28 replies to this topic

[M_Ants]

So far, my Acromyrmex do not seem affected. Not sure if that leads to any conclusions yet but I think that may prove the air and water are safe. 

[ZTYguy]

So far, my Acromyrmex do not seem affected. Not sure if that leads to any conclusions yet but I think that may prove the air and water are safe. 

Normally Aros and leaf cutters aren’t affected by that much stuff besides pesticides, mold, other harmful bacteria, and temps from my experience, so I would judge stuff off of them. They are in a whole other league.

[M_Ants]

So far, my Acromyrmex do not seem affected. Not sure if that leads to any conclusions yet but I think that may prove the air and water are safe.

Normally Aros and leaf cutters aren’t affected by that much stuff besides pesticides, mold, other harmful bacteria, and temps from my experience, so I would judge stuff off of them. They are in a whole other league.

In that case, it's probably safe to say I can check off water and air as not causing the issue and move on to other stuff.

Edited by M_Ants, April 24 2022 - 10:00 PM.

[TestSubjectOne]

Where do you keep your colonies? If they're all in the same place, I would suggest moving them if it's not too inconvenient, if they are in different locations have you noticed any patterns in the locations of where they die? If you're using all standard supplies, then my guess would be that it's something to do with the place they're being kept, on a small scale or a large one. I assume you checked already, but if not I would suggest that you examine some of the dead or dying workers under a light microscope or magnifier and look for any signs of parasitic mites. My colony of P. californicus is afflicted by mites and has been showing halted growth and callow defects as a result - the mites attach to leg joints, but are almost impossible to see with the naked eye.

As Antdrew said, Camponotus can be difficult in captivity. I had a colony of C. sansabeanus and one of C. fragilis that dwindled away in a similar way to what you describe.

[M_Ants]

Where do you keep your colonies? If they're all in the same place, I would suggest moving them if it's not too inconvenient, if they are in different locations have you noticed any patterns in the locations of where they die? If you're using all standard supplies, then my guess would be that it's something to do with the place they're being kept, on a small scale or a large one. I assume you checked already, but if not I would suggest that you examine some of the dead or dying workers under a light microscope or magnifier and look for any signs of parasitic mites. My colony of P. californicus is afflicted by mites and has been showing halted growth and callow defects as a result - the mites attach to leg joints, but are almost impossible to see with the naked eye.

As Antdrew said, Camponotus can be difficult in captivity. I had a colony of C. sansabeanus and one of C. fragilis that dwindled away in a similar way to what you describe.

There's too much of a pattern in my opinion for it to just be that Camponotus are difficult. I keep all my ants in my room mostly on a desk but some are in incubators underneath. I have looked a little for mites under a microscope and didn't see any but I'll try looking again. There's not many other places for me to move them and it'll take months for there to be results. I can try moving a few queens to another room possibly but I don't know how my room would be the problem. So far my Acromyrmex and termites aren't affected and I'd assume they'd be the first to die if it was just where they're being kept. 

[futurebird]

My formica are my least successful colonies. But I will offer the advice to provide a gradient in all things: temperature, humidity, even substrates.

 

I tend to give a tiny outworld as soon as I can. Avoid putting food in the tube where they live. 

[M_Ants]

Changed diet to dubias and honey water. Been feeding tons of protein and yogi still appear to be affected by the issue.

[NicholasP]

 

For a long time now I've had mass deaths of colonies that I can't seem to find the cause of. I'm hoping maybe one of you out their has had similar experiences and can help me. My colonies are pretty well cared for but their are a lot of factors I want to cover so that I can rule the obvious ones that will get suggested.

- Food: I feed my ants fruit flies from my fruit fly culture and perky hummingbird nectar. I use the powdered stuff and mix it up in small batches. 

-Cotton: I use normal cotton balls that should be safe and don't explain the deaths.

-Tubes: I use glass test tubes that should be safe and don't explain the deaths.

-Containers: I use the typical containers from daiso and the container store that other ant keepers use.

-Air: I do not believe my neighbors use any pesticides. I have termites that should be affected if they did. 

-Water: I use reverse osmosis water that if toxic or anything would also kill my termites.

-Heat: heat all my colonies with a heating cable and use a heating gradient. 

 

The issue:

My colonies start out well in the founding stages for the most part. They do not show signs of poisoning pesticides etc. At some point during the next year, the colonies start to do poorly. Some show problems before this and some have lasted much longer. The first problem that arises is that the queen stops laying. The brood may or may not develop but once the queen stops laying there's rarely any more workers. At this point the colony is just stagnant for a month or so and then workers start dying. They often run around the outworld or just act weird in general. They do not just go and die in the trash pile. Eventually the queen is the only one left and eventually dies. 

 

Species: 

My crematogaster and Veromessor pergandei seem unaffected

-V. andrei, C. modoc, C.  clari, C. ca02, C. cola, C. fragilis, M. testaceus, and M. romanei

 

C. fragilis: I had a journal on these and they did really good for a long time. June 26 2021 my fraggles were doing good and getting medians then by August 26th they started dying off and never recovered. The queen didn't die till this year iirc.

 

If anyone can point me to journals with similar problems, comment with personal experiences, or just see something I'm not please lmk.

 

 

My theory is maybe grain mites from your fruit fly culture are getting in with the fruit flies you are feeding your ants and the grain mites reproduce so much that then the ants start having problems with them and start dying.

[M_Ants]

May have found part of the problem. https://www.formicul...-flea-medicine/