Pogonomyrmex occidentalis Setup

[Cheesefish77]

I recently caught my first P. occidentalis queen. As far as my research shows, they are semi-claustral, so I placed her in a test tube, with a small tube leading out the end, in which I placed a drop of honey and 2 cricket legs for her to eat. I placed the test tube portion under a blanket so it would stay dark, while the tube for food is in the open light of my room (not very bright, but still enough to clearly see in the outer tube). So far, she is drinking the honey, and I was wondering if this setup is good, and if there is anything I could do to better optimize her setup. Thanks in advance!

[Alexander]

Your set up looks great,
I think the only thing you can do to improve it is offering seeds

As far as the queen being semi claustral or fully i cant tell for sure because some websites say its fully claustral others semi, but even if it is fully claustral there is no problem whith your set up!

Hope this helps,

[Cheesefish77]

I ended up placing her into a tupperware container half full with dampened soil, and she has dug herself a nest. I'll be sure to place some seeds in there along with the honey and cricket legs, hopefully she does well.

[AntsLuxembourg]

In case this is really a seed loving ant species then you might want to offer her something like apple seeds and to make it easier for her to eat them you could peel the brown outside layer of the apple seeds with a pair of tweezers so she doesn't need to unpeel them. You could also offer her some sunflower seeds (peeled of course) or even cherry seeds.

Funny think is usually we throw them just away but those kind of ants actually do eat them. I can only speak 100% surely for Messor Barbarus since I keep this one. I will soon also try peach seed and perhaps graps and mango.

[Cheesefish77]

I've been giving her de-shelled sunflower seeds, although she hasn't interacted with them yet, as she has been focused on digging a burrow, creating a good-sized mound of dirt in the corner of the container. Every so often I see her emerge from her hole carrying a large piece of dirt to deposit near the entrance.

[AntsLuxembourg]

so she is busying herself
Sounds good to me. Perhaps you can place the seed a bit closer to her entrance so she can find it easier.

[Cheesefish77]

It appears she has finished digging her burrow, as she has sealed the entrance and has remained underground the past two days. I expect her to emerge at some point, so I placed a few sunflower seeds near the entrance for when she does emerge to eat. I continue to water the nest regularly to keep her burrow humid for the brood.

[TheRealAntMan]

In case this is really a seed loving ant species then you might want to offer her something like apple seeds and to make it easier for her to eat them you could peel the brown outside layer of the apple seeds with a pair of tweezers so she doesn't need to unpeel them. You could also offer her some sunflower seeds (peeled of course) or even cherry seeds.

Funny think is usually we throw them just away but those kind of ants actually do eat them. I can only speak 100% surely for Messor Barbarus since I keep this one. I will soon also try peach seed and perhaps graps and mango.

I wouldn’t recommend feeding them cherry seeds because it contains a type of chemical compound called cyanid which is fatal to ants and humans alike.

[TheRealAntMan]

Also if you feed your Harvester ants seeds, then you don't have to feed your ants sugars. When they break down seeds, they are able to get their sugars from it.

Edit: ^Cyanide not cyanid.

[Cheesefish77]

Update: She has emerged from her burrow, and she dragged 2 of the sunflower seeds into her nest, and resumed digging, which she has been doing all day, burying some of the seeds in the process, creating a hill of dirt around 3-4mm in height.