DaniKay's Tapinoma sessile journal
Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 11:23 pm
Hey AC family! I'm going to start posting here about my journey into my first experience keeping ants. I will be posting pics as well as videos, but for now its story time.
First I would like to say that I have read pretty much every article, wiki, and forum post about this ant species. I'm well aware that it's not likely that it's going to work out. However, my story is a little bit different than the ones I've read.
It all started, in late march/early april, when I bought a dirty wicker end table from a yard sale. I cleaned it with a rag and soap and brought it into the house, stationing it in my bedroom, near a window, for my plants and future (now current) terrarium. About a week after introducing the table to my habitat I noticed that I was being invaded! These "pests" were hanging out forming trails in a few different areas around my room. Now, I live in a wooded area and I often get common "pest" ants in my kitchen and bathroom, but these looked different and I had never had issues with ants this far into my house. I figured they had come from the new wicker table, and saw them around that area often. They didn't bother me much, and I started to sorta think about them as roommates. In the meantime I got around to setting up my terrarium using a five gallon aquarium, a piece of driftwood, some ivy, an arrowhead plant, and something I can't remember the name of along with some mosses and, of course, the substrate. During the time that the terrarium was establishing I noticed the ants were checking it out, so I enticed them a bit with some sweets and crickets on a stick placed into the terrarium. During this time I also accidentally discovered their nest! I had my router sitting flat on the table near the terrarium for a little while now. And they were right under it! I could see massive amounts of brood when I lifted the router to *** SPAM *** the workers were scattering and swarming like crazy! I quickly put the router back, as if it were a rock in the woods, and started brainstorming. I had too little to go on, though. I needed more information. So I took to the web and dove deep. I soon figured out what they were, what they like, how they live, and why so many people have issues founding them. While this was going on the nest disappeared. Drat. I spoiled it. Well, I thought, in case they do come back I'll keep planning, after all they still live in my bedroom.
Guess what? They did come back!! For days I was checking, very carefully, under the router. They were there on and off. Of course, this species likes to move nests often after all. Also, they seemed to really like the heat coming off of the router. Light bulb!! I rushed to the pet store and got a sticky aquarium heat mat to put on the side of the terrarium and ya know what? They loved it! I would see them often moving between their nest in the table and a new nest that they were setting up... right in the spot nearest the heat mat! This is great! But I couldn't lock them in yet, they were still connected to the original nesting site and the new one seemed really small. I couldn't be sure that any of the queens and made it yet along with the small amount of brood the workers were carrying back and forth. They may never even officially move into the terrarium, just scoping the place out as a possible foraging destination. I resided to let this be the case and move on. That is, until I realized I wasn't seeing them around my room anymore. Had they died? I couldn't find them. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. Well... until last week.
First I would like to say that I have read pretty much every article, wiki, and forum post about this ant species. I'm well aware that it's not likely that it's going to work out. However, my story is a little bit different than the ones I've read.
It all started, in late march/early april, when I bought a dirty wicker end table from a yard sale. I cleaned it with a rag and soap and brought it into the house, stationing it in my bedroom, near a window, for my plants and future (now current) terrarium. About a week after introducing the table to my habitat I noticed that I was being invaded! These "pests" were hanging out forming trails in a few different areas around my room. Now, I live in a wooded area and I often get common "pest" ants in my kitchen and bathroom, but these looked different and I had never had issues with ants this far into my house. I figured they had come from the new wicker table, and saw them around that area often. They didn't bother me much, and I started to sorta think about them as roommates. In the meantime I got around to setting up my terrarium using a five gallon aquarium, a piece of driftwood, some ivy, an arrowhead plant, and something I can't remember the name of along with some mosses and, of course, the substrate. During the time that the terrarium was establishing I noticed the ants were checking it out, so I enticed them a bit with some sweets and crickets on a stick placed into the terrarium. During this time I also accidentally discovered their nest! I had my router sitting flat on the table near the terrarium for a little while now. And they were right under it! I could see massive amounts of brood when I lifted the router to *** SPAM *** the workers were scattering and swarming like crazy! I quickly put the router back, as if it were a rock in the woods, and started brainstorming. I had too little to go on, though. I needed more information. So I took to the web and dove deep. I soon figured out what they were, what they like, how they live, and why so many people have issues founding them. While this was going on the nest disappeared. Drat. I spoiled it. Well, I thought, in case they do come back I'll keep planning, after all they still live in my bedroom.
Guess what? They did come back!! For days I was checking, very carefully, under the router. They were there on and off. Of course, this species likes to move nests often after all. Also, they seemed to really like the heat coming off of the router. Light bulb!! I rushed to the pet store and got a sticky aquarium heat mat to put on the side of the terrarium and ya know what? They loved it! I would see them often moving between their nest in the table and a new nest that they were setting up... right in the spot nearest the heat mat! This is great! But I couldn't lock them in yet, they were still connected to the original nesting site and the new one seemed really small. I couldn't be sure that any of the queens and made it yet along with the small amount of brood the workers were carrying back and forth. They may never even officially move into the terrarium, just scoping the place out as a possible foraging destination. I resided to let this be the case and move on. That is, until I realized I wasn't seeing them around my room anymore. Had they died? I couldn't find them. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. Well... until last week.