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Aphids, Ant-Crickets, and the Whole Bunch of Ant Pals


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#1 Offline Connectimyrmex - Posted November 29 2016 - 9:52 PM

Connectimyrmex

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Hey guys! I've just finished a tutorial on how to care for ant associates that live in or near the nest!! People without the necessary ants can now rejoice when they find a weird ant silverfish or a branch covered in aphids!

 

Here it is. If you have any questions or recommendations, just post it in a reply.

 

 

Aphids

-Readily available (on plants)
-Easy to feed
-Hardy
-Easy to breed in captivity
-Most aphids are female and can breed via parthenogenesis 

Mealybugs
-Less available (on plants)
-Easy to feed
-Very hardy
-Hard to breed in captivity
-Male mealybugs have a complete life cycle and female mealybugs resemble large nymphs

Ant-Loving Silverfish
-Very hard to obtain (in the nest)
-Eats with your ants
-Relatively hardy
-Difficult to breed in captivity
-Sexual dimorphism is unapparent

Ant-Loving Cricket
-Easy to obtain if you have local ant populations who move all the time (otherwise, they are in the nest)
-Eats extra stored food in ant colonies
-Relatively hardy
-Semi-easy to breed in captivity (one of my friends at my old school in the mainland US [I live in Hawaii] once bred some Ant-Loving Crickets. He was definitely a beginner. Every time that I've ever tried, though, I've failed.)
-Look for an ovipositor. Males do not have an ovipositor.

Ant-Loving Cockroach (Leafcutter symbiote)
-Hard to obtain (unless you catch nuptial Leafcutter Ants)
-Eats Leafcutter Ant fungus
-Hardy if you have fungus
-Breeding status unknown
-Sexual dimorphism is unapparent


BONUS: Keeping Termites!

Termites
-Easy to obtain
-Requires Queen AND King
-Can be kept in a test tube (they will eat the cotton)
-Takes two months for nymphs to hatch
-DON'T MIX WITH ANTS!

 

 

My alias is OchetellusPheidoleGeminata if anybody reads the other forums. I posted this somewhere else some time ago.


Edited by Hawaiiant, November 29 2016 - 10:20 PM.

Hawaiiant (Ben)

Keeper of
Miniature Labradoodle
Baby Wolf Spider
Mud Dauber wasp larvae
Ochetellus Glaber
Solenopsis Geminata
Brachymyrmex Obscurior
Cardiocondyla Emeryi
Tetramorium Bicarinatum
Plagiolepis Alluaudi
Anoplolepis Gracilipes
Technomyrmex Difficilis
Pheidole Megacephala
Aholehole fish
Cowrie snail
Sea Fan Worm
100+ sea squirts
Tree seedlings
Ghost Crab
Day Gecko
Small Fat Centipede
Endemic Lacewing larva
Vernal Pool shrimps

#2 Offline Connectimyrmex - Posted November 29 2016 - 10:21 PM

Connectimyrmex

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Wait, I think this doesn't belong here. Can anyone move the topic to general ant keeping?


Hawaiiant (Ben)

Keeper of
Miniature Labradoodle
Baby Wolf Spider
Mud Dauber wasp larvae
Ochetellus Glaber
Solenopsis Geminata
Brachymyrmex Obscurior
Cardiocondyla Emeryi
Tetramorium Bicarinatum
Plagiolepis Alluaudi
Anoplolepis Gracilipes
Technomyrmex Difficilis
Pheidole Megacephala
Aholehole fish
Cowrie snail
Sea Fan Worm
100+ sea squirts
Tree seedlings
Ghost Crab
Day Gecko
Small Fat Centipede
Endemic Lacewing larva
Vernal Pool shrimps




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