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I have the weirdest idea to capture a colony


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6 replies to this topic

#1 Offline kevinirvinryann - Posted February 8 2015 - 5:15 PM

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Ok so I was talking to my brothers about ants. The subject of fireants came into the conversation(I don't know the scientific name) we started talking about how they could form a raft if there is a flood. Do you think that it's possible to capture a colony by stimulating flooding? I personally won't not try this my parents would kill my for the water bill and I think moving the colony would be to much. But do you think it's possible?
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#2 Offline dean_k - Posted February 8 2015 - 5:18 PM

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Only Solenopsis invicta colony will respond properly to flooding. Most of other ant species will drown.

 

The best way is almost always catching a newly mated queen unless it's species that mate within their own nests.



#3 Offline Myrmicinae - Posted February 8 2015 - 5:36 PM

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Only Solenopsis invicta colony will respond properly to flooding. Most of other ant species will drown.

 

The best way is almost always catching a newly mated queen unless it's species that mate within their own nests.

 

Agreed.  This technique (flooding) is actually used by researchers quite often to collect laboratory colonies.  However, it is generally only effective on Solenopsis invicta.


Edited by Myrmicinae, February 8 2015 - 5:37 PM.

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#4 Offline Gregory2455 - Posted February 8 2015 - 6:00 PM

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It can be done with Red Imported Fire Ants, or Solenopsis invicta, which should be plentiful in Texas.



#5 Offline drtrmiller - Posted February 8 2015 - 9:18 PM

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You will not capture a colony in your yard by "flooding" the nest or surrounding land.  The water soaks through the ground too quickly.  I have tried many different approaches similar to this, and none have succeeded.

 

Scientists collecting these colonies begin by digging up the colony on a warm spring morning when the queen is likely in the upper mound.  They then place them in a 5 gallon bucket lined with baby powder or Fluon to keep the ants from crawling out, allow the ants time to reorganize, and then use a "drip method" to slowly introduce water in the bucket until the ants initiate the desired behavior.  The colony is then very easy to collect in its entirety.

 

The simpler thing to get Solenopsis invicta started, however, is to wait for nuptial flights in the Spring and Summer, where it is easy to collect many queens.  Then, simply dig up and collect brood from existing colonies.  You then place the brood with the new queens, each queen in an individual test tube, which is a technique described by some as "brood boosting."  The queen will care for the larvae and pupae, which will rapidly eclose into a ready workforce, and so you can easily have many instant colonies.




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#6 Offline Chromerust - Posted February 9 2015 - 10:59 AM

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You can see how it's done in this video


#7 Offline LAnt - Posted February 10 2015 - 4:56 PM

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That looks like a fun place to
to work!

Edited by LAnt, February 10 2015 - 4:57 PM.

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