Hello everyone. I caught a fairly small colony of Camponotus Nearcticus ants today. They were in a convenient knob of wood at the root of a tree. I found them when I spied their queen walking around at the base of the tree, and I thought she was a dealate. However, as I observed her, I noticed there were two workers around her, and they seemed to be guiding her along. I thought this was strange. If she had workers, that means that she started a colony already, and if that's the case, why is she outside the safety of her nest?
The workers moved her to a knob of wood about a foot away, and that's when I noticed a lot more ants there. I tore away a bit of the bark, and it was definitely a nest. I took a close look at it, and none of the crevices where the nest was established weren't deep at all, and not connected to each other. I could see the workers moving brood between the crevices. I decided to cut the nest off the tree, and place it in a tupperware container. The colony must have around 100-200 members, and plenty of brood, and the queen. I've lined the rim of the container with some baby powder and rubbing alcohol mixture, and placed a test tube of water in the makeshift setup. It's pictured below.
https://i.imgur.com/ssoiBRM.jpg
I'm adding a sugar water test tube too. How would I go about moving this colony into a proper setup? I'll probably have to wait a week or so for delivery for any pre-made formicariums or outworlds, so they're going to be in a tupperware container until then. Otherwise, I can release this colony back into the wild, if it seems to be too much for me to take care of (or if I've done something wrong).
Caught a Wild Colony, What Next?
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- Antloverhuman
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Re: Caught a Wild Colony, What Next?
You could make a hole in the Tupperware container to attach tubing amd connect it to the formicarium
Ants I have-
camponotus compressus colony- the shadow warriors.
Pls just let me have a tetramorium colony
camponotus compressus colony- the shadow warriors.
Pls just let me have a tetramorium colony
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Re: Caught a Wild Colony, What Next?
Antloverhuman wrote: ↑Fri Jun 10, 2022 4:29 amYou could make a hole in the Tupperware container to attach tubing amd connect it to the formicarium
Or just set the tube in a container with a barrier applied, no tubing needed.
When you accidentally reply to yourself…
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- Posts: 2402
- Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
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Re: Caught a Wild Colony, What Next?
Wait, no, I skimmed over it. Put the container in the other containerSolenopsisKeeper wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 10:55 amAntloverhuman wrote: ↑Fri Jun 10, 2022 4:29 amYou could make a hole in the Tupperware container to attach tubing amd connect it to the formicarium
Or just set the tube in a container with a barrier applied, no tubing needed.
When you accidentally reply to yourself…
Re: Caught a Wild Colony, What Next?
I've actually released this colony back into the wild. I realized I really don't have the means to take care of it.
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