Welcome to the Camponotus Crew!

[Hawkeye]

Hi
Does anyone have any experience with feeding your ants stick bugs? Phasmatodea spp.? My friend has them and he need some way of reducing Numbers.
Thanks

Hi there. I don't have any experience on feeding them to ants myself, but I think you might have a hard time doing so. I remember reading or seeing something about the insects laying eggs which are coated in a sugary liquid that the ants love. So, to a certain extend the ants actually look after the stick insects' eggs, by guarding them from other predators while they eat the coating. In my recollection the ants ignored the eggs after they had been picked clean, leaving them free to develop into new insects.
I am not sure how well that (sort of) symbiotic relationship has developed and if it keeps the ants from attacking the insects themselves, but it stands to reason they wouldn’t kill the goose with the golden eggs. If you pre-kill an insect things might be different though, so I guess it’s a trial and error thing?

[Isoroku55]

Hi there. I don't have any experience on feeding them to ants myself, but I think you might have a hard time doing so. I remember reading or seeing something about the insects laying eggs which are coated in a sugary liquid that the ants love. So, to a certain extend the ants actually look after the stick insects' eggs, by guarding them from other predators while they eat the coating. In my recollection the ants ignored the eggs...

Sounds like experiment time. Thank you

[Chickalo]

Hello! Does anyone have any tips of hibernating camponotus pennsylvanicus? I know its early, I just wanted to get the knowledge before hand.

[Isoroku55]

Hi
I have another question. How big tubing are you guys using? I have some 8mm (0,3inch) and not sure if it's enough for my queen to fit in (i'm not good at estimation) she is about 18mm long Camponotus Ligniperda
Thanks

[Hawkeye]

Hello! Does anyone have any tips of hibernating camponotus pennsylvanicus? I know its early, I just wanted to get the knowledge before hand.

What would you like to know?

[Hawkeye]

Hi
I have another question. How big tubing are you guys using? I have some 8mm (0,3inch) and not sure if it's enough for my queen to fit in (i'm not good at estimation) she is about 18mm long Camponotus Ligniperda
Thanks

Are you talking about the test tube or the connecting tubing? My connecting tubes have measurements of 19mm inside and 25mm outside, which is a type of tubing used for aquarium pumps too. The tubing fits snugly around the test tube, so I guess that's 20mm in diameter.
Your queen is flexible of course as she can pivot her abdomen, but your tube sounds rather small to me.

[Isoroku55]

8mm is inner diameter, of connecting tubes. After connecting new outworld and nest, they've moved immediately. The new nest is basically just a Chamber in a Ytong. They've 9 workers so far, it's their 2nd year.
I've needed to move them from testube since feeding was really difficult, since they've found weaknesses in my barrier and I wasn't able to fix them with them in it.
I'll use bigger tubes for next set-up thought.

[Hawkeye]

8mm is inner diameter, of connecting tubes. After connecting new outworld and nest, they've moved immediately. The new nest is basically just a Chamber in a Ytong. They've 9 workers so far, it's their 2nd year.
I've needed to move them from testube since feeding was really difficult, since they've found weaknesses in my barrier and I wasn't able to fix them with them in it.
I'll use bigger tubes for next set-up thought.

Not sure I understand you completely. If your queen only has to move forward to a new nest location, 8mm is fine. She will easily fit through that. If you're wondering whether or not the tube is big enough for your queen to move though, the fact that she transferred to the Ytong nest pretty much answers your question.
I am not sure how a barrier applies to them in being in a test tube though...

[Ragnaroeck]

Heeyheeyho,

Got my new Camponotus Ligniperdus queen a couple of weeks ago with 9 workers.

The queen did lay eggs and seemed really content.

The past two days they seemed really sluggish, they have been getting sugar water and mealworms for food they still have fresh water in their original tube and they have carried some dirt to their test tube portal from their Outworld, which I connected because they kept pulling cotton from the sugar tube as if they wanted to forage more.

They did look around the outworld a lot in the beginning ( I have earth from the springtails and the white woodlice in there), but now they seem really really lazy just staying in the tube and not accepting new protein food or even going to the sugar water.

[Hawkeye]

Heeyheeyho,

Got my new Camponotus Ligniperdus queen a couple of weeks ago with 9 workers.

The queen did lay eggs and seemed really content.

The past two days they seemed really sluggish, they have been getting sugar water and mealworms for food they still have fresh water in their original tube and they have carried some dirt to their test tube portal from their Outworld, which I connected because they kept pulling cotton from the sugar tube as if they wanted to forage more.

They did look around the outworld a lot in the beginning ( I have earth from the springtails and the white woodlice in there), but now they seem really really lazy just staying in the tube and not accepting new protein food or even going to the sugar water.

Well I'd say they've had their fill and are taking it easy digesting their food and taking care off the brood.