4 replies to this topic

[Foogoo]

I'm still experimenting with feeding my ants and while my question is specifically for the byFormica food, I'm hoping this may be informative for other types of food as well:

 

- If adult ants only eat liquid, will they eat gel? Is gel considered liquid or solid to an ant?

- Is there a way to liquify BF gel? Or vice versa? 

[Gregory2455]

I do not know, but I think Pogonomyrmex specifically are the ones that adults can only eat liquid, please correct me if I am wrong on that, BUT I am pretty sure they can eat the gel, but another fact is that ants can also suck the liquid out of gels too, so it works out perfect.

[Mercutia]

There is enough moisture in the gel to feed the workers. The hard bits are broken down by the larvae.

[dspdrew]

From what I have read, it is a matter of particle size. Adult ants I think can only pass particles of a certain size or smaller through their digestive track.

 

I've got to say though, I have watched with my own eyes, quite a few queens suck all the liquid out of an egg, and then consume the left over skin. I'm 100 percent sure the egg skin went into the queen's mouth and did not come back out within the few minutes I continued to watch it. This was actually something I was going to post a question about in hopes that some expert might be able to explain exactly what's going on. I think Retroman has told me before that he has observed something similar. If I have to, I will get this on video.

[drtrmiller]

There's so much surface water on the gel itself, and the sugar content makes it slightly hygrophilic (water-attracting), so what ends up happening, is large enough colonies may "mine" the gel for water, licking up any available water and nutrients as they get deeper.  

 

Some ants also feed the bits that don't have available surface moisture to brood.  Formula Blue 100 and Aqua 300 are best used as a gel, while Green 600 makes no difference, as it doesn't contain protein.  

 

I've found the gel to be the most convenient for all my colonies, which vary considerably by development from test tube-stage, to larger colonies.  1 cc of liquid is far too little to measure reliably (the amount the silicone mold breaks up into little 1cc cubes), and so less product tends to be wasted when feeding the gel, even if the ants don't eat most of it.