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Use Insect Traps to Feed Your Ants

insect traps fly traps earwig trap catch bugs

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#1 Offline rptraut - Posted May 16 2023 - 10:11 PM

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How to make an Earwig Trap

 

As a gardener, I am always looking for safe ways to kill insects that I consider undesirable.  I rank earwigs very high on that list, so a trap for earwigs would have the added benefit of providing me with a delicious addition to my menu of ant foods as well as get them out of my garden.  By only collecting feeder insects from my own property, I'm reasonably certain they will be safe for my ants.  

 

Pictured below is the setup.  I used a tin tart shell with the bottom covered with soy sauce, not too much.  Then I sprayed a thin film of oil on top with cooking spray (you can pour it on too, I find spray easier) and then set it in soil up to the rim overnight.  Next morning, I poured the lot into a sieve and rinsed it under hot tap water to remove the oil and then I froze them.  Two traps for two nights and I am still using them as ant food today.  Admittedly a great harvest as I did have a serious earwig problem, but my ants really enjoy picking them apart and I get some satisfaction from watching them do it!

 

 

2023-05-16 007.JPG

 

 

How to Make a Fly Trap

 

In a recent post, AntDrew presented his fly trap, and I would like to further reinforce the effectiveness with which it can catch flies. 

 

I arrived home one day to find a dead baby bird in my driveway that was attracting a lot of Greenbottle Fly attention.  I attached a plastic funnel to a plastic bottle with the dead bird inside.  Three pieces of masking tape was all I used to attach them, making it easy to separate them for emptying.    After a day in the sun, you see the results below.  At the end of the day, I placed the trap in a plastic bag sealed with a clothes pin, to avoid any unwanted release of flies into the family freezer, it's not taped that well.  Two days of trapping and I have a petri dish half full of frozen flies.  I suspect this trap will be just as effective when baited with fruit in order to catch fruit flies.

 

 

2023-05-13 001.JPG

 

 

If you've got an earwig problem in your garden, or something stinky or sweet that seems to be attracting flies, try trapping them to reduce the problem and increase the variety of foods you can offer your ant colonies.  A varied diet is highly desirable for a healthy colony.

RPT

 

 

 


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My father always said I had ants in my pants.

#2 Offline ANTdrew - Posted May 17 2023 - 2:11 AM

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Great ideas! If you can’t beat ‘em, let your ants eat ‘em!
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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.

#3 Offline Chickalo - Posted May 17 2023 - 12:45 PM

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Well spoken by ANTdrew.

 

Do earwigs actually have that much protein in them?


シグナチャーです。예.

 


#4 Offline ANTdrew - Posted May 17 2023 - 1:01 PM

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Absolutely.
"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#5 Offline rptraut - Posted May 18 2023 - 5:57 PM

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Hello Chicalo
My ants, especially the small ones, love to eat earwigs. Their abdomens/gasters are full of eggs in early spring and late fall. For feeding, I cut off the pincers with a scalpel which opens up the egg mass for the ants. I also split them through the head and thorax for easy access. One word of warning - my very small ants will crawl right into the carcass to feed. I set what looks like an empty husk aside in a dry place in the formicarium to make sure ants inside can escape. I've thrown nanitics in the garbage, not knowing they were inside.
RPT
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My father always said I had ants in my pants.

#6 Offline Chickalo - Posted May 19 2023 - 6:31 AM

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Hello Chicalo
My ants, especially the small ones, love to eat earwigs. Their abdomens/gasters are full of eggs in early spring and late fall. For feeding, I cut off the pincers with a scalpel which opens up the egg mass for the ants. I also split them through the head and thorax for easy access. One word of warning - my very small ants will crawl right into the carcass to feed. I set what looks like an empty husk aside in a dry place in the formicarium to make sure ants inside can escape. I've thrown nanitics in the garbage, not knowing they were inside.
RPT

Would they still have eggs around this time?  I might try this trap tonight for some more Tetramorium food.


シグナチャーです。예.

 


#7 Offline rptraut - Posted May 19 2023 - 7:26 AM

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I always thought they laid their eggs in the fall but I have caught some this spring that still have eggs. My Tetramorium like cooked chicken and cooked chicken liver just as well, especially a chunk of chicken bone with adhering scraps of meat. Also, cut the bone so they can get at the marrow. My colonies will happily dine on a bone for two or three days.
RPT
My father always said I had ants in my pants.

#8 Offline rptraut - Posted May 20 2023 - 12:31 AM

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Be Your Own Mosquito Trap

Several times last summer, when it was hot and the mosquitoes were out in full force, I put on my coveralls and hat, grabbed my pooter and head lamp and went out back to catch the filet mignon of ant food.  A bare arm is all the bait you need, and the mosquitoes are easily sucked into a pooter.  There isn't much meat on them, but what meat there is seems to be highly desirable to small ants and small ant colonies.  If you let the mosquitoes fill up a bit before sucking them up, you will realize like I did, that you are making the ultimate sacrifice - feeding your own blood to your ants.    

 

2023-05-19 002.JPG

 

My pooters, disassembled to show the filters in place.  Care should be taken when there's a chance of formic acid from ants that you suck up.  I don't handle them with a pooter.

 

Like Moths To A Flame

I have plant lights mounted on the inside of a ground floor window.  When the lights are on at night, they attract all manner of flies, gnats, fruit flies, and best of all, moths.  Most small insects are easy to suck up with a pooter, but large moths have to be caught and put into a separate container.  A flyswatter will usually dispatch them and then I freeze them.  To feed - I remove the wings and split the moth lengthwise while still frozen and then give them to my Camponotus colonies.  Gypsy moths are a particular favourite.  

 

2023-05-19 003.JPG

 

My pooters assembled.  They're handy for catching small feeder insects as well as ants and/or pupae.

 

 


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My father always said I had ants in my pants.

#9 Offline Ernteameise - Posted May 20 2023 - 2:11 AM

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I also use pooters for collecting insects around the house, mainly to feed my betta fish, but of course the ants also get the occasional fly.

 

But these traps for flies from the original post....

I have seen online instructions how to built traps for flies (fruit flies in the garden for example) out of old plastic soft drink bottles.

Depending on the bait, I guess I could catch either fruit flies or blowflies in the garden.

This is a great idea.

I guess I might even do this.

 

Thank you for making me aware!


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#10 Offline ANTdrew - Posted May 20 2023 - 2:13 AM

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I’ll add on to this thread showing how to easily trap termites.
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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.

#11 Offline ANTdrew - Posted May 20 2023 - 12:10 PM

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How To Easily Trap Termites

 Termites are many ants' favorite food. In fact, all of my colonies go absolutely nuts when I feed them. Though people up north may have difficulty finding them, they are super abundant here down south. To easily trap them, cut several squares of cardboard and soak it a bit in water. Stack the pieces in a little bundle and put it under any infested log. After a week or so, it will be filled with hundreds of termites. 

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Edited by ANTdrew, May 20 2023 - 12:11 PM.

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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.

#12 Offline rptraut - Posted May 20 2023 - 12:27 PM

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Great idea ANTdrew!  I'm sure my ants wish we had termites, but I'm very glad we don't.  Where I live, wet cardboard like you described would soon attract sowbugs, pillbugs, and probably the odd centipede, especially if it is kept dark.

 

Please feel free to add any other ideas for trapping/catching feeder insects to this space.  I don't have enough colonies to be worth raising feeder insects, but I can catch enough to keep them happy.

RPT


My father always said I had ants in my pants.

#13 Offline Canadian anter - Posted May 21 2023 - 8:04 AM

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One last way is caddisflies!

 

If you set up any light trap around a relatively clean wetland, you will get hundreds or thousands of caddisflies which come crashing into the blacklight (especially UV). With a small butterfly net, you can collect thousands in a matter of minutes. Just freeze ASAP because they give off a fishy smell rather shortly after death.


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Visit us at www.canada-ant-colony.com !

#14 Offline Manitobant - Posted May 21 2023 - 8:26 AM

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Yeah caddisflies are great, though pretty much anything at a light trap will also work in my experience. When i finish up for the night, i leave my blacklight on over my formica obscuripes colony so that any insects still on the sheets in my garage will fly in and get eaten.
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#15 Offline Virginian_ants - Posted May 21 2023 - 8:44 AM

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How To Easily Trap Termites
Termites are many ants' favorite food. In fact, all of my colonies go
absolutely nuts when I feed them. Though people up north may have difficulty finding them, they are super abundant here down south. To easily trap them, cut several squares of cardboard and soak it a bit in water. Stack the pieces in a little bundle and put it under any infested log. After a week or so, it will be filled with hundreds of termites.

I will definitely use this I have a lot of termites in my yard.
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#16 Offline ANTdrew - Posted June 2 2023 - 2:10 AM

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How To Easily Trap Termites
Termites are many ants' favorite food. In fact, all of my colonies go absolutely nuts when I feed them. Though people up north may have difficulty finding them, they are super abundant here down south. To easily trap them, cut several squares of cardboard and soak it a bit in water. Stack the pieces in a little bundle and put it under any infested log. After a week or so, it will be filled with hundreds of termites.

Here’s my haul of termites after 10 days. There were hundreds on the scraps of paper, but they scuttled away quick while I tried to snap a photo.
0-DF55907-54-E3-452-C-8893-CEFF2701-F7-D
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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.

#17 Offline Virginian_ants - Posted June 2 2023 - 4:12 AM

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Wow good job 👍

#18 Offline AntPerson76 - Posted June 2 2023 - 5:56 AM

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Do the termites stay alive? How do you store them for future feeding of your ant colonies?

How To Easily Trap Termites
Termites are many ants' favorite food. In fact, all of my colonies go absolutely nuts when I feed them. Though people up north may have difficulty finding them, they are super abundant here down south. To easily trap them, cut several squares of cardboard and soak it a bit in water. Stack the pieces in a little bundle and put it under any infested log. After a week or so, it will be filled with hundreds of termites.

Here’s my haul of termites after 10 days. There were hundreds on the scraps of paper, but they scuttled away quick while I tried to snap a photo.
0-DF55907-54-E3-452-C-8893-CEFF2701-F7-D

 



#19 Offline ANTdrew - Posted June 2 2023 - 6:35 AM

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I pop them straight in the freezer. You could keep them alive in a termite setup if you wanted to.
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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.

#20 Offline AntPerson76 - Posted June 2 2023 - 7:02 AM

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Do pheidole like termites? Because if they do then that would be a great food source for them. I have termites in my yard. 






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