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Wanting to start

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:00 pm
by JPSMedeiros
Hello guys, I saw a LOT of videos from AntsCanada on youtube and i'm really exited about ant keeping. I live in Brazil, I study most part of the day, but I love ants. I've been asking myself if I can really have an ant colony, even a really small one, but I can't answer this question, because I don't know exactly what will I have to do to start it and then keep it, watching the videos everything seems to be easy.
Some questions:
1-If someone can tell me, I would like to know the part of the year that I can catch queens here in South America.
2-I see a lot of this type of ant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atta_cephalotes, and I've already seen before knowing about ant keeping a lot of queens of them. I wan't to know if this is a good specie of ant for a beginner.
3-I would like to know if this formicarium: http://www.AntsCanada.com/shop/lasius-h ... est-small/ is good for a beginner, or would be better to craft one.

Thanks.

Re: Wanting to start

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:47 pm
by ooper01
Hi JSPMedeiros, welcome to our ant keeping forum! We do have a GAN Farmer in Brazil, so if you'd like to purchase queen ants with small colonies, you can do that through our GAN Project. http://www.AntsCanada.com/queen-ants-for-sale/. Looks like he is in Brasilia and has several different species to choose from.

The ant you referenced in your post, Atta cephalotes, is a species of the leaf-cutter ant. I wouldn't recommend this species for your initial ant keeping experience. These ants use leaf segments to feed/grow fungus which they then use for food. They would be categorized as a "difficult" species for ant keepers and ideally need lots of space for a nest.

Any of our Hybrid nests would be good for a beginner. The Formica and Pogonomyrmex Hybrid nests are good, general-purpose nests with wide tunnels and chambers and will fit pretty much all ant species.

Re: Wanting to start

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 6:24 pm
by JPSMedeiros
Thanks, I guess that it's time for the nuptial flight here in Brazil, so I will be trying to find a queen, if I do I will try to post a photo here so the community can help me indentify it, if possible.

Re: Wanting to start

Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:34 pm
by ooper01
Yes there are several forum members who can help you identify the queens you collect. Good luck!

Re: Wanting to start

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:52 am
by jonathan21700
Brazil has amazing ants and lots of diversity!
I think they fly all year round there but probably mostly in the rainy season.
Good luck!

Re: Wanting to start

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:11 am
by JPSMedeiros
Rained almost every day of this week lol, I hope that I can find one. :D :D