31 replies to this topic

[cewtsoul]

Anyone know of any non aggressive ants that can be housed in a communal formicarium with 3 or more nest areas?

[AntsDakota]

Nope. All ants you’d ever find will attack another ant of a different species.

[Kaelwizard]

Nope. All ants you’d ever find will attack another ant of a different species.

Not necessarily. Think of xenobiant ants.

[Manitobant]

Not exactly a non aggressive ant, but it would be very cool to have a formicarium or vivarium with a few formica colonies and one polyergus colony. You can watch them raid and its spectacular!

[cewtsoul]

well wakooshi mentions:

Temnothorax Nylanderi as a species that " Can be kept alongside other non aggressive species in cohabiting enclosure.  Temnothorax Nylanderi is also known as the acorn ant. 

[DDD101DDD]

I think the channel Macro ants on youtube tried something similar with Aphaenogaster and Camponotus, but with 2 separate formacariums and one shared outworld. I think it worked for a few months, but then one colony killed the other.

[TechAnt]

well wakooshi mentions:

Temnothorax Nylanderi as a species that " Can be kept alongside other non aggressive species in cohabiting enclosure. Temnothorax Nylanderi is also known as the acorn ant.

Wakooshi.com is NOT a good ant info source, try ant wiki and ask experts, or look here on Formiculture. Wakooshi is unreliable and untrusted, antwiki and such are ran by actual entomologists and mycermologists.

Edited by TechAnt, July 5 2020 - 7:24 PM.

[cewtsoul]

that's why i asked here. But I'm sure there are some that can be in same environment. i think antscanada had diff colony sp in same vivarium.

[Kaelwizard]

Nordic Ants has a vivarium with many different species in it.

[ANTdrew]

It could work if you had a really, really big aquarium. Few people have the luxury of that much space.

[SuperFrank]

There are many species that can cohabitate successfully. Hypoponera species have small colonies and are primarily subterranean,I have Hypoponera colonies in many of my vivariums and will often see singular workers disappearing into the leaf litter. Cyphomyrmex rimosus and Trachymyrmex septentrionalis are fungus growers who don't compete with and seem to be almost completely ignored by most other species. Pogonomyrmex badius and Forelius pruinosis often nest in close proximity in the wild. As do Odontomachus brunneus and Nylanderia species. Solenopsis theif ant species can also be housed with other species, I cannot speak as to whether they will prey on the brood of other colonies in the set up but I have a 2 year old vivarium that houses a Hypoponera colony, a Solenopsis carolinensis colony, and a thriving Odontomachus brunneus colony. (I cannot say for certain if the carolinensis colony is alive as I never see them) I plan to attach a second viviarium that houses a Formica archboldi colony, they are specialist predators of Odontomachus brunneus and I hope to observe this hunting behavior. I also hope to eventually add an arboreal species such as Colobopsis

Edited by SuperFrank, July 6 2020 - 4:27 AM.

[AntsDakota]

that's why i asked here. But I'm sure there are some that can be in same environment. i think antscanada had diff colony sp in same vivarium.

No, last time I checked he didn't. And AntsCanada is just about as reliable as Wakooshi. 

[NickAnter]

I think you could house Strumigenys and Hypoponera together. Both are pretty passive.

[Kaelwizard]

I think you could house Strumigenys and Hypoponera together. Both are pretty passive.

I mean, Hypoponera and Ponera are both very good aggressive. Not sure about Strumigenys though.

[DJoseph98]

that's why i asked here. But I'm sure there are some that can be in same environment. i think antscanada had diff colony sp in same vivarium.

 

It's true that in nature you can see a lot of examples of different species existing in seemingly the same space, but as with all things in nature it is a constant struggle and balance. Even with ants that are timid around others can move in mass to raid another's colony. The more likely that they will compete for either space or food, the more likely they will clash. The traditional outworlds that we use make it a guarantee that ants will compete for space, and the smaller space that they can forage will make them compete for ANY food found in that space. If you want any certainty of keeping two species together, the best you can hope is two species that don't have any food or preferred nesting space/medium in common. If they have a preferred food in common and their foraging space overlaps, they may fight for food and see each other as a threat to be eliminated. If they have an overlap of space they like to nest in, the colony that grows fastest will overtake the smaller by reducing available space and fighting for more. Even if you start and things seem fine, the moment that an important resource becomes scarce, they will clash. Who knows? Maybe they will eventually find a balance, but that balance may end with only one colony having access to the resources to survive, regardless of the quantity.

[SuperFrank]

that's why i asked here. But I'm sure there are some that can be in same environment. i think antscanada had diff colony sp in same vivarium.

It's true that in nature you can see a lot of examples of different species existing in seemingly the same space, but as with all things in nature it is a constant struggle and balance. Even with ants that are timid around others can move in mass to raid another's colony. The more likely that they will compete for either space or food, the more likely they will clash. The traditional outworlds that we use make it a guarantee that ants will compete for space, and the smaller space that they can forage will make them compete for ANY food found in that space. If you want any certainty of keeping two species together, the best you can hope is two species that don't have any food or preferred nesting space/medium in common. If they have a preferred food in common and their foraging space overlaps, they may fight for food and see each other as a threat to be eliminated. If they have an overlap of space they like to nest in, the colony that grows fastest will overtake the smaller by reducing available space and fighting for more. Even if you start and things seem fine, the moment that an important resource becomes scarce, they will clash. Who knows? Maybe they will eventually find a balance, but that balance may end with only one colony having access to the resources to survive, regardless of the quantity.

"Can, might, if, maybe" I find conjecture tiresome when it is negative.

[DJoseph98]

 

 

that's why i asked here. But I'm sure there are some that can be in same environment. i think antscanada had diff colony sp in same vivarium.

It's true that in nature you can see a lot of examples of different species existing in seemingly the same space, but as with all things in nature it is a constant struggle and balance. Even with ants that are timid around others can move in mass to raid another's colony. The more likely that they will compete for either space or food, the more likely they will clash. The traditional outworlds that we use make it a guarantee that ants will compete for space, and the smaller space that they can forage will make them compete for ANY food found in that space. If you want any certainty of keeping two species together, the best you can hope is two species that don't have any food or preferred nesting space/medium in common. If they have a preferred food in common and their foraging space overlaps, they may fight for food and see each other as a threat to be eliminated. If they have an overlap of space they like to nest in, the colony that grows fastest will overtake the smaller by reducing available space and fighting for more. Even if you start and things seem fine, the moment that an important resource becomes scarce, they will clash. Who knows? Maybe they will eventually find a balance, but that balance may end with only one colony having access to the resources to survive, regardless of the quantity.

"Can, might, if, maybe" I find conjecture tiresome when it is negative.

 

 

You're right, it does sound negative though that wasn't the intention. Just speculating whether aggressiveness was the most important factor when it could broaden choices when normal behaviors were taken into account.

[NickAnter]

Actually. Hypoponera and Temnothorax would be perfect. One is mostly subterranean, the other, arboreal. The same would work for Colobopsis.

[TheMicroPlanet]

So essentially, it'd be less of a problem to keep species that occupy entirely different niches in the same setup?

[NickAnter]

Yes.