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...Anybody else keeping ants?

My first attempt was/is an accidental fluke in the rainforest box...

currently trying to introduce them to the olde toadarium ..

"mystery Pheidole spp"

-2 worker castes

-1 accidental viewing of eggs

-queen/s not yet seen

-easily the cutest tiny critters i ever did see

-bites are mildly painful , intensifying if from the larger worker caste

-sting not known ... perhaps the cause of the pain ?

-seems to hate indoor and outdoor uk climate

(but will attempt approx 20 mins trying before returning to jungle conditions)

-guards plants from "accidental elbows"

-will tend scale insects if unfed but not protect them

likes:
sciariad fly
mosquitoes
gnats

smoked salmo salar
honey
magnesium sulphate crystals
custard cream biscuits
mozzarella
honey
cous cous
sweet chilli hummus
algae for smoke mixes
the occasional 1 blast from a toke
(shock at first then actively seeking residual "smoke puddles"

dislikes:
edam
watermelon
bud
elemi oil

Oncorhynchus nerka
nice biscuits

sweet chilli tortilla wraps

Today they began trusting my finger nail ...and a tram ticket only ..

but seem very cautious about my skin :3 - had to trick them to ride the horse with the winning ticket..

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I've been known to have a few ant farms in my time. Lol.

I would like to make some living art with bull ants. See pic below. It's a large picture frame to hang on the wall. . I know how to make it, just got to get around to doing it. :)

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image.jpeg

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Edited by Amazonian
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ever kept or studied the purply green headed metallica?

~(Rhytidoponera metallica)

IMGP8128-edit.jpg

your formicarium is awesome Amazonian! , reminds me of a few beauties currently on ebay from Ukraine...

what materials could you recommend?

I read about some porous light stone that allows ventilation and water passage called ytong or something of that ilk..., that sounds interesting..

....just been compiling a list of species to study and try to locate over the last month or so:

Brachymyrmex patagonicus

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Brachymyrmex giardi

Lineepithema humile

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Monomorium pharaonis

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Paratrechina longicornis

Pheidole species that might be the same as the one I already have

Pheidole sp. Cape Tribulation, QLD

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Rhytidoponera metallica

Solonopsis geminata ( my 'pheidoles' could actually be these as far as I can tell for now )

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:3 this list may or may not grow in the future

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ
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I like to make little rally tracks across my varanda (concrete) using surface spray.

I start where they come down the pylon holding up the pergola then do a swiggly maze around the varanda that leads to a tasty treat.

many many victims succumb but... once one has successfully laid its pheromones across the course and made it home safely a trail forms and it's just amusing I guess.

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*adds broccolli to the pheidole spp likes list*

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they seem to dig this tune as restaurant music too :3

 

 

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Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

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&*adds sweetclem spanish oranges to the likes list thanks to one of my whipper snappers :3

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and

another tune they seem to like too

 

 

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Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

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and on the subject of ant videos..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEOKTslLiYw

 

 

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ
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mmmm , we've taken a shine to green arsed leaf cutter ants lately ...

and today we collected some different mosses from the local cemetery to attach to slate (probably)

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-for a little "out world" add on (that we don't have yet) ...to the next formicarium (that we haven't got yet) :3

we finally have a naturally magickal way to store all the "pet rocks" that the whipper snappers find and present to me several times a year...

....in a way that will incorporate them into the family home in an Antscape :3

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lol "what did you do to your ants today" ;3

added vegetable samosa wrap and a brown shrimp (Crangon crangon) to the likes menu..

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and after about 2.5 hours..post-14443-0-05345000-1450924853_thumb.j

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Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

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what do they do that's so jerky over there Thunder? , bites and stings? or other stuffs too?

, found cool vid/s to add/edit in more as i find them ..

 

 

 

 

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ
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They patrol lawns/everywhere and crawl into your clothes then sting repeatedly.

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mowed the lawn like a moss boss in the planned outworld moss patch that is coming along nicely ..

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-fed them some mackeral for their omega 3 , tried them yesterday on some apple for breakfast, beef stroganof with wild rice for dinner -they were delicious ;) - joking lol, and 2 gnats,

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wow!! most of my plant problems are related with ants..

I will do something drastic soon..

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yeah i never known anything quite so helpful in the ant world ..

theyre so damned cute too!

I can't wait to build them something proper and get my rainforest box back :)

they're just enjoying some set honey that's melting in the heat now :3 and i think i've narrowed them down to the voacanga pot

or the moss pole with the vanillas growing up it .. they're the only 2 pots i havent re-soiled ever ..

there are 2 viridis pots to re-soil soon though ..

last time i found the nest it was in an alicia I tried to re-pot - unless that was an attempt to collonise a new pot ..

but they moved out when it died cuz there was nuthn in there when i pulled out a dead alicia ..

might be nice to maybe allow some future pet dart frogs the kids want me to swat up on

-[which doesn't seem even nearly as challenging as trying to make a bufo alvarius happy and well] -

to dine on them to control numbers if necc'I

was also thinking of expanding the ant collection to those whom the dart frogs source their toxins but perhaps a bad idea .. maybe these mystery pheidole would make them more than happy and keep them un-toxic and safe..

can't be doing with any "5 minute frogs" around the little 'uns

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

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its all good until they start farming themselves pests on your plants

ants are good for ferocacti, but otherwise are a daman right pest.

let alone fero are very hardy, they wouldnt need ant protection

ANTS ARE NOT HELPFUL, were do they help you at ? what helpful thing do they do?

ants are not cute if they are the sole responsible for the most killed plants

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Ants can be helpful :) . Most ants nest in the ground, digging a labyrinth of tunnels that allow air and moisture to get to the roots of plants, they can feed on crop pests and they help with the decomposition of organic matter.

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They bit my mum when she tried to fk with my Rainforest box back when she turfed me out in -5C to die .. and tried to steal my kids from me ...but the ants wouldn't bite my kids while they tried their best to maintain the RFB it for me :)

which is priceless

and now they don't even bite me :3

which is a true friendship I have struck with a different species that was more reliable and more of a friend and spiritual ally than any humans I've ever known other than my own offspring ..

and they slay sciariad flies (or anything else insecty that tries to get in)

they only tend scale if unfed ...

and i am getting as attached to them as i was my kitty ... and i'dve kicked anyone's arse over her for even looking at her the wrong way :)

I can trust these little 1.5 - 2.5mm ants ... and I think they like me.

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wanna try a starter colony if i manage to get that far Sagi?

Amazonian - Thank you kindly for the cool info post .. I wondered why the plants did better after the ants came

I'll bet they were shaking their little fists at me for undoing all their good work by not providing enough sunshine for so long .. and then the trials with the 30watt led really toasted it up ..

but maybe they know I was having it hard and are prepared to stick it out with me .

oh yeah @ Sagi.... there's no other future for them or me , ... wedding is in 2 months ;)

- I only recall fearing in the past, the ants; in your country because they were like little fkn tanks !

I would love to know what species it may have been on the beaches of halkidiki now that I love ants and can appreciate their fascinating nature..

dyu think you might have the same species all over your lands?

I would gladly pay you for a queen and king and a couple of workers in a test tube plugged with a wet cotton ball ... if you wanna find a "beneficial use" for them ...

-note to any readers- this is perfectly legal where I am but in some countries - e.g. USA - it's highly illegal to transfer certain ant species from one region to another ...

so check your local rules and regs if you wanted to give ant keeping a try ..

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

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They were a lousy band.

:P

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This one ? ...lol

 

Cool thread. A bullant colony ( or "inchmen" if that way inclined) would be cool, they are pretty small colony for their size. Very bitey mofos though if they lock on though, they are the pitbulls of ants.

Edited by waterboy 2.0
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wanna try a starter colony if i manage to get that far Sagi???

gosh no, I want to kill them all - I got at least 4-5 species around. Yeah there surely not one species around.

yeah there are some big ones here too.. they're often seen in by-the-see spots. they bite okey those ones

well thats a strange request,but I might be able to help ya. Tough I dont know how to tell 'a queen and king and a couple of workers'

could they eat each other? different species I mean?

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sorry they fk up your plants dude , but they are fascinating lil buggers tho.. and worth

knowing about .. i guess i used to get annoyed at ants back in the day too ..

http://www.wikihow.com/Catch-a-Queen-Ant

http://www.myrmecos.net/2008/09/27/how-to-identify-queen-ants/

http://www.antscanada.com/starting-your-ant-colony/

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