23 replies to this topic

[Kaelwizard]

Unfortunately this has been a rocky start. I believe she has eaten her eggs at least once, but she has a new batch now. To keep her energy up I gave her very small pecan pieces. I plan on leaving her alone for a long time. She is also my sole surviving ant queen/colony. My Formica queen died last night somehow. 

[AntsDakota]

I have aphaenogaster rudis as well. They lay HUGE amounts of eggs before stopping for a while. You need to feed then lots of protein. I mean lots.

Yeah, from what I have read and from what Cheeto has said, they mostly forage for insects rather than other food items.

They also love seeds.

[AntsDakota]

Cool! I have a aphaengaster llemdians I didn’t spell that right but it took forever for her to get larvae and pupae she just got pupae a week ago and their mature colony’s are 100 workers so they grow slow I’ve had her since the beginning of anting year.

Aphaenogaster lamellidens grow at a similar rate to most Aphaenogaster, which granted isn't all that fast. Also, their maximum colony size is somewhere between 600-1000 workers, not 100. Either way, most Aphaenogaster can grow at least relatively quickly if they are fed a proper diet and kept at a good temperature.

What should they be fed?

Aphaenogaster in general have a pretty unique diet due to the fact that they lack social stomachs. Because of this, they tend to refuse liquid sugars in favor for solid carbohydrates. I normally offer these in the form of crushed nuts, such as peanuts, cashews, pecans, almonds, etc.
Another note is that I typically feed these ants more protein than other ants, proportionally at least. In the wild Aphaenogaster function primarily as solitary hunters, with a granivorous diet coming as sort of a secondary niche most of the time. Personally I find that my Aphaenogaster's favorite food of all time is termites, although those are definitely difficult to supply consistently. Most feeder insects are readily accepted though. Another thing is when I prekill prey, I like to cut them into smaller pieces than with other colonies, as they have to take the food back into the nest.

I've had an occidentalis colony double in size in a few months by feeding exclusively on springtails. Overload them with insect prey.

I received my colony in May with around 30 workers, and since have exceeded 100 workers, at least 3 times their original population, yet I simply dumped a huge pile of seeds in their outworld and feeding them mealworms every once and a while.

[Ants_Dakota]

My aphaenogaster rudis colony lays tons of eggs.