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Acanthomyops latipes or citronella ant


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8 replies to this topic

#1 Offline brian - Posted May 23 2020 - 1:25 PM

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There is so little information on keeping these girls that I can find. Everthing is about exterminating them. I have hundreds of these girls nests under rocks and logs around my home. But all I ever read is that they eat Honeydew. Has anyone here ever successfully kept them? If so what did you feed them and house them in?
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#2 Offline Zeiss - Posted May 23 2020 - 1:32 PM

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I'm not familiar with anyone keeping them before, but there may be some results with a search on the forum.

 

I wouldn't think they're far off from other ants.  Honeydew is just sugar water, so you could make a mix of sugar:water (1:3).  You could also buy Sunburst by byFormica or try other hummingbird nectars.  As for protein, I think dead insects would be fine.

 

As for housing, not sure.


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#3 Offline Manitobant - Posted May 23 2020 - 4:18 PM

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Here is an old journal on this species: https://www.formicul...lasius-latipes/
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#4 Offline AntsDakota - Posted May 23 2020 - 5:36 PM

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Lots of people keep parasitic Lasius. Just read AnthonyP163’s journal: https://www.formicul...8&hl=aphidicola
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"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. (including ants) And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version


#5 Offline Nare - Posted May 23 2020 - 5:46 PM

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Lots of people keep parasitic Lasius. Just read AnthonyP163’s journal: https://www.formicul...8&hl=aphidicola

L. aphidicola and L. speculiventris are Chthonolasius / umbratus-group iirc, which have been kept plenty of times before. Acanthomyops / claviger-group are more difficult to keep iirc, but I'm fairly certain they've been kept / raised before. A quick scan of the journal reveals much more success with umbratus-group than claviger-group. So yes, plenty of people keep parasitic Lasius, but not many people have success with claviger-group it seems.


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#6 Offline AntsDakota - Posted May 23 2020 - 5:48 PM

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Oh, ok. However, this year I am going to attempt to found Acanthomyops (probably claviger).

"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. (including ants) And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version


#7 Offline brian - Posted May 23 2020 - 7:37 PM

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Thank you to everyone for your help.

#8 Offline AnthonyP163 - Posted May 23 2020 - 10:39 PM

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Lasius latipes doesn't seem to be much more complicated than others, like Lasius claviger (both Acanthomyops). I have had a queen of Lasius latipes get accepted by some Lasius neoniger workers, but she died a few days later. I think I simply got unlucky. It is notable that Lasius latipes have very big legs, some suggest these are for burrowing to get attackers off of them; just thought that is interesting. 

 

It is insanely difficult to find a queen in a mature colony of this species. They fly mostly in August. Their workers are also closely related to a lot of other Lasius. 



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#9 Offline AntsDakota - Posted May 24 2020 - 6:09 AM

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Lasius latipes doesn't seem to be much more complicated than others, like Lasius claviger (both Acanthomyops). I have had a queen of Lasius latipes get accepted by some Lasius neoniger workers, but she died a few days later. I think I simply got unlucky. It is notable that Lasius latipes have very big legs, some suggest these are for burrowing to get attackers off of them; just thought that is interesting. 

 

It is insanely difficult to find a queen in a mature colony of this species. They fly mostly in August. Their workers are also closely related to a lot of other Lasius. 

I tried founding claviger queens a couple years ago, but I was not too well versed in the ways of social parasites, and just threw them in with some neoniger workers (a couple hundred). They got tore to shreds.......... I realize now aphidicola is MUCH easier to found. However, I plan to try again with claviger this year.


"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. (including ants) And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version





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