Fungus-Growing Ants
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2019 12:34 am
So I'm from BC canada, and it seems like all the fun ants are tropical or neo tropical..
Vampire ants, bullet ants, leaf cutter ants, etc...
I thought that an aphid milking species or fungus farming species would be fun, and super interesting.
I research fungus farming ants and I was very excited when I found a non leaf-cutting species that has a high level of mutualism with the fungus..and this species is found as far north as New York!!!
This insect may not be local to my area, but I at least know that it's a species that is more hearty and can handle colder weather.. infact New York is often more cold than here..
I only care about the cold weather issue because its winter and we get power outages...had an 8 hour long power outage earlier this week, in -15° celcius weather, and surely any tropical critters would have had a hard time surviving..
I DIGRESS...
The species is called Trachymyrmex septentrionalis
http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Trachymyrmex_septentrionalis
Now I'm wondering, does anyone know where I could get some?
Maybe someone in the east coast usa could find me a queen and some workers?
Vampire ants, bullet ants, leaf cutter ants, etc...
I thought that an aphid milking species or fungus farming species would be fun, and super interesting.
I research fungus farming ants and I was very excited when I found a non leaf-cutting species that has a high level of mutualism with the fungus..and this species is found as far north as New York!!!
This insect may not be local to my area, but I at least know that it's a species that is more hearty and can handle colder weather.. infact New York is often more cold than here..
I only care about the cold weather issue because its winter and we get power outages...had an 8 hour long power outage earlier this week, in -15° celcius weather, and surely any tropical critters would have had a hard time surviving..
I DIGRESS...
The species is called Trachymyrmex septentrionalis
http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Trachymyrmex_septentrionalis
Now I'm wondering, does anyone know where I could get some?
Maybe someone in the east coast usa could find me a queen and some workers?