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I was ravaged...


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20 replies to this topic

#1 Offline That_one_ant_guy - Posted June 21 2022 - 8:11 PM

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Two weeks ago, I went on a trip to the beach with my family, but when I came home I came back to horror... argentine ants were all over my ant shelf and room, when I uncovered my ants, my heart dropped... everything was dead, Camponotus Semitestaceus (60+ workers), dead. 12 queen B. Patagonicus colony (120+ workers), dead. Lasius sp., dead. 4 colonies of S molesta(15+ workers), dead. Solenopsis Xyloni colony(45+ workers), dead.. Mostly all of my founding colonies were gone too. I guess given enough time they were able to chew through cotton and plastic... Even my feeders were gone. The only one that wasn't invaded were my lios, in a mini hearth xl. My T. Immigrans, with 150ish workers was attacked but they were able to defend, they lost about 100 workers. When my dad came in to see, he said that it would've been an epic battle, but deep down I knew that they stood no chance... I guess I'm back to square one...
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#2 Offline lazyant - Posted June 21 2022 - 8:29 PM

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Bro.... that's tough, I wish I could do something, this happened my first year of keeping. Hopefully you will catch some queens this season.


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"Loneliness and cheeseburgers are a dangerous mix." -Comic book guy 


#3 Offline dspdrew - Posted June 22 2022 - 5:28 AM

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That's horrible. Where exactly did they manage to make it into those formicariums?



#4 Offline aznphenom - Posted June 22 2022 - 5:46 AM

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Air tight. Escape proof and entry proof is key. Why I stopped with the those acrylic outworlds that need to be connected when I also lost a couple of colonies to invaders.


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Keeps: Camponotus, Tetra
 

Wants (Please reach out if you have them for sale if you’re in the US): Acromyrmex Sp., Atta Sp., Cephalotes Sp., Myrmecocystus Sp (Prefer Mexicanus), Odontomachus Sp. (Prefer Desertorum), Pachycondyla Sp., Pheidole Sp (Prefer Rhea. The bigger the better. Not the tiny bicarinata), Pogonomyrmex Sp (Prefer Badius)., Pseudomyrmex Sp. (Prefer the cute yellow ones)

 


#5 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted June 22 2022 - 8:05 AM

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I almost lost a lot of my Camponotus early on due to some little black ants who came for nectar. What the epic battle was when I moved the invicta in front of them, they never came back…

#6 Offline That_one_ant_guy - Posted June 22 2022 - 8:46 AM

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I think the reason why they went for my colonies was because I gave them tons of food, and byformica nector before we left, and I guess they smelled it. For my C. Semitestaceus they bit through the vinyl tubing, the same for my B. Patagonicus. My solenopsis xyloni was in a ac portal + test tube, and they were able to squeeze though the air holes. And the rest were in Test tubes, and they bit through the cotton

Edited by That_one_ant_guy, June 22 2022 - 8:47 AM.


#7 Offline ANTdrew - Posted June 22 2022 - 9:11 AM

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Put your ants on a desk or table with its legs resting in dishes of vinegar and water mixture.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#8 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted June 22 2022 - 9:34 AM

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Put your ants on a desk or table with its legs resting in dishes of vinegar and water mixture.



I know someone who’s trick is to not put the table(it has wheels) up against chairs or walls and then Pharoah ants won’t come…

#9 Offline dspdrew - Posted June 22 2022 - 4:17 PM

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I think the reason why they went for my colonies was because I gave them tons of food, and byformica nector before we left, and I guess they smelled it. For my C. Semitestaceus they bit through the vinyl tubing, the same for my B. Patagonicus. My solenopsis xyloni was in a ac portal + test tube, and they were able to squeeze though the air holes. And the rest were in Test tubes, and they bit through the cotton

 

I'm not sure I understand how Argentine ants bit through vinyl tubing. There is just no way. Are you sure there wasn't some other way they got in? What I also don't get is why they would work that hard to chew all the way through a cotton plug and INTO a test tube. What was in the test tube other than a little ant colony?


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#10 Offline gcsnelling - Posted June 22 2022 - 5:04 PM

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How long were you away?



#11 Offline T.C. - Posted June 22 2022 - 5:17 PM

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Did you take any pictures?
“If I am killed for simply living, let death be kinder than man.” -Althea Davis

#12 Offline That_one_ant_guy - Posted June 22 2022 - 5:22 PM

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I think the reason why they went for my colonies was because I gave them tons of food, and byformica nector before we left, and I guess they smelled it. For my C. Semitestaceus they bit through the vinyl tubing, the same for my B. Patagonicus. My solenopsis xyloni was in a ac portal + test tube, and they were able to squeeze though the air holes. And the rest were in Test tubes, and they bit through the cotton

I'm not sure I understand how Argentine ants bit through vinyl tubing. There is just no way. Are you sure there wasn't some other way they got in? What I also don't get is why they would work that hard to chew all the way through a cotton plug and INTO a test tube. What was in the test tube other than a little ant colony?
sorry I should've specified, but they didn't burrow directly though the tubing, they made a big enough gap so they could fit in the outworld 20220622_181709~2.jpg and as for the test tunes I didn't put much cotton, and I also gave each of them nector, and a piece of superworm

Edited by That_one_ant_guy, June 22 2022 - 5:24 PM.

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#13 Offline That_one_ant_guy - Posted June 22 2022 - 5:25 PM

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How long were you away?

2 weeks
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#14 Offline buglover123 - Posted June 22 2022 - 5:31 PM

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Do you mind posting pictures of your setup? How were argentine ants able to get in to begin with?


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#15 Offline That_one_ant_guy - Posted June 22 2022 - 5:37 PM

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The blue line represents their trail, and the red represent where my colonies were20220622_183502~3.jpg
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#16 Offline dspdrew - Posted June 26 2022 - 7:33 PM

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What does the black represent? :thinking:

 

Did you make that hole where the vinyl tubing went into that container?


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#17 Offline NickAnter - Posted June 26 2022 - 8:54 PM

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 In regards to the tube plugs, just how tight were they? I don't see how they would be able to get into something that Brachymyrmex patagonicus or Solenopsis molesta wouldn't be able to get out of. Were the tubes connected to outworlds, or just standard founding setups? If it's the latter it seems even more unlucky, and extremely difficult to prevent.


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Hi there! I went on a 6 month or so hiatus, in part due, and in part cause of the death of my colonies. 

However, I went back to the Sierras, and restarted my collection, which is now as follows:

Aphaenogaster uinta, Camponotus vicinus, Camponotus modoc, Formica cf. aserva, Formica cf. micropthalma, Formica cf. manni, Formica subpolita, Formica cf. subaenescens, Lasius americanus, Manica invidia, Pogonomyrmex salinus, Pogonomyrmex sp. 1, Solenopsis validiuscula, & Solenopsis sp. 3 (new Sierra variant). 


#18 Offline PurdueEntomology - Posted June 27 2022 - 12:47 PM

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Put your ants on a desk or table with its legs resting in dishes of vinegar and water mixture.

Yes, we should all try such a technique to keep our escapee's in and unwanted visitors (raiders) out!!!


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#19 Offline Idontexist - Posted June 30 2022 - 3:00 PM

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This makes my blood boil. I would capture the argentine queens and burn them, torture them, cut their heads off, ugh

#20 Offline That_one_ant_guy - Posted July 3 2022 - 12:09 PM

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What does the black represent? :thinking:

Did you make that hole where the vinyl tubing went into that container?

the black is just to cover something, and yes I melted the plastic in the outworld




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