28 replies to this topic

[CANant]

I’m interested is purchasing some flightless fruit flies for my Camponotus Pennsylvanicus colony. Problem is I know very little about them. I have read about them having mites and how they can be a problem for a colony. Do they always have mites? I really don’t want to deal with a mite infestation in my house or in my colony. Any info or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Thunder_Birds]

I am not sure about the mite thing, but I do know that Fruit Flies are great meals for ants. 

The mites must be very tiny in order to "live on the fruit flie" But I don't know

Edited by Thunder_Birds, March 19 2020 - 2:38 PM.

[AntsDakota]

I’ve never had any mite problems.

[CANant]

I’ve heard that too. I’m struggling with finding protein my ants like. So far crickets (but they don’t live long) and spiders are their favourites. Super worms and butter worms are trash. Egg and meat we eat are not accepted. Can’t bring myself to buy roaches. Lol they just gross me out for some reason.
I’ve also read there is very little waste with fruit flies which is a nice bonus.

[CANant]

I’ve never had any mite problems.

So I wonder if it depends on the supplier. Some claim you can’t have fruit flies without mites.
Mites feed off the food the flies eat apparently.

I am not sure about the mite thing, but I do know that Fruit Flies are great meals for ants.
The mites must be very tiny in order to "live on the fruit flie" But I don't know

You can see them but they are very tiny. Like a speck of moving dirt.

Edited by CANant, March 19 2020 - 2:47 PM.

[AntsDakota]

I really doubt they’d harm your ants, and I also really doubt they’d crawl all over everything in your home.

[CANant]

I really doubt they’d harm your ants, and I also really doubt they’d crawl all over everything in your home.

I don’t know I’ve seen some videos on YouTube where they’ve got really bad and these people are raising cultures to sell and use for their own frogs etc
Just worries me I guess.

[CANant]

I’ve never had any mite problems.

So are they difficult to keep and feed to your ants? Any tips?

Edited by CANant, March 19 2020 - 3:51 PM.

[Da_NewAntOnTheBlock]

cultures are easy to raise and maintain, and I would go to a PetsMart or pet store and see if they have them...otherwise you could buy cockroaches... 

[CANant]

cultures are easy to raise and maintain, and I would go to a PetsMart or pet store and see if they have them...otherwise you could buy cockroaches...

Ok so I’m super grossed out by cockroaches lol I’ve heard they are less smelly and cleaner than crickets but are there kinds that don’t climb walls etc? I would consider those.

For those that feed fruit flies how do you feed them so they aren’t escaping everywhere. Refrigerate them for a bit? My colony has 13 workers but will be close to 50+ I suspect by June. I would probably only feed 10-20 at a time currently. Would that be a good number?

[Thunder_Birds]

You can just kill them. With that size of a colony, just give them around 5. Once the colony grows, then you can bump up the number.

Do you feed them every couple of days? Or everyday?

Edited by Thunder_Birds, March 19 2020 - 5:46 PM.

[CANant]

You can just kill them. With that size of a colony, just give them around 5. Once the colony grows, then you can bump up the number.
Do you feed them every couple of days? Or everyday?

Oh ya I wouldn’t feed them live. I do feed them every couple of days. If I notice they aren’t touching the food for 24 hrs and they haven’t dragged it into the nest tube I remove it and replace it with something else.

[Thunder_Birds]

Yeah, good idea. I am going to try to give my ants food everyday to be honest. I really want my ant colony to grow this summer If you really want your colony to grow, and you feed them every couple days, then you can probably give them more than just 5 fruit flies.

[CANant]

Yeah, good idea. I am going to try to give my ants food everyday to be honest. I really want my ant colony to grow this summer If you really want your colony to grow, and you feed them every couple days, then you can probably give them more than just 5 fruit flies.

They always have access to sugar water/nectar and water. I feed protein based on how quickly they are consuming it. I have noticed they will pull some into their tube and it will sit there for days untouched and then all of a sudden they drag it closer to the larvae. If they are hoarding protein in the nest tube I may wait another day if I can’t remove it so there’s not too much accumulating in the nest.

[ANTdrew]

Flightless fruit flies are a good choice. Just use a funnel to tap a bunch into a test tube and freeze them. Your ants will like them when they thaw, which is really quick because they are so tiny.
Dubia roaches are great, too. I just throw the whole thing in the freezer when it arrives and thaw a few at a time. Nothing to be grossed out about.

[CANant]

Flightless fruit flies are a good choice. Just use a funnel to tap a bunch into a test tube and freeze them. Your ants will like them when they thaw, which is really quick because they are so tiny.
Dubia roaches are great, too. I just throw the whole thing in the freezer when it arrives and thaw a few at a time. Nothing to be grossed out about.

Thank you! I never thought about freezing the roaches right away. I could deal with that! 🤔

As for the flies. Just a regular nothing fancy kitchen funnel? Any preference on species?

Edited by CANant, March 20 2020 - 5:30 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Any funnel is fine. You could even roll up paper.

Edited by ANTdrew, March 20 2020 - 5:18 AM.

[CANant]

Ok great thanks everyone!

[Thunder_Birds]

Yeah, good luck!

[Canadant]

I just bought some culture off of canadian Anter. He owns the Canada-ant-colony.com shop. It's great service, has lots of supplies and ants for us 'ant keeping deprived Canadians'

 

The site now has some Tarheel Ants products too. Wooooo!