36 replies to this topic

[Lillyrose]

I don't know if I should be thankful or upset that I didn't get onto ants back in March. They would have been a lot of fun that time of the year, but I would have went overboard I'm sure. I'm nervous I will go overboard come this spring when the queens start to fly. Some could fly as early as February if I'm lucky enough to find the winter ants when they fly.

It started by accident, I was actually trying to build this closed terrianium thing and I kept grabbing ants. I'd feel guilty and let them go, then catch more to satisfy my need to watch them.

Turns out the ants I was catching were winter ants. I left out treats and tried to follow them back home. Spent over a week trying to catch them at the right Temps but their nest seemed to be under a wood log pile on... and not my land.

No luck.

I heard about these things called acorn ants and I started grabbing acorns everytime I went hiking. I actually got lucky and found some and then I made every mistake I could.

They had mites and they may have died .. I'm not sure and I'm not going to find out until March when the Temps start to cool.

I threw their poor little acorn into a high humidity terrianium that was like 90 degrees when the real world was like 40. I tried to put them outside but the nights were too cold.

I'm telling you.. I made every mistake I could.

So, after much research and regret they are in a mini fridge that stick to between 45 and 50 degrees.

I also looked into the GAN project and bought a queen and her brood and put them in as well.

I'm being good and leaving them alone.

In the meantime I'm buying little gizmos and stuff for when the ants wake up and learning about catching queens after their flight. I purchased some hydrostone plaster with the idea that my mistakes would be good rocks to entice new queens with.


I really hope I didn't kill the acorn ants.

[Ants_Dakota]

awesome! remember, don't go too crazy and move your ants into a new formicarium with a few workers, as they will not do to good. i find that to be a rookie mistake. give them time, and be patient. then you will succeed. 

Edited by Ants_Dakota, December 22 2020 - 6:10 AM.

[ANTdrew]

Welcome! Start with one or two EASY species. You can spend the winter months reading journals on here to learn the basics.

[Lillyrose]

Thanks! I'm hopeful. I'm not messing with them but I am hunting new acorn ants lol.

[OhNoNotAgain]

It would so cool to find ants in acorns. Whereabouts are you?

[Ants_Dakota]

acorn ants are hard to find. just keep that in mind.

[AntsDakota]

acorn ants are hard to find. just keep that in mind.

Not if you live in the right place. Out east practically every acorn and twig holds a Temnothorax colony inside.

[Devi]

 

acorn ants are hard to find. just keep that in mind.

Not if you live in the right place. Out east practically every acorn and twig holds a Temnothorax colony inside.

 

They are certainly hard to find for me!  I think Ants_Dakota may have been talking about in South Dakota, and just in his experiences.  I haven't seen any either.  

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

acorn ants are hard to find. just keep that in mind.

Not if you live in the right place. Out east practically every acorn and twig holds a Temnothorax colony inside.

 

They are certainly hard to find for me!  I think Ants_Dakota may have been talking about in South Dakota, and just in his experiences.  I haven't seen any either.  

 

yup. i was just thinking that they are really small, and that could make them hard to keep.

[AntsDakota]

acorn ants are hard to find. just keep that in mind.

Not if you live in the right place. Out east practically every acorn and twig holds a Temnothorax colony inside.

They are certainly hard to find for me!  I think Ants_Dakota may have been talking about in South Dakota, and just in his experiences.  I haven't seen any either.

I know this, but his statement was universal, and someone misinformed could mistake South Dakota for everywhere.

[ANTdrew]

There not easy to find out here, either, except when blacklighting.

[Ants_Dakota]

There not easy to find out here, either, except when blacklighting.

as antsdakota said, if you were in the black hills, you might find some, but even then, they are so small, i could never see any ants until i stumbled onto the accidentally. 

[Kaelwizard]

I just crack open any twig with an old tunnel in it. I try to look inside with a flashlight first though.

Edited by Kaelwizard, December 22 2020 - 10:45 AM.

[ANTdrew]

There not easy to find out here, either, except when blacklighting.

as antsdakota said, if you were in the black hills, you might find some, but even then, they are so small, i could never see any ants until i stumbled onto the accidentally.

I saw close to 500 queens blacklighting this summer, no joke.

[UtahAnts]

I find the best way to find queens and colonies of wood dwelling ants such as temnothorax and Camponotus is to look for dead logs that have a specific texture. Its hard to describe, but the wood looks really old and kind of orangish. The wood is actually quite soft, and it should be easy to break apart with your hands. I have found every Camponotus and temnothorax species I own in logs such as these, even some Pogonomyrmex one time, lol.

Good luck though on your colonies, looking forward to updates!

[Lillyrose]

It would so cool to find ants in acorns. Whereabouts are you?

[Lillyrose]

Ok, this is a new site for me and I didn't realize people had written and I can't seem to figure out the threads lol. .. so excuse me for my dummy .. but

It would so cool to find ants in acorns. Whereabouts are you?

I'm on the east coast, near DC .. but apparently they're common. I've picked up a lot without finding any, but I've seen people find 3 in 20 minutes.. it can be hit or miss.
Part of it is finding the right conditions.

I have picked up thirty or forty acorns a week and haven't found another colony.

[ANTdrew]

Wow, you live really near me then. I can definitely help you get started if you want. If you try a blacklight trap this summer, you will find more Temnothorax queens than you could ever imagine.

[OhNoNotAgain]

Very nice. I lived near DC once. The vegetation was so lush and incredible.

[AleeGuy]

I live 30 mins away from DC