Red Harvester Colony

[jdd2035]

Hey yall, good morning, so my girlfriend and I just caught ourselves a few red harvester ant queens which had just lost their wings, and had started digging new dens. We currently have them separated in baby food jars. I've given them some sugar water and such. But we are on a tight budget so, I was wondering what would be the best practice would be to keep her, and them from stuff I can get at the local hardware store,

Yes I have kept ant farms of about 20-30 worker ants but never a full colony. I'm in new territory here ya know.

[FolloweroftheWay]

That's great. Post some pictures. Use Vaseline for a barrier. Put a cotton ball in there with each one and put a few drops of water on it to provide some moisture. Don't soak it though. You'll need to put some small holes in the top for air.



Here is a setup that I used for nearly free. Use Vaseline for a barrier on the outer part. As for where they live in the area, that can be nearly anything with a small colony. The outer bowl is a washed roast beef container from the grocery store. Also, if you put sand and rocks in, boil them first to make sure they don't kill your ants.



Let me know if you have any other questions.

M.

[FolloweroftheWay]

Oh, and for founding, put them in the dark and let them be other than for adding water on the cotton ball and the smallest drop off sugar water.

M.

[antsofthelowcountry]

Get a Rubbermaid bin, fill it with soil, drill holes and add some tubing. Make sure to keep the barrier at the top of the Rubbermaid bin constantly in check. Pogonomyrmex have a very distinct sting that can be very painful so make sure to wear gloves.

Pogonomyrmex like to dig deep nests so get a large Rubbermaid bin and fill it with lots of soil pogonomyrmex also really like seeds and are mainly graminivorous. So a healthy diet of seeds and the occasional insect for protein should be able to feed them.

As always, however, you should try setting up the queens in a test tube set up first before putting them into this new setup.

[StormDancer]

You can't put pogonomyrmex in a typical test tube set up. They are semi claustral and queens will need a sourceof protein and sugar constantly if they are to be successful at raising their first brood.

[jdd2035]

So, it's a few days later, and my girlfriend and I have caught 2 black harvester ant queens.

Messor pergandei. What do I need to know about these guys? do they need sugar water too?

And what's a good protein source?

[StormDancer]

I don't know a lot about them. Based on pics of the queens I googled, they are fully claustral. I could be mistaken.