5 replies to this topic

[BrittonLS]

Anyone ever have any luck or tried to 'litter train' their ants? Similar to a feeding dish in their out world, like having a removable dish in whatever spot your ants seem to use to dump garbage or maybe helping put dead ants or garbage into it to inspire them to do so just to make cleaning an out world easier? Just curious.

[drtrmiller]

Their refuse/litter/midden pile has a distinctive scent.

 

If they establish a site and then the site is moved, depending on how it is moved, they will either move what was relocated back to the original location, or will start using the new location.

[dermy]

I think Crystals had this happen with a Lasius Colony. Although they did it on their own will I think, they used a lid of some sort as their Trash pile.

Edited by dermy, May 31 2015 - 12:39 PM.

[Crystals]

I stuck an old pill container in the corner where their midden pile was.

I had cleaned up most of the garbage, but using a large paintbrush, swept the last of the garbage into the pill bottle.  They used it ever since.

I have managed to convince most of my colonies to do this.

 

A second way to get larger colonies to clean up small scraps of garbage is to place a piece of tinfoil down with something like honey or another sticky food on it.  Most species bury excess left overs.  As many with liquid feeders have figured out. 

[dspdrew]

This is exactly what my Veromessor pergandei do. What was supposed to be a food dish, they decided would make a perfect trash can.

 

 

 

I have no idea what makes them want to put their trash in the dish, but it's fine with me. These ants are very clean over all. They don't leave even the tiniest piece of anything on the glass of their nest. It's great.

[BrittonLS]

Awesome, I'll definitely be trying this.