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New from St. Louis


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#1 Offline BMM - Posted October 14 2016 - 9:28 PM

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Hi everyone!

 

I'm from St Louis, Missouri and very recently got into ant keeping. For the past few weeks I've been reading up and absorbing everything I can find on the subject. Sadly I think it's a bit late in the year to try to find a queen and start a colony, but that may not be a bad thing. Instead I thought I might get some practice by caring for some workers. I looked at some simple types of formicaria and settled on a variation of the jar within a jar setup. Luckily I work at a company that produces clear plastic tubing, so I was able throw something together pretty easily.

 

Tube Setup

 

 

The outside tube is about about an inch around. I cut another tube, sealed it with some plugs, and put it inside the larger one so that I would be able to see their tunnels. There's about 1/8th of an inch space on each side. I filled it with dirt until the smaller tube was completely covered. I started with 12 workers. They're small black ants, approximately 2-3 mm, that I caught in my backyard, so I'm assuming they're probably Tetramorium. It's been about a week and I have no idea how many are still alive. There's usually four or five on the surface, but they've dug quite a few tunnels, so it's hard to say. Overall it's been very enjoyable to care for them and watch them work. I'm quite excited for next year when I might be able to start a real colony.


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#2 Offline Enderz - Posted October 15 2016 - 9:27 PM

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Welcome, hope you enjoy your stay! It's always fun to watch ants work, even if they don't have a queen :D


:morning:  :hot:  :hot:  :hot:

Ex igne et in infernum. 


#3 Offline Splat01 - Posted October 16 2016 - 3:02 AM

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Welcome, and very cool! Although my cats would have that knocked over in 0.142 seconds.

 

Do you know what species you currently have in there?



#4 Offline BMM - Posted October 16 2016 - 11:10 AM

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I think they're Tetramorium sp.E., but I'm just guessing based off their size, color, and where I found them.



#5 Offline dspdrew - Posted October 16 2016 - 3:09 PM

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Welcome. :) I have made nests similar to this before.






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