Woke up to another jailbreak by my large Monomin colony. I’m seriously questioning if I can afford to keep them anymore. What do you all think? Should I stay or should I go?

Do you still have these ANTdrew? update?

After two years, I finally came across another big flight of these ants. I have one group of four and another group of two in the founding stage right now.

I am only about 3 hours below you...where should I be looking for queens? I'm like you, everywhere you look on the ground are little black ants, but being a rookie, I am not sure I am seeing "these ants". I would love to try to keep some of these. 

I'm in upper east TN in a tiny town. But I have a few people here that do Camponotus a lot. I love Castaneus & Subbarbatus, but I would like to do a tiny set as well. I see all kinds of little black ants all over my yard and have a ton of fresh dug holes, but I'm afraid to try to dig them up because I might crush them. lol Any tips??  Definately keep me in mind if you decide to unload one set. I have a nephew that is joining in this adventure. He has kept isopods for about a year and done awesome with them. Now he wants to "Ant with his Aunt". lol  I keep lots of things like Mantids, Isopods, Jumping spiders, etc. So I'm his "cool Aunt"...not to mention...his only Aunt. 

Update 9-21-2022

On July 13th, I came across multiple nuptial flights of Monomorium minimum. Of the six queens I gathered, only the two I found on my patio turned out to be successful at starting a colony. It took exactly one month for the two queens to get their first nanitics. The colony has been quite timid so far, but they are feeding well and have a massive brood pile at the moment. I expect a big population boom soon! I have some cool ideas for some totally escape proof all-in-one setups that I hope to make for these girls. It's great to be back on Team Monomin! 

I need some ideas. My Monomorium colony is living in an Inception Chamber. Their population has surged so much that I’m having a heck of a time containing them. Their fluon is not stopping them, and they can slip under the lid if I don’t weigh it down with rocks. Lifting the lid to care for them is a mess now. Have you guys that keep this species had any luck with other kinds of barriers?

I know you asked this from a long time ago but since this thread has had some activity I thought I'd add my own thoughts here. I have a 4 queen colony of Monomorium viridium (behaviorally and morphologically almost identical especially because they're a dark morph) and although the colony is not quite as big as this one they're still quite big and fill a single test tube in their tubs & tubes set-up very well. I would like to say that I use baby powder (with talcum powder not cornstarch) and I've never had any problems with my Monomorium (or ANY of my other ants) crossing it. While they can wear it down by continually walking on it thus removing the baby powder slowly, this can easily be seen and stopped by adding more baby powder as needed (unlike with fluon where a breakout could happen at any moment). I have kept in Solenopsis molesta, Crematogaster cerasi, Tetramorium immigrans and of course Monomorium with baby powder and never had any issues (although tbh none of the colonies besides the Tetramorium were very huge colonies). Maybe you and anyone else who has struggled with ants escapes should give it a try.

 

I need some ideas. My Monomorium colony is living in an Inception Chamber. Their population has surged so much that I’m having a heck of a time containing them. Their fluon is not stopping them, and they can slip under the lid if I don’t weigh it down with rocks. Lifting the lid to care for them is a mess now. Have you guys that keep this species had any luck with other kinds of barriers?

I know you asked this from a long time ago but since this thread has had some activity I thought I'd add my own thoughts here. I have a 4 queen colony of Monomorium viridium (behaviorally and morphologically almost identical especially because they're a dark morph) and although the colony is not quite as big as this one they're still quite big and fill a single test tube in their tubs & tubes set-up very well. I would like to say that I use baby powder (with talcum powder not cornstarch) and I've never had any problems with my Monomorium (or ANY of my other ants) crossing it. While they can wear it down by continually walking on it thus removing the baby powder slowly, this can easily be seen and stopped by adding more baby powder as needed (unlike with fluon where a breakout could happen at any moment). I have kept in Solenopsis molesta, Crematogaster cerasi, Tetramorium immigrans and of course Monomorium with baby powder and never had any issues (although tbh none of the colonies besides the Tetramorium were very huge colonies). Maybe you and anyone else who has struggled with ants escapes should give it a try.

 

I know that works, but too much baby powder, especially with small ants, will block the pores they use to breathe with and kill them. That is why i am trying to not use it as much anymore. However, as you mentioned, fluon is just too easy to apply wrong and boom, your ants are out. Fully enclosed systems have just become the norm for me.

What brand so you use, and how do you apply it for tiny species like this?

I use Johnson's baby powder which is close to pure talc I believe (the ingredient say talc and fragrance). I have a weird but efficient way of applying my baby powder. I have a small jar/container that is filled with baby powder, and I basically just take a cotton ball, dab it in the baby powder, and then tap it a few times so the excess baby powder comes off (that way it doesn't go everywhere outworld). Then I dab it onto the sides of the outworld. I repeat as necessary until the area is sufficiently covered. I can visibly see when the baby powder is being worn away and retouch it as necessary.

Edited by MinigunL5, September 22 2022 - 9:28 PM.

Update 10-12-2022

I'm very pleased with how my new dual queen colony of Monomins is doing. Their brood pile is absolutely massive, and they are probably near 100 workers now. I'll be hibernating them at my parents' house next month or whenever it gets cool enough. I'll spend the rest of the winter devising a Monomorium proof Fort Knoxicarium. I still haven't thought up clever names for the two queens yet, though. 

Edited by ANTdrew, October 12 2022 - 10:43 AM.

While my ants are in their winter storage I've been going through each colony and assessing their condition.  Upon closer inspection I realized that two of my small colonies - that I thought were Tetramorium - are actually Monomorium minimum.  I had planned on keeping them as single queen colonies (like Tetramorium) but now I have the option of combining the two.  I'm not sure of the queen status of either one as I found one colony living in an acorn and the other in a walnut.  Right now, everybody is firmly dug into hiding places for winter.  They are so small that they can get into spaces in that walnut shell that are impossible to get them out of without risk of injury.  It will be difficult to check the status of queen and brood in that walnut in spring anyway so I thought I would combine them right from the start out of diapause. 

Will they combine easily or should I wait until I can do a compatabiiity test with a couple of workers later in spring?