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Colony Size Limitation

Started By rcflyer , Oct 31 2020 5:47 AM

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26 replies to this topic

#1 Offline rcflyer - Posted October 31 2020 - 5:47 AM

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Is it possible to control colony growth by limiting food and space? Enjoy ant keeping but my goal is not to have 1000 ants per colony. My only option is to stick to species with low colony size?

Can we slow population growth with temperature and would ants killing each other due to food shortage?

Beginner keeper just started with Camponotus,Lasius, creamtogaster and Pheidole.

#2 Offline ANTdrew - Posted October 31 2020 - 6:40 AM

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Look how few people on here have colonies even get past a few hundred ants. Depriving your colonies will more likely cause them to implode. A better course would be to periodically cull older workers. This is how EO Wilson keeps an Atta colony in his lab. He calls it ant keeping bonsai.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#3 Offline Devi - Posted October 31 2020 - 7:18 AM

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Look how few people on here have colonies even get past a few hundred ants. Depriving your colonies will more likely cause them to implode. A better course would be to periodically cull older workers. This is how EO Wilson keeps an Atta colony in his lab. He calls it ant keeping bonsai.

I agree.


#4 Offline rcflyer - Posted October 31 2020 - 7:24 AM

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Look how few people on here have colonies even get past a few hundred ants. Depriving your colonies will more likely cause them to implode. A better course would be to periodically cull older workers. This is how EO Wilson keeps an Atta colony in his lab. He calls it ant keeping bonsai.


Funny I do Bonsai also cutting off bigger leaves.
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#5 Offline M_Ants - Posted October 31 2020 - 8:29 AM

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I feel you. I have some V. pergandei and every time I read OhNoNotAgain's journal I'm get scared and want to sell them. On top of that I went to the desert and saw a wild colony with a massive trail and now I'm even more afraid. 


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Veromessor pergandei

Veromessor andrei

Crematogaster sp. 

Pogonomyrmex cf cali and rugosus

Various Pheidole

C. yogi 

https://www.youtube....FG7utFVBA/about

#6 Offline Domagoj - Posted October 31 2020 - 11:17 AM

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Look how few people on here have colonies even get past a few hundred ants.

Why is that?


#7 Offline Spazmops - Posted November 1 2020 - 9:00 AM

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Look how few people on here have colonies even get past a few hundred ants. Depriving your colonies will more likely cause them to implode. A better course would be to periodically cull older workers. This is how EO Wilson keeps an Atta colony in his lab. He calls it ant keeping bonsai.


Funny I do Bonsai also cutting off bigger leaves.

 

I do bonsai as well, I'm thinking of trying to combine antkeeping and bonsai like AC has.


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Co-owner and founder of Mountain Myrmeculture and The Menagerie Discord Server. 

Ants I have:

1 Formica fusca group- 0 workers

1 Tetramorium immigrans colony-20 workers

1 Dorymyrmex insanus- 1 queen, used to have workers

 

1 large P. occidentalis colony- around 50 workers, plenty of brood

 

 

#8 Offline ANTdrew - Posted November 1 2020 - 9:06 AM

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I am training two bonsai trees, a five year old American elm, and a new mimosa tree.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#9 Offline M_Ants - Posted November 1 2020 - 9:28 AM

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I do bonsai as well.


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Veromessor pergandei

Veromessor andrei

Crematogaster sp. 

Pogonomyrmex cf cali and rugosus

Various Pheidole

C. yogi 

https://www.youtube....FG7utFVBA/about

#10 Offline KitsAntVa - Posted November 2 2020 - 5:27 AM

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Look how few people on here have colonies even get past a few hundred ants. Depriving your colonies will more likely cause them to implode. A better course would be to periodically cull older workers. This is how EO Wilson keeps an Atta colony in his lab. He calls it ant keeping bonsai.

How would i do this I want to keep a crematogaster in a mini hearth for a long time, even if it is lineolata. do you think the may even get to max colony size in a mini hearth.


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We don’t talk about that

#11 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted November 2 2020 - 7:02 AM

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Look how few people on here have colonies even get past a few hundred ants.

Why is that?

 

because ant keeping is not easy. some of my colonies have just died, some died in winter, some were not fed enough. some ants didn't even have good genetics. unless you have tetramorium or pogonomyrmex, which will grow in an y condition, ant keeping is full of disappointments


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Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My South Dakotan Shop Here

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

#12 Offline ANTdrew - Posted November 2 2020 - 8:31 AM

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Look how few people on here have colonies even get past a few hundred ants. Depriving your colonies will more likely cause them to implode. A better course would be to periodically cull older workers. This is how EO Wilson keeps an Atta colony in his lab. He calls it ant keeping bonsai.

How would i do this I want to keep a crematogaster in a mini hearth for a long time, even if it is lineolata. do you think the may even get to max colony size in a mini hearth.
It would be relatively easy to remove some workers from the foraging area from time to time.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#13 Offline rcflyer - Posted November 2 2020 - 3:53 PM

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Look how few people on here have colonies even get past a few hundred ants. Depriving your colonies will more likely cause them to implode. A better course would be to periodically cull older workers. This is how EO Wilson keeps an Atta colony in his lab. He calls it ant keeping bonsai.

How would i do this I want to keep a crematogaster in a mini hearth for a long time, even if it is lineolata. do you think the may even get to max colony size in a mini hearth.

It would be relatively easy to remove some workers from the foraging area from time to time.

 

This means manually killing of ants may be hard for me to do.

 

 


#14 Offline MinigunL5 - Posted November 2 2020 - 4:14 PM

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Ant-keeping is kinda boring if the colones are small and don't grow(in most cases). Part of what I love about ant-keeping is that colonies are always growing and changing throughout the course of years.


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#15 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted November 3 2020 - 9:28 AM

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Ant-keeping is kinda boring if the colones are small and don't grow(in most cases). Part of what I love about ant-keeping is that colonies are always growing and changing throughout the course of years.

that is also the scary part. will you have enough money to support such a big colony? or what if they escape? but i do agree. it is generally more fun to keep larger colonies. just not too large.


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Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My South Dakotan Shop Here

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

#16 Offline Devi - Posted November 3 2020 - 9:42 AM

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Yes, this is why I'm hesitant to get loads of colonies, because eventually I might have to buy them all labyrinths...  It certainly can add up quickly!  Lol


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#17 Offline OhNoNotAgain - Posted November 4 2020 - 8:36 AM

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This is one reason I was looking up ant recipes! But since I even have trouble killing dubias because they are cute, it's hard to cull workers that I've painstakingly fed and watered (yeah I'm a softie). With Veromessors and other harvester ants, I've never let their nest run out of seed. I don't feed them protein very often. If I don't cull their workers, though, I will have to buy the Veromessors a Nucleus or something.  :facepalm:

 

Non-seed ants I admit I don't feed very often. 2x a week or more if they have lots of brood and it's summer. Right now things are cooling and I've been slacking.


Formiculture Journals::

Veromessor pergandei, andrei; Novomessor cockerelli

Camponotus fragilis; also separate journal: Camponotus sansabeanus, vicinus, quercicola

Liometopum occidentale;  Prenolepis imparis; Myrmecocystus mexicanus

Pogonomyrmex subnitidus and previously californicus

Tetramorium sp.

Termites: Zootermopsis angusticollis

 

Isopods: A. gestroi, granulatum, kluugi, maculatum, vulgare; C. murina; P. hoffmannseggi, P. haasi, P. ornatus; V. parvus

Spoods: Phidippus sp.

#18 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted November 4 2020 - 9:06 AM

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This is one reason I was looking up ant recipes! But since I even have trouble killing dubias because they are cute, it's hard to cull workers that I've painstakingly fed and watered (yeah I'm a softie). With Veromessors and other harvester ants, I've never let their nest run out of seed. I don't feed them protein very often. If I don't cull their workers, though, I will have to buy the Veromessors a Nucleus or something.  :facepalm:

 

Non-seed ants I admit I don't feed very often. 2x a week or more if they have lots of brood and it's summer. Right now things are cooling and I've been slacking.

i used to do that as well. but now i am addicted to ants(not a bad thing) so i feed them as often as i can.


  • ANTdrew likes this

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My South Dakotan Shop Here

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

#19 Offline M_Ants - Posted November 4 2020 - 2:15 PM

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I'm really afraid for when my Veros get big. I don't have the money for a formicarium that fits 100000000000000000000000000000 ants. I need more carnivorous plants. 

 

Wait...what if I feed them to fish? Them I'm not killing them really and it's just nature. Are their any fish that eat 10000000000000000000 ants?


Edited by M_Ants, November 4 2020 - 2:17 PM.

  • Ants_Dakota likes this

Veromessor pergandei

Veromessor andrei

Crematogaster sp. 

Pogonomyrmex cf cali and rugosus

Various Pheidole

C. yogi 

https://www.youtube....FG7utFVBA/about

#20 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted November 4 2020 - 2:55 PM

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I'm really afraid for when my Veros get big. I don't have the money for a formicarium that fits 100000000000000000000000000000 ants. I need more carnivorous plants. 

 

Wait...what if I feed them to fish? Them I'm not killing them really and it's just nature. Are their any fish that eat 10000000000000000000 ants?

just get an alligator. pretty sure that number will go down pretty fast.


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Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. -Proverbs 6: 6-8

My South Dakotan Shop Here

Attention Ant-Keepers in South Dakota! Join the SoDak(Society Of Dakotan Ant Keepers)

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