The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

So I have a lasius MurphyI colony with what I assume to be lasius niger or subgenus close to. Now I know they prefer honeydew from subterranean aphids but I'm at a sort of crossroads. My other ants accept all forms of protein and sugar. But these guys seem exceptionally finicky. I gave them a couple of fruit flies (3) and it doesn't appear they've touched them. I tried a cluster fly (the flies that show up out of no where in the middle of summer) that I use to breed maggots for fishing and theY still don't seem interested I'm trying a pre killed maggot now but my hopes are pretty low. The colony size is 1 queen maybe 8 workers now that have eclose. Perhaps they don't require enough protein to be visibly eating it? They also do not bring the food to the nest like the others they just leave it outside the nest.


Next sugars. I've tried a syrup concoction thays been sitting for a week and there's more dirt in it then anything else I have not seen one ant go to it. We also have a crab apple tree in the neigbor yard that is not sprayed for bugs so I tried a slice of that. They seemed interested but not enough to illicit a feed response. .. any suggestions on food and how to prepare. The queen is laying eggs now and I want to make sure the new workers get
The best of the best but they kinda refuse my go to feed..

just keep on trying new foods their is another person on the forum whose colony will only eat geckos

I just tried a green grape with my Myrmica queen's and although I know different species it is by far the best response I have gotten for anything I have given them.
Try cutting one in half to expose the juciey insides and try that.

As for protein, have you tried cooked chicken ? I do not know much about the particular kind of lasius but if the usual does not seem to work it may be time to think outside the box?

antnest8 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:35 am

just keep on trying new foods their is another person on the forum whose colony will only eat geckos

Thanks to my 2 year old for that whole topic I kept thinking of Gecko from PJ Masks