Aphids important?

[AGENTSCEPTILE]

Hi, so I caught my first Camponotus Pennsylvanicus queen on the 27th as it was the first warm day here in Maine---- Still finding males around!

BUT-

I know that C. Pennsylvanicus farm aphids, but I don't know exactly how I might incorporate them into a later setup, either outworld or natural vivarium. Plus, I don't even know if the ants even need them, sooooo...

Can someone help me out here?

[harvesterant]

I have never kept Camponotus Pennsylvanicus, but ants do not require aphids to survive. Many species tend to aphids but most do not rely on them for survival. You do not have to add aphids to your setup, but the ants will need a sugar source, which could be honey, fruit or simply water mixed with sugar. I am currently keeping a Lasius niger colony, and they tend to aphids in the wild, but I just give them a mixture of sugar and water in a test tube in the outworld, so that they can drink it through the cotton of the test tube. There are also liquid ant feeders available in ant shops for this purpose.

I hope this helps.

[AGENTSCEPTILE]

Thank you very much! Yeah, I was really worried as aphids arent all that easy to find here

[Hawkeye]

Hello agentsceptile,

Aphids need a plant that is alive in order to stay alive themselves. So if you want your ants to be able to 'milk' aphids you might want to think about giving them access to an area which has a Chinese Springrose (Helleboris Foetidus.) This flower blooms all year long and in my experience aphids love them, probably even more so if they have a colony of Ants looking after them and protecting them!