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Death by food
Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:32 pm
by Mcrummett
So my colony is a mere few months old with 8 workers and I somehow have lost one to... food. I put a small amount of food on some foil and a day later one appears to have gotten caught in it and died. How do they manage that?!
Re: Death by food
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:57 pm
by Austheboss
Mcrummett wrote: ↑Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:32 pm
So my colony is a mere few months old with 8 workers and I somehow have lost one to... food. I put a small amount of food on some foil and a day later one appears to have gotten caught in it and died. How do they manage that?!
Sorry this is really late...
Some ants are pretty small and if the food was sticky like honey or similar than it can be easy for them to get stuck if one of their legs touch it. Imagine a massive glob of honey, and trying to drink from it with your mouth without hands. You may want to put this food in a bottle cap to make it easier? Also, ants can live for very long after drowning. One time, I had a tetramorium worker almost entirely submerged in hardened sugar water (it got stuck in the sugar water, and then the water evaporated), and I washed the ant out, and it was perfectly fine later. (the colony had around 3 workers and no near eclosing pupae, so I was certain that it was the same ant) So if you have a drowned ant in honey, just wash it off and put it near the test tube as it may still be alive.
Re: Death by food
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:33 am
by Hunter36o
It also depends on the food you use. I ise honey from a jar, the one people would use in place of sugar for tea and coffee. It's not as sticky and my ants seem to sit on it while eating and walk away (these are also nanitics so they are tiny) that in mind I though one had gotten stuck and died but after watching for a while I honestly think she took a nap on top of it because she walk away after a few minutes.