I finally captured a live mated queen!

[Dominus]

Here is what it kinda will look like so you get an idea of how these ants will live. The nest is actually homemade. I made that last night.

 

[HoodedRat]

That looks great.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

As long as i provide plenty of resources and space for them, there's no reason for them to leave.

Just like with your human tenants!

 

[Dominus]

Just like with your human tenants!

There's a reason why several have offered to buy the properties they rent from me. They love living there. For example, a firefighter husband with nurse wife have offered me to buy the house at fair market prices 3 times already. The house is in a nice middle class neighborhood literally 3 minutes from everything in town. Got garage, 3 bedrooms, fenced in yard, living room, etc. Their daughter is in college. It also happens to be one of my first properties, so I ain't letting it go. But the point is I do provide very good service and product. Hence people keep offering to buy from me.

 

[purina]

What did the jars contain?

 

[rareboy]

I would say that I have an anthill about 2 feet in height in the middle of our terrace garden that has been developing over the last 20 years and I keep it protected.

But I am not a fan of ants eating our house, which we currently have happening.

The little fuckers actually destroy rigid insulation in our roof and are leaving piles of our house at the base of the doors from the gallery to the west terrace.

I feel they are abusing our hospitality.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

But the point is I do provide very good service and product. Hence people keep offering to buy from me.

And when they do, they'll find that the service isn't nearly so good without you as landlord!

 

[Dominus]

I just made another one using a slightly different design.

 

[Dominus]

And when they do, they'll find that the service isn't nearly so good without you as landlord!

Haha ya. There is a young couple that's been with me for about 2 years. Their first place outside their parents homes. They keep telling me they are saving up to buy their own house. I always find this comical because they call/text me for every little thing. The other day, they texted me saying they smell sewer. Then a few minutes later they texted again saying never mind their cat vomited.

I always wonder how they will fair on their own. I remember when they first moved in they cried bloody murder that their energy bill went up by $80 when the cold months arrived. I was like "yes, adulting sucks..."

 

[Dominus]

So, I know we would stop at 6 queens. But a few days ago my bf hatched up a plan to capture an entire mature colony from our backyard. We put that plan in motion 2 days ago. And tonite holy cow we got ourselves an entire colony with queen, workers and eggs. Lots and lots and lots of eggs.








Red arrow points to what I believe is the queen. They are right now moving into their new nest I got set up for them.

 

[Dominus]

They have settled into their new home. The whole colony was sleeping when I took this picture this morning.

 

[rareboy]

Glad you are all having fun!

 

[Dominus]

Now that they are settled into their new home, they have started organizing their new nest. All the eggs in one place. Pupae in another. Larvae in another. You get the point.

For instance, they have moved all the eggs to this place. The queen is somewhere in that mess. I lost track of her.



Here is what their nest look like now.



I'm sure they got more organizing to do.

Fed them some grape jelly and a couple crickets. Which they all happily devoured.

 

[HoodedRat]

How often do you feed them, and how much food do they consume?

 

[Dominus]

How often do you feed them, and how much food do they consume?

So far, twice a day. 1 cricket each time. If you think about it, an ant isn't that big. They don't really eat much. It's not a big colony that I've captured.

 

[unloadonme]

 

[Dominus]

^ Um no. The whole colony is now our pet.

It has been really interesting watching them. They regularly move all their eggs and pupae around to keep everything clean. They also have a designated food storage and a designated bathroom.

Some have started digging a tunnel in the sand below the nest. Keeping an eye on that to see what they intend to do with it.

 

[Dominus]

Here is a picture of the new fully mature colony. I lost track of the queen several days ago. She's in there somewhere. Bottom right corner is their designated trash area. Some are skin that they shed, some are their own dead, and some are poop. I could have sworn they were gonna put those outside the nest so I could clean up. But since they decided to put in there, I don't know how to remove them. Gotta figure out something.

 

[cityboy-stl]

So, how are your babies doing?

 

[Dominus]

So, how are your babies doing?

All but one have workers. They are all doing quite well. The big colony gets unlimited resources so they would have plenty to feed their young and make more babies.

Despite popular belief, ants are rather inactive if they got enough food and water. My bf and I discussed about this. If we want to see them more active, then we need to ration their food. They will naturally be more active to forage for food. But we came to the conclusion that we don't wanna limit their food just for our entertainment. So they will continue to get plenty of food and sugar water.

That said, because they have plenty of food, almost all of them stay in their nest all the time to take care of their eggs and young. We have a red film over the nest so we can watch them. Ants can't see red light so to them it's total darkness.