7 replies to this topic

[Neoponera2.0]

Hi! good evening, you may remember me form my parasitic solenopsis thing, i proved it was real in the discord antkeeping server.

 

anyways, as you might know, i live in Monterrey nuevoleon mexico, now exactly today in the after noon, i saw an extremely big paratrechina longicornis move, this was too big, even for paratrechina, between the scouring workers i spotted a larger, black head an tailed one, now, i thought these where neivayrmex at first, but they where identified as labidus praedator. the colony was very small, about 50 workers and a small nest inside a wall.

i know the implications of neivamyrmex, but not these guys, I'm planning on getting them soon, I've discussed this with daniel kronauer very briefly and he commented that, to my surprise, it is ok if it is for research purposes.

now, ill make this clear, I'm no scientist, but I've been in the forefront of studying ants that are common in the mexican ant community, I've traced out every little detail of the species i can get my hands on, I'm addicted to it, the last ones i need to watch are, leptogenys, pachycondyla, neivamyrmex, and well now labidus.

please keep the ethics of keeping them out of the discussion, but feel free to express your disapproval. 

if you have any experience, registered info about what they need,what hours do they make their colony move, anything. please help me out

 

what i will give back is probably one of the most detailed descriptions of their needs, preferences, behaviors, practically anything, to help out the next keeper who might someday own them.

 

thank you all in advance.

[Neoponera2.0]

for image requesting, my discord is superfly23#2819

[TennesseeAnts]

I have experience with Neivamyrmex, and let me tell you, its NOT easy. Labidus even get far larger colonies than Neivamyrmex do. They will require massive (daily) feedings of ant brood and other insects like crickets, roaches, things like that. I won't encourage you to attempt this, as its ultimately (in my opinion) best to leave most Army Ants to the pros and people that work in a lab and get funding for their projects, as Labidus will get expensive, quickly.

Good luck if you attempt keeping them, though.

Edited by Ant_Dude2908, January 5 2021 - 11:34 PM.

[Manitobant]

Labidus can actually be easier than neivamyrmex in some respects because they have a more generalized diet and also don't have pronounced nomadic/statary phases. They move irregularly like dorylus. You should still provide a setup where they can move to new nests though.

Edited by Manitobant, January 6 2021 - 9:29 AM.

[TennesseeAnts]

Labidus can actually be easier than neivamyrmex in some respects because they have a more generalized diet and also don't have pronounced nomadic/statary phases. They move irregularly like dorylus. You should still provide a setup where they can move to new nests though.

Labidus can escape a bit easier than Neivamyrmex, though, so watch out for that.

[ponerinecat]

The main difficulty for labidus comes from their size, with an estimated over 1 million individuals. They don't seem to form above ground bivouacs either so try to provide colonies with premade nesting boxes. As with the majority of large dorylines, they may have a more generalized diet, but they require far more food than neivamyrmex (taking up to 75% of the leaflitter biomass as food during their swarm raids). I really wouldn't recommend anyone try keeping these.

[TennesseeAnts]

The main difficulty for labidus comes from their size, with an estimated over 1 million individuals. They don't seem to form above ground bivouacs either so try to provide colonies with premade nesting boxes. As with the majority of large dorylines, they may have a more generalized diet, but they require far more food than neivamyrmex (taking up to 75% of the leaflitter biomass as food during their swarm raids). I really wouldn't recommend anyone try keeping these.

Exactly. 

[Manitobant]

Be sure to take lots of pics and videos this time and post them here or Instagram or YouTube.



Also an easy way to get lots of food in my experience is to collect insects at a light trap. You can get thousands of suitable feeders a night in the tropics.

Edited by Manitobant, January 6 2021 - 2:48 PM.