Central Florida Hibernation.

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Skylerspaw
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:25 pm
Location: Florida351

Central Florida Hibernation.

Post: # 52264Post Skylerspaw
Thu Oct 11, 2018 12:03 pm

I am wanting to procure a Camponotus floridanus queen. It is mid October and a queen and some workers are available thru the GANS project. Do ants in this region hibernate for 2 to 3 months? Some winters it never freezes and some it freezes a few times. Would hibernating them in a +10C envirnment be the way to go? This would be my first foray into ant keeping. Any info, tips and thoughts would be welcome. Thanx in advance.

Araiz1
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2018 3:14 am
Location: Asia/Pakistan/Lahore

Re: Central Florida Hibernation.

Post: # 52308Post Araiz1
Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:07 am

According to me, I think that in winter most ants go into hibernation(MAYBE, camponotus also hibernates), but before going into hibernation they need to have the required food for their survival during the winter. If it freezes in this winter, their is high chance that they would go into hibernation and won't come out of their nests until it is warm(if they have enough food), otherwise they would have to come out in winter for food and most probably(as ants do not survive the cold) many workers would die in the attempt. Keeping them in warm temperature in winter helps them to survive and they( most probably) will come out of their nests if food is available. But don't make it too warm, even for the ants. ;)

AntsDakota
Posts: 1283
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:22 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Central Florida Hibernation.

Post: # 52486Post AntsDakota
Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:42 pm

Araiz1 wrote:
Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:07 am
According to me, I think that in winter most ants go into hibernation(MAYBE, camponotus also hibernates), but before going into hibernation they need to have the required food for their survival during the winter. If it freezes in this winter, their is high chance that they would go into hibernation and won't come out of their nests until it is warm(if they have enough food), otherwise they would have to come out in winter for food and most probably(as ants do not survive the cold) many workers would die in the attempt. Keeping them in warm temperature in winter helps them to survive and they( most probably) will come out of their nests if food is available. But don't make it too warm, even for the ants. ;)
Ants run on a biological clock. If they naturally hibernate, they will hibernate even in a warm room, with exceptions of a few species. Most, however, need to hibernate, or they don't do good.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

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