16 replies to this topic

[yaboiseth]

Finally getting my hands on an Acromyrmex colony I have a few ingredients down for the substrate but now I need to ask, what specific kind of fish food should I try and also where to get rose petals that aren't sprayed with any pesticide and fungicide. Thanks yall! Probably planning on doing my first ever journal on them too!

[ZTYguy]

I would suggest to start off with getting clovers from a park and ask your local nursery if they spray their plant. I suggest that

[ExponentMars]

where u gonna get the fungus for them? 

[ExponentMars]

cuz I want Acromyrmex as well, but don't know where to get the fungus

[yaboiseth]

Luckily, these ones already have fungus. Nice size too. And I'll check out my parks but I'm a little worried about pesticides

[CheetoLord02]

Honestly, don't give them fish food. I've heard of it being accepted but I don't trust it. Offer flowers and desert plants, that's what they're meant to eat. The only "artificial" food I offer my fungus growers is steel-cut oats. I also never understood making a "substrate", having a mix of plants offered all at once isn't usually ideal, offering one type of plant at a time on a rotation has a much better feeding response in my opinion. My Acromyrmex's favorite food is texas sage flowers, fresh or dried. They also accept mesquite leaves, palo verde flowers, steel-cut oats, creosote leaves, and various other flowers. They typically like flowers more than leaves.

[ZTYguy]

I don’t use flakes anymore cause some of them have pesticides in them

[yaboiseth]

I was actually really hoping you would comment Cheeto, as you have the most successful leaf cutters I've seen lol. I do have organic oats, don't know if they're steel cut though, and Ill avoid fish food. Any idea how I could aquire all said flowers and leaves? I don't live too close to desert fauna. And I was pretty much using "substrate" as a blanket term for fungus food lol. I plan on feeding one item at a time to see what particular interests mine have.

[CheetoLord02]

I was actually really hoping you would comment Cheeto, as you have the most successful leaf cutters I've seen lol. I do have organic oats, don't know if they're steel cut though, and Ill avoid fish food. Any idea how I could aquire all said flowers and leaves? I don't live too close to desert fauna. And I was pretty much using "substrate" as a blanket term for fungus food lol. I plan on feeding one item at a time to see what particular interests mine have.

Honestly a lot of times exotic plants are better for leafcutters, although I've found that to be more true with Atta than Acromyrmex. Native plants have certain defense mechanisms against the ants that make them harder to eat (and is one reason why Acromyrmex "treat" their plants by letting them dry out in the sun before using them for the fungus. Unfortunately your local plant fauna won't be the same as mine, so it'll be sort of trial-and-error for you to find out what plants they like. That's what I had to do when I first started with them.

Other oats also work but generally steel-cut are preferred, for whatever reason. I've also heard of cream of rice being accepted but have not tried it.

[M_Ants]

 

I was actually really hoping you would comment Cheeto, as you have the most successful leaf cutters I've seen lol. I do have organic oats, don't know if they're steel cut though, and Ill avoid fish food. Any idea how I could aquire all said flowers and leaves? I don't live too close to desert fauna. And I was pretty much using "substrate" as a blanket term for fungus food lol. I plan on feeding one item at a time to see what particular interests mine have.

Honestly a lot of times exotic plants are better for leafcutters, although I've found that to be more true with Atta than Acromyrmex. Native plants have certain defense mechanisms against the ants that make them harder to eat (and is one reason why Acromyrmex "treat" their plants by letting them dry out in the sun before using them for the fungus. Unfortunately your local plant fauna won't be the same as mine, so it'll be sort of trial-and-error for you to find out what plants they like. That's what I had to do when I first started with them.

Other oats also work but generally steel-cut are preferred, for whatever reason. I've also heard of cream of rice being accepted but have not tried it.

 

Can feeding the wrong plant kill them/the funugs?

[mmcguffi]

I use these rose petals for my Atta and they accept them just fine with no ill effects: https://www.amazon.c...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

That said, they MUCH prefer rose petals I collect myself and sun dry -- "knockout roses" are planted everywhere where I live and also have a ton of blooms all year long. You have to be sure that they aren't sprayed with insecticides/fungicides though. Instead of foraging for them, you can buy these roses at almost any plant nursery for ~$20 for a small/medium plant

[Mettcollsuss]

Some foods my Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (not Acromyrmex but some information likely carries over) have enjoyed are

• rose flowers
• peony flowers
• steel-cut oats
• white clover (Trifolium repens) leaves and flowers
• woodsorrel (Oxalis)
• fresh fruits, except for citrus

Edited by Mettcollsuss, August 3 2021 - 3:49 PM.

[ExponentMars]

 

I was actually really hoping you would comment Cheeto, as you have the most successful leaf cutters I've seen lol. I do have organic oats, don't know if they're steel cut though, and Ill avoid fish food. Any idea how I could aquire all said flowers and leaves? I don't live too close to desert fauna. And I was pretty much using "substrate" as a blanket term for fungus food lol. I plan on feeding one item at a time to see what particular interests mine have.

Honestly a lot of times exotic plants are better for leafcutters, although I've found that to be more true with Atta than Acromyrmex. Native plants have certain defense mechanisms against the ants that make them harder to eat (and is one reason why Acromyrmex "treat" their plants by letting them dry out in the sun before using them for the fungus. Unfortunately your local plant fauna won't be the same as mine, so it'll be sort of trial-and-error for you to find out what plants they like. That's what I had to do when I first started with them.

Other oats also work but generally steel-cut are preferred, for whatever reason. I've also heard of cream of rice being accepted but have not tried it.

 

do Quaker Oats work and also where can I get my hands on mesquite leaves, dried Texas Sage flowers, etc. online? 

[dspdrew]

I've used fish pellets for a long time. There are no problems with them.

[M_Ants]

 

Some foods my Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (not Acromyrmex but some information likely carries over) have enjoyed are

• rose flowers
• peony flowers
• steel-cut oats
• white clover (Trifolium repens) leaves and flowers
• woodsorrel (Oxalis)
• fresh fruits, except for citrus

 

Any reason why you say steel cut oats instead of rolled oats? 

[yaboiseth]

I've used fish pellets for a long time. There are no problems with them.

What kind do you use?

[Mettcollsuss]

Steel cut oats were the ones I had recommended to me, so when I was buying food for them I figured I would give them a shot. Before I got the steel-cut oats, they had some rolled oats left in their outworld from their previous owner that they would largely ignore. I also gave them some of my own rolled oats that were also largely ignored. I'm honestly not sure why the ants have a preference, but they evidently do.