Jump to content

  • Chat
  •  
  •  

Welcome to Formiculture.com!

This is a website for anyone interested in Myrmecology and all aspects of finding, keeping, and studying ants. The site and forum are free to use. Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation points to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!

Photo

What are the cleanest ants you have taken care of?


  • Please log in to reply
4 replies to this topic

#1 Online futurebird - Posted August 9 2022 - 3:11 PM

futurebird

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 772 posts
  • LocationNew York City, NY

Some ants are fanatical about trash and leftovers, moving all waste to the trash pile. Some ants will leave trash in their nest or make a bathroom site in the far corner of their nest. Some ants bury their trash, others not so much. 

Some of this is a function of size. My Lasius neoniger colony is fairly tidy, but they don't really pile up their trash. I think it's just a little big for them and I'm left removing it with tweezers. I will give lasius credit for having the most organized nest. Their eggs, larvae and pupae are sorted neatly by age, something my other colonies aren't really interested in. 

Some of this is a function of the way ant behaviors interact with captivity. Pogonomyrmex are systematic, but also very destructive. They destroy anything they can in their outworld. This is how they are in nature, the area around the colony entrance is normally a meter to two meter wide circle free of all vegetation with pebbles of uniform size piled around the entrance.  They simply don't have the space to create this in their outworld, so they heap trash in one corner and destroy any decorations or twigs they encounter. 

My camponotus discolor colony is somewhat neat. They are fastidious about dead ants, always burying them under a layer of sand. They are more casual about trash from their meals.

So, right now my "tidy ant award" goes to Camponotus pennslyvanicus. The carpenter ant colony is fastidious about burying both dead workers and trash. They are very sensitive to light, and hide their food on the dark side of their "log" while eating it. The front of their outworld is pure sand, it almost seems like they have sifted it to remove even tiny bits of debris. In the nest, they have, from time to time made a "meat locker" full of dead bugs to eat later, but they also have totally cleaned such rooms when they needed more space for brood and sleeping. 

So, what is your "neatest" colony?
Are there any ants that are so messy you'd think twice before keeping them again?


Starting this July I'm posting videos of my ants every week on youTube.

I like to make relaxing videos that capture the joy of watching ants.

If that sounds like your kind of thing... follow me >here<


#2 Offline FinWins - Posted August 9 2022 - 3:37 PM

FinWins

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 466 posts
  • LocationUnited States
I would say that my “tidy ant award” goes to my Pogonomyrmex rugosus colony. They keep all their brood in neat a pile and all their seeds in another. My “messy ant award” goes to my other Pogonomyrmex species, my P. californicus queens, they mix their trash, brood, and seeds all into one big mess that looks hideous
  • futurebird likes this

I keep: C. modoc, C. sansabeanus  :D, C. maritimus, Formica argentea, M. mexicanus  :D, Odontomachus brunneus :D, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, 

 


#3 Offline ZTYguy - Posted August 9 2022 - 3:56 PM

ZTYguy

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 1,678 posts
  • LocationNorthridge, California

My tidiest ants have to be my Acromyrmex versicolor. Always leaving their trash in a very accessible and convenient place. They also never leave any trash in the nest. I’ve never seen mold in that enclosure.


Ant Keeping Since June 2018
Currently Keeping:
A. versicolor, C. us-ca02, C. yogi, C. Vicinus, C. laevigatus, C. clarithorax, C. maritimus, C. ocreatus, M. mexicanus, M. placodops 01, V. andrei, V. pergandei, N. cockerelli, P. barbata, P. montanus

Hoping to Catch This season:

M. romanei, M. placodops 02, P. imberbiculus, Polyergus sp., F. moki, A. megomatta, Cyphomyrmex sp.,Temnothorax sp.


#4 Offline AntsDakota - Posted August 9 2022 - 5:38 PM

AntsDakota

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 3,994 posts
  • LocationSioux Falls, South Dakota

My tidiest ants have to be my Acromyrmex versicolor. Always leaving their trash in a very accessible and convenient place. They also never leave any trash in the nest. I’ve never seen mold in that enclosure.

I suppose they have a greater necessity for cleanliness, since they run the additional risk of killing their fungus if their nest molds.


  • ZTYguy and FloridaAnts like this

"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. (including ants) And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version


#5 Offline FloridaAnts - Posted August 10 2022 - 3:59 AM

FloridaAnts

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 374 posts
  • LocationFlorida

My cleanest ants are O. haematodus, and surprisingly their cousin O. ruginodis is much more messy.






0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users