myrmica rubra colony moving food to the end of test tube

[DylzAntz]

Hello!
this is my first post on here

Today i decided to feed my myrmica rubra colony a fresh mealworm as i tend to do every couple of days.
but i have noticed they have decided to move it from the entrance of the test tube all the way to the end where the water supply is.

is this normal? im worried that they wont remove it once they are finished, such as placing the finished mealworm at the entrance of the test tube???

Note: i have a reptile heater pad at the start of the tube which is around a cm below the tube so it doesn't get too hot and is only covering 2-3cm of the start of the testube. so it creates a warm side which is the front, Then a cold side which is the water supply. im hoping what iv'e done is correct?

here's a photo...

so the questions are.
will the colony move the mealworm to the entrance of the test tube when they are finished with it?

is my heater pad giving enough heat and humidity to the ants? (the heater has a dial to change temp but on the lowest... but even that is close to burning my own skin?? this is why i have placed the tube higher up so it won't cook them lol..

thank you for reading
-Dylan

[DylzAntz]

not too sure if the photo is showing not too sure why! D:

keeps saying the board attachment quota has been reached...

[NZsayde666]

here's a photo...

There is no pic...

-Sayde

[NZsayde666]

is my heater pad giving enough heat and humidity to the ants? (the heater has a dial to change temp but on the lowest... but even that is close to burning my own skin?? this is why i have placed the tube higher up so it won't cook them lol

Since it's that hot, try moving the heater further away from the tube and closer to the the edge of the tube, because the ants want to stay away from the heat when they do stuff with their guard down.
Or just completely remove the heater.

[DylzAntz]

thanks for the replies people.

just wanted to say that the heater pad was not making the test tube hot to the touch or anything close to that. i made sure it was a safe temp to start with. but since then i have now switched it off as a member pointed out they don't like heat.

also thank you for pointing out that they will move the mealworm back to the entrance of the tube.

it wouldn't let me post a pic from the start and im not too sure why... even after changing the size from 4k to 1080p then 720. but still won't let me upload??

cheers!
-Dylan

[DylzAntz]

here's a photo...

There is no pic...

-Sayde

it wont let me upload even after down scaling from 4k, to 1080p then 720 with a file size of 382kb... not too sure why

[AntCompetitors]

they are bringing the food into the nest for further consumption. once they are finished they will try to move it as far away from the nest as they possibly can. that way the food doesn't create mold within the nest and other ants or insectivores wont go into their nest and discover them. however in a test tube they cannot preform this action very well due to the limited space. do not worry as they will do their thing.