4 replies to this topic

[fortysixandtwo]

I caught a new queen recently and I believe she is a Liometopum luctuosum. Does anyone have experience with keeping ants of the genus in captivity?

 

If these are in fact the ants I think they are, they will present a lot of challenges. I usually do Camponotus, much larger in comparison. Escape proofing against very tiny ants is priority #1. Second is adequate space. I feel like I am going to want a very large outworld for them despite being such tiny ants. Third already she is proving how fast the colony seems likely to grow. She started laying eggs in the last day and she's at 36 now.

 

Just curious if anyone has any input on these.

Attached Images

• 

Edited by fortysixandtwo, April 21 2020 - 2:30 AM.

[ponerinecat]

Hoo boy. This genus is quite problematic. Extremely fast growth, I had 15 or so nanitics in the first batch with lots more pupae to go, even in unfavorable conditions. They grow very fast, smell horrible when disturbed, are hard to contain, and form trails comparable to the smaller army ants. See Drews journal for reference. If you do plan on keeping them try sealed containers for outworlds (maybe with a little hatch surrounded by fluon to drop prey and sugar in.) Connect a bunch of them together with long tubes. Add more as the colony grows. They are a fun genus though, seeing trails int he wild is quite interesting and they move very fast, a bit like a new world Iridomyrmex, almost. My guess is that this is indeed luctuosum, occidentale don't seem to be flying right now. Meanwhile the luctuosum here are spewing out alates.

[Somethinghmm]

Hoo boy. This genus is quite problematic. Extremely fast growth, I had 15 or so nanitics in the first batch with lots more pupae to go, even in unfavorable conditions. They grow very fast, smell horrible when disturbed, are hard to contain, and form trails comparable to the smaller army ants. See Drews journal for reference. If you do plan on keeping them try sealed containers for outworlds (maybe with a little hatch surrounded by fluon to drop prey and sugar in.) Connect a bunch of them together with long tubes. Add more as the colony grows. They are a fun genus though, seeing trails int he wild is quite interesting and they move very fast, a bit like a new world Iridomyrmex, almost. My guess is that this is indeed luctuosum, occidentale don't seem to be flying right now. Meanwhile the luctuosum here are spewing out alates.

Liometopum occidentale start flying March and can fly until August. I'm not sure about larger colonies, but my 300 worker occidentale colony has been super easy to satisfy and contain (I use a talcum powder barrier applied without alcohol). Not sure what I'll do to this colony when it explodes.

Edited by Somethinghmm, April 21 2020 - 8:00 AM.

[fortysixandtwo]

Hoo boy. This genus is quite problematic. Extremely fast growth, I had 15 or so nanitics in the first batch with lots more pupae to go, even in unfavorable conditions. They grow very fast, smell horrible when disturbed, are hard to contain, and form trails comparable to the smaller army ants. See Drews journal for reference. If you do plan on keeping them try sealed containers for outworlds (maybe with a little hatch surrounded by fluon to drop prey and sugar in.) Connect a bunch of them together with long tubes. Add more as the colony grows. They are a fun genus though, seeing trails int he wild is quite interesting and they move very fast, a bit like a new world Iridomyrmex, almost. My guess is that this is indeed luctuosum, occidentale don't seem to be flying right now. Meanwhile the luctuosum here are spewing out alates.

 

Yeah, I suspected that. Haha. Definitely like the sealed container with hatch idea. I think I was actually battling this species earlier in winter, I had columns of stinky, very tiny ants coming in through cracks in the walls of my house. They will be challenging no doubt. Thank you for the input.

 

 

Hoo boy. This genus is quite problematic. Extremely fast growth, I had 15 or so nanitics in the first batch with lots more pupae to go, even in unfavorable conditions. They grow very fast, smell horrible when disturbed, are hard to contain, and form trails comparable to the smaller army ants. See Drews journal for reference. If you do plan on keeping them try sealed containers for outworlds (maybe with a little hatch surrounded by fluon to drop prey and sugar in.) Connect a bunch of them together with long tubes. Add more as the colony grows. They are a fun genus though, seeing trails int he wild is quite interesting and they move very fast, a bit like a new world Iridomyrmex, almost. My guess is that this is indeed luctuosum, occidentale don't seem to be flying right now. Meanwhile the luctuosum here are spewing out alates.

Liometopum occidentale start flying March and can fly until August. I'm not sure about larger colonies, but my 300 worker occidentale colony has been super easy to satisfy and contain (I use a talcum powder barrier applied without alcohol). Not sure what I'll do to this colony when it explodes.

 

 

I will try the talcum powder barrier, thank you.
 

[JenC]

For outworlds you can use cheap and big plastic containers.