Monomorium Minimum air and hydration holes advice

[FaithUnkown]

Hello,

I'm a brand new ant keeper who's been following the channel on youtube for a few years now. I'm in the northern hemisphere so I'm excited for the nuptial season to be starting up, and have been doing some looking around to see what kinds of ants are in my area. As part of this I've stumbled into multiple clusters of Monomorium Minimum, (workers, brood, a queen or two?), and have decided to gather them in a tupperware for now(they've been playing nice as a polygynous species). I've been being sure to open it once or twice a day to let in fresh air(and watch them) and they haven't seemed to be irritated about it thankfully. I've also been being sure to thoroughly close the lid when I'm done(Which they seem less fond of).

My question is this; Would it be ill advised to drill air holes? The species being so small and all. I've got a 0.7mm drill I've used in a similar tupperware for isopods and springtails, but if I'm not mistaken the head width of a worker of this species is only about 0.4mm wide. Has anyone tried anything similar with levels of success? Does anyone have experience with micro-bits like 0.2mm? Alternatively though less preferred for me would be to drill a larger hole, attach a tube, and stop it with cotton, but then I wouldn't really have an option for upward evaporation like I would with holes in the bottom of the container correct?

Apologies if my wording is a little confusing. Always glad to clarify what I mean/my thoughts.

[antperson24]

Hello,

I'm a brand new ant keeper who's been following the channel on youtube for a few years now. I'm in the northern hemisphere so I'm excited for the nuptial season to be starting up, and have been doing some looking around to see what kinds of ants are in my area. As part of this I've stumbled into multiple clusters of Monomorium Minimum, (workers, brood, a queen or two?), and have decided to gather them in a tupperware for now(they've been playing nice as a polygynous species). I've been being sure to open it once or twice a day to let in fresh air(and watch them) and they haven't seemed to be irritated about it thankfully. I've also been being sure to thoroughly close the lid when I'm done(Which they seem less fond of).

My question is this; Would it be ill advised to drill air holes? The species being so small and all. I've got a 0.7mm drill I've used in a similar tupperware for isopods and springtails, but if I'm not mistaken the head width of a worker of this species is only about 0.4mm wide. Has anyone tried anything similar with levels of success? Does anyone have experience with micro-bits like 0.2mm? Alternatively though less preferred for me would be to drill a larger hole, attach a tube, and stop it with cotton, but then I wouldn't really have an option for upward evaporation like I would with holes in the bottom of the container correct?

Apologies if my wording is a little confusing. Always glad to clarify what I mean/my thoughts.

If you would like me to verify if you have a queen, I would be glad to. What I would do is drill a two 1/4 inch holes in the lid, then stuff them with cotton. It may also be useful to apply a barrier of baby powder and rubbing alcohol to help reduce the number of ants that may escape.

[FaithUnkown]

Hello,

I'm a brand new ant keeper who's been following the channel on youtube for a few years now. I'm in the northern hemisphere so I'm excited for the nuptial season to be starting up, and have been doing some looking around to see what kinds of ants are in my area. As part of this I've stumbled into multiple clusters of Monomorium Minimum, (workers, brood, a queen or two?), and have decided to gather them in a tupperware for now(they've been playing nice as a polygynous species). I've been being sure to open it once or twice a day to let in fresh air(and watch them) and they haven't seemed to be irritated about it thankfully. I've also been being sure to thoroughly close the lid when I'm done(Which they seem less fond of).

My question is this; Would it be ill advised to drill air holes? The species being so small and all. I've got a 0.7mm drill I've used in a similar tupperware for isopods and springtails, but if I'm not mistaken the head width of a worker of this species is only about 0.4mm wide. Has anyone tried anything similar with levels of success? Does anyone have experience with micro-bits like 0.2mm? Alternatively though less preferred for me would be to drill a larger hole, attach a tube, and stop it with cotton, but then I wouldn't really have an option for upward evaporation like I would with holes in the bottom of the container correct?

Apologies if my wording is a little confusing. Always glad to clarify what I mean/my thoughts.

If you would like me to verify if you have a queen, I would be glad to. What I would do is drill a two 1/4 inch holes in the lid, then stuff them with cotton. It may also be useful to apply a barrier of baby powder and rubbing alcohol to help reduce the number of ants that may escape.

I appreciate the advice! I'll go ahead with the 1/4 inch holes for now. As for queen ID right now they have the soil and leaves from where I found them so I don't have any good photos, but when I found them they were all together, workers and brood all tightly packed, in the curl of a dried leaf. I think I found three clusters like this. When I try to move them to an actual set up I'll see if I can get a photo at that time.

[FaithUnkown]

Just an update. I went with 3mm holes(I just happen to only have metric atm) and stuffed them with cotton. It seems to be going well. We have suffered a bit of a mold outbreak, the white fuzzy kind, which is a bit nerve wracking. I had given them a bit of wet cat food as an interim protein source, and likely left it in the container too long. I'm in the process of assembling a proper formicarium for them but did not have anything to move them into at the moment, and as the leaves/soil that was moldy was the exactly area they were nesting within I had to upturn the entire nest to clear the moldy materials out. The good news is that this wasn't too difficult, I believe I managed to recapture all escapees, and as just lifting the top leaf was enough to convince them to move out I don't believe I caused any damage to the brood. Speaking of which, while I was focused on the cleaning and therefor didn't have the time to be searching for queens, there did appear to be plenty of brood so I'm hopeful on that front. I've given them some honey as a peace offering for when they settle back in, and will be attempting to rush getting them a better setup that would allow for easier cleanup and less access for mold to the nest proper.

I've also come to realize I may need to differentiate between M. Minimum and T. Imigrans. I don't believe their head shape is right for T. Imigrans so for now I'm still going with M. Minimum. I'll make a more appropriate thread when I am able to get good pictures for assistance with ID.

[antperson24]

Just an update. I went with 3mm holes(I just happen to only have metric atm) and stuffed them with cotton. It seems to be going well. We have suffered a bit of a mold outbreak, the white fuzzy kind, which is a bit nerve wracking. I had given them a bit of wet cat food as an interim protein source, and likely left it in the container too long. I'm in the process of assembling a proper formicarium for them but did not have anything to move them into at the moment, and as the leaves/soil that was moldy was the exactly area they were nesting within I had to upturn the entire nest to clear the moldy materials out. The good news is that this wasn't too difficult, I believe I managed to recapture all escapees, and as just lifting the top leaf was enough to convince them to move out I don't believe I caused any damage to the brood. Speaking of which, while I was focused on the cleaning and therefor didn't have the time to be searching for queens, there did appear to be plenty of brood so I'm hopeful on that front. I've given them some honey as a peace offering for when they settle back in, and will be attempting to rush getting them a better setup that would allow for easier cleanup and less access for mold to the nest proper.

I've also come to realize I may need to differentiate between M. Minimum and T. Imigrans. I don't believe their head shape is right for T. Imigrans so for now I'm still going with M. Minimum. I'll make a more appropriate thread when I am able to get good pictures for assistance with ID.

If you would like any help with making the formicarium, I would be glad to help, as I have had quite a bit of experience making them.