I finally captured a live mated queen!

[Essex Boy]

We ended up capturing 4 queens total. We put them in their test tube setup.

Are all four together or are they housed in separate tubes? One of the more entertaining methods of ant extermination I've read about is to take a shovelful of ants from one nest and empty it into another nest, then empty another shovelful from the second nest into the first one, then sit back and watch the two colonies destroy each other through internecine conflict. I haven't tried it though.

 

[rareboy]

I am still baffled.

I am looking at the mess some ants are making as they eat part of our house and have no idea why anyone would want more of them around the house.

 

[Dominus]

Are all four together or are they housed in separate tubes? One of the more entertaining methods of ant extermination I've read about is to take a shovelful of ants from one nest and empty it into another nest, then empty another shovelful from the second nest into the first one, then sit back and watch the two colonies destroy each other through internecine conflict. I haven't tried it though.

They are housed separately.

 

[Dominus]

I am still baffled.

I am looking at the mess some ants are making as they eat part of our house and have no idea why anyone would want more of them around the house.

We are interested in seeing these develop into colonies. They will be completely contained in our habitats.

 

[72-Jay]

I would have squashed the bitch.

Same.
Infact I just recently smashed a massive black ant that looked just like that.

We have carpenter ants here too.. but they are black on the head & back section, red in the center.
Vile nasty things that need to die .

 

[Peloso]

My belief in the sanctity of life does not extend to ants. They are savage little fucks, enslaving each other all in service to the queen. Little fascists.

 

[Kahaih]

They are housed separately.

Sounds like this project is filling a void in your life, and that's good, but pace yourself when you start naming them and rubbing their little bellies.

 

[Dominus]

Sounds like this project is filling a void in your life, and that's good, but pace yourself when you start naming them and rubbing their little bellies.

So... I know I said 4 colonies were enough. But I recently got in touch with a local antkeeper enthusiast and he offered to give me 2 queens with nanitics. He's got dozens of colonies. I accepted and now we have 6 queen ants.

Ok starting now no more ant queens.

Gotta say. It's really fun experimenting around with habitat chambers and different setups. Later tonight I will post some pictures of the best setups I think I'll be using.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

So you will soon be a real estate mogul for two different species ...

 

[Dominus]

Yesterday I went out and bought this cabinet. Still making chambers and stuff for the ant colonies. They are still nursing their eggs so they are being kept in the dark.

 

[Essex Boy]

Hold on a minute. Do you mean that cabinet is for the ants, so they have some wood to chew up and burrow into?

 

[HoodedRat]

Yesterday I went out and bought this cabinet.

That cabinet looks great. I'm looking forward to seeing their habitats set-up and seeing some pictures of the colonies going about their day-to-day lives. Insects are fascinating.

 

[Dominus]

One of the new colonies I got from a local enthusiast. Already got about 20 nanitics (original workers ants). I'm trying to get them to move from their old dirty nest to a new clean test tube nest (red arrow).



It's their nature to move from lighted area to dark area.

I'm about to go to menards to check out some materials I can use to build actual ant farms where I can watch them dig tunnels and stuff. They won't be doing that until the colony gets bigger.

 

[rareboy]

Why does all of this make me uncomfortable?

Yet vaguely interested?

 

[Essex Boy]

So will they actually tunnel their way through the wood, or just scurry about under laboratory conditions? Do you have to muck them out like rabbits? How do you deal with escapees?

 

[rareboy]

I assume:

 

[Rickrock]

I assume that the ants are to be kept in a glass closed in container where you can see what they are doing but they can't get out. I am afraid of what would happen if any should escape. I assume it would be possible to do this with regular ants, not carpenter ants, just as well. That might be marginally safer. In any case I like the new cabinet and am waiting to see things in the future.

 

[Dominus]

After a couple hours they started moving their eggs and stuff over. The queen has also moved over to the dark clean tube.

 

[Dominus]

So will they actually tunnel their way through the wood, or just scurry about under laboratory conditions? Do you have to muck them out like rabbits? How do you deal with escapees?

They will be kept in completely contained enclosures. For now, they are still nesting in the new clean test tube I gave them. Once they get to about 50-100 workers I will move them to a new nest that will allow them to burrow around creating a real nest with chambers and stuff for the colony to explode in numbers. The new nest will be connected via tubes to other enclosures where they will travel to forage for food. I will provide them food in various different chambers so I can watch them go thru the tubes to get to places. I'll have a pseudo setup tomorrow and show some pics so you will have an idea of what it will be like.

 

[Dominus]

I assume that the ants are to be kept in a glass closed in container where you can see what they are doing but they can't get out. I am afraid of what would happen if any should escape. I assume it would be possible to do this with regular ants, not carpenter ants, just as well. That might be marginally safer. In any case I like the new cabinet and am waiting to see things in the future.

If we plan it out carefully, they will not escape. Also, all depend on the queen. If she remains around, the whole colony will stay. Even if there is a way out, chances are she will stay put.

It's not like these ants will always look for a way to escape. As long as i provide plenty of resources and space for them, there's no reason for them to leave.