11 replies to this topic

[Jamie_Garrison]

How is everyone's day? I am asking for Advice/Techniques on collecting an entire ant colony without harming the majority of the ants, brood, eggs, Queen... 

Tools/Equipment, storage, and other things that might assist in the process


Thanks in advance

and I will be creating a journal this

Jamie Garrison

[Batspiderfish]

Why not collect a foundress queen?

[Ants4fun]

I enjoy collecting colonies. Queens are often hit or miss. Collecting queens and colonies from firewood that is meant to be burned is really fun since you are saving them, you won't offend anyone.

I would make sure you bring zip lock baggies. They will be able to hold a lot of material. I manage to get whole colonies by bringing a lot of the nesting media they are in. I would only attempt to collect a colony if I can see the whole colony, such as if they are under rocks, or if I know I can collect the whole colony, such as if they are all in a log. Aspirator or those vaccumes that suck stuff into containers work well for collecting ants, but often times I will use whatever is with me.

Scooping up the dirt around the brood can help make sure you don't damage them, also, make sure you get the queen first, and then collect workers and brood. Prying open wooden logs with the back of a hammer is useful, and featherweight forceps are helpful when picking up ants or brood. Just make sure you have many containers and plenty of time. If the colony is deep underground, don't bother. It's not worth your time, and one could kill the colony,

[ultraex2]

If you have one, a battery powered hand-held vacuum HUGELY helps.  I bought this vacuum https://www.walmart....6&wl13=&veh=semand have used it to collect 2 colonies so far.  (Formica & Lasius cf alienus).

 

I did modify it a bit and added a small length of clear vinyl tubing to the mouth and stuffed saran wrap to fill out the gaps.

Edited by ultraex2, June 15 2017 - 12:50 PM.

[Jamie_Garrison]

i would like to collect a Pogonomyrmex badius colony so the vacuum idea might be best

[AntsOnTheCoast]

Honestly, I'm against collecting colonies that have already settled in their territory. Most of the times, you won't get all the ants and the ones left behind won't survive (Despite having a short life span). It's not very humane to just barge into a colony and just capture them. Instead, why not get a queen in a nuptial flight? It's real fun :]

 

This is just my opinion.

[Jamie_Garrison]

I have collected many queens... What if i do this on a colony that will be destroyed because a home is being built...   

[Deluga]

If the colony will be destroyed I don't see a problem trying to save them.

[Barristan]

Signatures are becoming bigger and bigger over the years...

 

Just think about how many colonies die yearly due to other human activities like building houses, roads, bridges, new planting etc. Some ant keepers digging out some colonies won't really matter at all.

 

But if you can you should prefer collecting a queen. And don't dig out rare species...

[Deluga]

Signatures are becoming bigger and bigger over the years...
 
Just think about how many colonies die yearly due to other human activities like building houses, roads, bridges, new planting etc. Some ant keepers digging out some colonies won't really matter at all.
 
But if you can you should prefer collecting a queen. And don't dig out rare species...

If they are going to die because of human activity I don't see the problem digging up the colony, rather try to keep them alive than just let them die.

[dermy]

Have fun digging up a well established Pogonomyrmex colony out. They will probably dig pretty far, and your chances of finding the queen are slim, and if you aren't careful you could end up digging and killing the queen with the tools you are using to get them out.

 

Getting mature colonies out of something like fire-wood is pretty easy. But like others have said, just wait for the flights. If you aren't very good with the species then steal some brood from a colony. I hate to say it but you trying to save a colony this way might just end up doing more harm then good [also it might be against the law to go to somewhere that a house is gonna be built and start digging around, I'm not sure though but it just seems like it would....]

[AntsOnTheCoast]

 

Signatures are becoming bigger and bigger over the years...
 
Just think about how many colonies die yearly due to other human activities like building houses, roads, bridges, new planting etc. Some ant keepers digging out some colonies won't really matter at all.
 
But if you can you should prefer collecting a queen. And don't dig out rare species...

If they are going to die because of human activity I don't see the problem digging up the colony, rather try to keep them alive than just let them die.

 

 

This is nicely put.