The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

I have a fairly healthy colony of Camponotus caryae that I actually found living in an old stick last spring. Since then, I’ve kept the stick pieces in a terrarium and they’ve been thriving nicely. However, I believe they’re probably starting to outgrow the current nesting area. I’ve thought that I ...

Definitely do NOT keep them in the garage. I would hibernate them in the fridge if possible(that's what I'm going with mine) Also you should keep your colonies in test tubes or their founding setups for the first year since temperatures and all that are controlled. I would recommend that the colony...

Hello, First of all, I'd love some advice on how to hibernate camponotus pennsylvanicus. Right now, I have 2 colonies which are both in the early stages of development. 1 colony has 6 nanitics and is in an AC test tube. The other, (which I'll describe in a moment) I would estimate to have 20-30 work...

I'm not sure if how big would be too big for your setup, but I've had great results with isopods collected from my garden. Just make sure to include a little bark, leaf-litter and maybe a some moss or other greenery and they should be pretty easy to keep happy.

Ok, after doing some more research, I may have an update on these little guys... Although, the colors & patterning do make them look a LOT like Paederus littoralis , the fact that they're much smaller leads me to believe that they're actually a larger form of springtail called Entomobrya atrocincta ...

antnest8 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 10:57 am

no, I would keep them there. As long as there is not sign of them being detrimental of the colonies heath then they are probably good for the setup.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks a lot for the insights!

Certain beetles have very specific hosts, these ones appear not to be an ant mimicking type True. At the very least, they don't seem to mimic my Formica in any way. So question, if this were your terrarium, knowing that the colony is still pretty young with only about 10 nanitics and still living i...

Looks like it's a Rove Beetle more specifically Paederus littoralis . At least I think, I know ant's but not beetles :lol: I don't think they will harm your ants, some rover beetles in fact mimic ants and live with them, in a parasitic relationship, using the ant colony as protection. Still this Ro...

Hello, Can you please help me identify these critters in my terrarium and could they be harmful to Formica ants? As you can see from the pics, they're pretty small. Only about 2mm, at the most. Their head and thorax actually look a little like an ant, but their abdomen is long, flexible and will cur...

Wow! That Formicarium looks dope! You seems to have put in a lot of the safety measures already in place to combat mold and I am surprised to hear that mold still seems to exist. Obviously, make sure that there is not a lot old and decaying organic matter in there (uneaten bugs, dead plants, ect.)....