What problems have you had so far? Are there any other people around keeping ants? Do you have any short videos of your ants doing anything or nothing at all? :geek:
Haha.. lol... the fact I found around 5 queens last year (3 now survive), and that I started in August has me for an optimist :)

The Tetramorium are kept in a small founding nest from Tar Heel Ants. As for my Ponera pennsylvanica, I kept her in a semi-clausteral setup. She's died now. I fed her springtails and fruit flies.

To answer the next question, my Ponera literally landed on my leg near a moist forest (there's one right next to my school). I found my Crematogaster there too. The fact that there's a concrete patio helps. As for my largest colony, at around 30 workers, my Tetramorium I bought from a GAN farmer in Valparaiso. I don't think he has anything else right now. Yes, the tiny ants on the sidewalk are a lot of times Tetramorium.

As for your Solenopsis question, S. molesta, the thief ant. While not a fire ant, they are incredibly polygnous, even in captivity.

I haven't really recorded my ants, as they made a nest in their nest. My Crematogaster is founding so she won't be getting any more photos.

From what I've counted on two different forums, there are around 5 antkeepers in our wonderful state. :P
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SpeciesK

Re: Indiana is a bland, boring ***hole. Any ants to see?

Post: # 16384Post SpeciesK
Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:37 am

Oh nooooo... It died... :( I'm sorry...
Springtails. I saw a dish of those once at a reptile show. They were kind of awful, jumping around in wet oozing gunk. I wonder how you catch them anyway...
And you have a Crematogaster? I have no clue what that is, yet. Are they all hibernating now? What do you mean by they built a nest in their nest? What the heck is Tar Heel Ants?
Oh no!
[*points over your shoulder*]
Look! What is THAT?!?!?
[*takes a queen ant while you are distracted*]
[*runs the opposite direction laughing maniacally*]

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