Jump to content

  • Chat
  •  
  •  

Welcome to Formiculture.com!

This is a website for anyone interested in Myrmecology and all aspects of finding, keeping, and studying ants. The site and forum are free to use. Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation points to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!

Photo

Local ants got to my captive ants.


  • Please log in to reply
18 replies to this topic

#1 Offline Scrixx - Posted September 6 2017 - 11:49 AM

Scrixx

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 274 posts
  • LocationSan Bernardino County, CA.

Okay so I'm still pretty new to the hobby, only started a few months ago. I'm learning a lot. It looks like there's still way more to learn. Well one of those things is that local household ants find captive ants quite tasty. I lost all of my ants with out-worlds except for two. I believe the attacking ants are Argentine ants because they die very quickly when exposed to water. As far as I know Solenopsis invicta would have at least floated or survived for at least 10 minutes.

 

 

I keep my ants in a two drawer setup. The top rack has my test tubes while the bottom rack has ants in out-worlds. The out-worlds are containers with small punched holes with a classic test tube setup inside them. Turns out the small punched holes were big enough for the invading ants to get in. Also some of my ants ran out of water so I connected them to another test tube with tape. I left a gap in the tape for air but the attacking ants also slipped in that small gap.

 

What I learned: Don't leave open gaps and holes in your containers. Plug them up with cotton.

 

Losses:

3x Myrmecocystus mexicanus

3x Pogonomyrmex

10+ aggregate smaller species.

 

 

First picture shows the attacking ants crawling through the small holes in the lid. I think next time I can cover those with pieces of cotton to prevent anything from coming in while still allowing air to pass through. I lost two Pogonomyrmex subnitidus this way.

 

zsvhfFJ.jpg

 

Next up is a photo of my surviving Pogonomyrmex rugosus. She survived the attack despite her brood being taken and her workers killed. She might've been to big for the few dozen attacking ants that managed to slip in to handle. This is an altoids container that didn't close all the way. Maybe the colony would have survived if it was closed fully. Right now she's in a new test tube setup and hoping she can start again.

 

nLTXad8.jpg

 

Lastly is something most people don't want to see. The loss of three Myrmecocystus mexicanus. That's right they took away three honeypot ants which had several cocoons. I also lost 2x Dorymyrmex insanus, 2x Pheidole xerophila, 2x Forelius sp.. So these queens were in a classic test tube but were running out of water so I attached them to another test tube with tape. I believe the solution for this is to put cotton in the gaps.

 

9FXcIss.jpg

 

You can see the corpse of the Myrmecocystus mexicanus here.

 

7k33et3.jpg


  • T.C. and Spamdy like this

ScrixxAnts Queen Adoption

YouTube: View my ants

Keeping: Camponotus sansabeanus - C. vicinus - Formica francoeuri - Liometopum occidentale -  Pogonomyrmex californicus - P. rugosus - P. subnitidus - Solenopsis molesta - S. xyloni - Tapinoma sessile - Temnothorax sp.

Journals: Camponotus sansabeanus & C. vicinus | Pogonomyrmex californicus & P. rugosus | Solenopsis molesta & S. xyloni

Discontinued: Pogonomyrmex subnitidus


#2 Offline ultraex2 - Posted September 6 2017 - 11:57 AM

ultraex2

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 275 posts

Dang, that really sucks... 



#3 Offline T.C. - Posted September 6 2017 - 11:57 AM

T.C.

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,059 posts

This is depressing. :*( It got real emotional when I seen the Myrmecocystus mexicanus got killed as well. We shall rebel against these argentines!  :ugone2far: 


“If I am killed for simply living, let death be kinder than man.” -Althea Davis

#4 Offline Spamdy - Posted September 6 2017 - 12:02 PM

Spamdy

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 333 posts
  • LocationHouston, Texas

This is depressing. :*( It got real emotional when I seen the Myrmecocystus mexicanus got killed as well. We shall rebel against these argentines!  :ugone2far:

Easier said than done.


All my colonies are dead. 

 

 Except:

  

  Pogonomyrmex barbatus

  Pheidole obscurithorax

  Pheidole morens


#5 Offline Scrixx - Posted September 6 2017 - 12:31 PM

Scrixx

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 274 posts
  • LocationSan Bernardino County, CA.

Whoa okay so after I cleaned up the massive trail of Argentine ants I started to clean the containers. I opened one up and look what I found. I rescued her and put her in a test tube. Hoping she can start again.

 

vG7ruWk.jpg


  • lucas3431 likes this

ScrixxAnts Queen Adoption

YouTube: View my ants

Keeping: Camponotus sansabeanus - C. vicinus - Formica francoeuri - Liometopum occidentale -  Pogonomyrmex californicus - P. rugosus - P. subnitidus - Solenopsis molesta - S. xyloni - Tapinoma sessile - Temnothorax sp.

Journals: Camponotus sansabeanus & C. vicinus | Pogonomyrmex californicus & P. rugosus | Solenopsis molesta & S. xyloni

Discontinued: Pogonomyrmex subnitidus


#6 Offline AntsMaryland - Posted September 6 2017 - 2:30 PM

AntsMaryland

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 543 posts
  • LocationMaryland

Good luck!


Aphaenogaster cf. rudis 

Tetramorium immigrans 

Tapinoma sessile

Formica subsericea

Pheidole sp.

Camponotus nearcticus


#7 Offline AntPhycho - Posted September 6 2017 - 3:27 PM

AntPhycho

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 395 posts
  • LocationCalifornia
OMG , I am really sorry about your ants man, especially sad when I heard the honey pot queens died, jeez I have been looking months upon months for one of those queens, here you had three and lost them all!
  • FeedTheAnts likes this

Founding (for myself):                                                                                       My Shop

Solenopsis invicta experiments...                                                                     California

                                                                                                                     Ants & Formicaria

                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                       

                                              

                                                  

 

 

 


#8 Offline lucas3431 - Posted September 7 2017 - 10:41 AM

lucas3431

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 143 posts
  • LocationIreland/Dublin

The problem now is, your wild neighbors know where to find a source of food so they will return or maybe they haven't even left yet. Get the vinegar out. 



#9 Offline Serafine - Posted September 7 2017 - 3:02 PM

Serafine

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,782 posts
  • LocationGermany

Did anyone try to keep his ant containers or the (feet of the) entire shelf in a moat of talcum? Argentines should not be able to cross that.


We should respect all forms of consciousness. The body is just a vessel, a mere hull.

Welcome to Lazy Tube - My Camponotus Journal


#10 Offline Scrixx - Posted September 7 2017 - 8:12 PM

Scrixx

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 274 posts
  • LocationSan Bernardino County, CA.

Good luck!

 

Sadly only the Pogonomyrmex rugosus survived. Maybe because she was so huge. 


ScrixxAnts Queen Adoption

YouTube: View my ants

Keeping: Camponotus sansabeanus - C. vicinus - Formica francoeuri - Liometopum occidentale -  Pogonomyrmex californicus - P. rugosus - P. subnitidus - Solenopsis molesta - S. xyloni - Tapinoma sessile - Temnothorax sp.

Journals: Camponotus sansabeanus & C. vicinus | Pogonomyrmex californicus & P. rugosus | Solenopsis molesta & S. xyloni

Discontinued: Pogonomyrmex subnitidus


#11 Offline Scrixx - Posted September 7 2017 - 8:14 PM

Scrixx

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 274 posts
  • LocationSan Bernardino County, CA.

The problem now is, your wild neighbors know where to find a source of food so they will return or maybe they haven't even left yet. Get the vinegar out. 

 

Indeed, there are still ants roaming the area despite cleaning it and blocking off their last entrances.

 

Did anyone try to keep his ant containers or the (feet of the) entire shelf in a moat of talcum? Argentines should not be able to cross that.

 

I will try that next time. Wouldn't they just walk on it though?  It's not like they're climbing vertically for the particles to slip them off.


ScrixxAnts Queen Adoption

YouTube: View my ants

Keeping: Camponotus sansabeanus - C. vicinus - Formica francoeuri - Liometopum occidentale -  Pogonomyrmex californicus - P. rugosus - P. subnitidus - Solenopsis molesta - S. xyloni - Tapinoma sessile - Temnothorax sp.

Journals: Camponotus sansabeanus & C. vicinus | Pogonomyrmex californicus & P. rugosus | Solenopsis molesta & S. xyloni

Discontinued: Pogonomyrmex subnitidus


#12 Offline ultraex2 - Posted September 8 2017 - 6:15 AM

ultraex2

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 275 posts

If you put the ants in a larger bin with diatamaceous earth or water that should help.  I think something similar happened to drew and he created tables that were invasive-ant proof.


  • FeedTheAnts likes this

#13 Offline chatogaster - Posted September 8 2017 - 6:42 AM

chatogaster

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPip
  • 14 posts
  • LocationCopenhagen

:o

 

War. War never changes.


  • AntPhycho likes this

Camponotus herculeanus

Lasius niger

Mystery ant


#14 Offline Loops117 - Posted September 8 2017 - 7:21 AM

Loops117

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 802 posts
  • LocationSouth Lyon, Michigan

Wow, I'm sorry for your losses. I've heard of the argentine attacks, and they suck. I myself have had some C.pennsylvanicus tunnel into some outworlds in the past, and still finding some trying to make there way in. When i find one or two trying to break into my large colonies, i let them in and trap them. I don't give them a chance to make the trail back, and i let them meet the girls they're spying on. It never ends well for them.

 

Also, this is why i make my setups just as hard to get in, as they are to get out of.


  • XZero38 and Spamdy like this

#15 Offline XZero38 - Posted September 8 2017 - 8:28 AM

XZero38

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 304 posts
  • LocationHenderson, CO

Wow, I'm sorry for your losses. I've heard of the argentine attacks, and they suck. I myself have had some C.pennsylvanicus tunnel into some outworlds in the past, and still finding some trying to make there way in. When i find one or two trying to break into my large colonies, i let them in and trap them. I don't give them a chance to make the trail back, and i let them meet the girls they're spying on. It never ends well for them.

 

Also, this is why i make my setups just as hard to get in, as they are to get out of.

i do the exact same thing. They get to have a nice face to face with the ladies they are watching



#16 Offline Scrixx - Posted September 8 2017 - 3:19 PM

Scrixx

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 274 posts
  • LocationSan Bernardino County, CA.

If you put the ants in a larger bin with diatamaceous earth or water that should help.  I think something similar happened to drew and he created tables that were invasive-ant proof.

 

Yeah I'll have to figure something out then. Totally forgot about DE, I have some. Will try a layer of that if I end up making a moat.

 

 

Wow, I'm sorry for your losses. I've heard of the argentine attacks, and they suck. I myself have had some C.pennsylvanicus tunnel into some outworlds in the past, and still finding some trying to make there way in. When i find one or two trying to break into my large colonies, i let them in and trap them. I don't give them a chance to make the trail back, and i let them meet the girls they're spying on. It never ends well for them.

 

Also, this is why i make my setups just as hard to get in, as they are to get out of.

 

Yeah I gotta make a dedicated shelf for these guys and ant proof it with a moat or something.


ScrixxAnts Queen Adoption

YouTube: View my ants

Keeping: Camponotus sansabeanus - C. vicinus - Formica francoeuri - Liometopum occidentale -  Pogonomyrmex californicus - P. rugosus - P. subnitidus - Solenopsis molesta - S. xyloni - Tapinoma sessile - Temnothorax sp.

Journals: Camponotus sansabeanus & C. vicinus | Pogonomyrmex californicus & P. rugosus | Solenopsis molesta & S. xyloni

Discontinued: Pogonomyrmex subnitidus


#17 Offline T.C. - Posted September 8 2017 - 3:45 PM

T.C.

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,059 posts

If you put the ants in a larger bin with diatamaceous earth or water that should help.  I think something similar happened to drew and he created tables that were invasive-ant proof.

 
Yeah I'll have to figure something out then. Totally forgot about DE, I have some. Will try a layer of that if I end up making a moat.
 
 

Wow, I'm sorry for your losses. I've heard of the argentine attacks, and they suck. I myself have had some C.pennsylvanicus tunnel into some outworlds in the past, and still finding some trying to make there way in. When i find one or two trying to break into my large colonies, i let them in and trap them. I don't give them a chance to make the trail back, and i let them meet the girls they're spying on. It never ends well for them.
 
Also, this is why i make my setups just as hard to get in, as they are to get out of.

 
Yeah I gotta make a dedicated shelf for these guys and ant proof it with a moat or something.

If it was me, I would do like a hanging shelf from the ceiling. It would be easy to do i'd think.
“If I am killed for simply living, let death be kinder than man.” -Althea Davis

#18 Offline AntPhycho - Posted September 8 2017 - 8:15 PM

AntPhycho

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 395 posts
  • LocationCalifornia

:o
 
War. War never changes.


Time to put the ants in vault 111, they just need to wait for the all clear.
  • chatogaster likes this

Founding (for myself):                                                                                       My Shop

Solenopsis invicta experiments...                                                                     California

                                                                                                                     Ants & Formicaria

                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                       

                                              

                                                  

 

 

 


#19 Offline MegaMyrmex - Posted September 9 2017 - 6:07 AM

MegaMyrmex

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 637 posts
  • LocationEllicott City, Maryland
DOWN WITH THE ARGENTINES! To be honest, i don't really like Dolichoderines because the 2 most common ones in the US are major pests amd escape artists...

Proverbs 6:6-8 New International Version (NIV)

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

 





0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users