70 replies to this topic

[Canadian anter]

Hi there! If you want, feel free to use/copy any text or pictures from my site, I have a few pretty extensive guides there.

 

Separately, I have been fighting mite infestations in Manica and Stigmatomma which were succesfully worded off with Hypoapsis mites. I'll try to find pictures of the Stigmatomma infection. They 

 

Also, Serafine's "formiculture mold" was identified to be Aspergillus sp I believe.

 

I also have photos of horsehair worms, and 3 or 4 different species of parasitic phorid flies (Can send on request, I have to search) which would be harder to find unless you were working with hundreds of Lasius queens like I was.

 

I also want to add "Low ambient humidity" as a cause for many subterranean species to shrivel up and die, as eggs require high humidity

[gcsnelling]

Since this is a veterinary conference I would absolutely consider adding how ants can/do interact in a negative manner with other pets/animals which may come in to their care. Fire ants come to mind although being a European group perhaps not a huge consideration. But ants in general can impact hatchling, old or sick birds.

[Serafine]

Since this is a veterinary conference I would absolutely consider adding how ants can/do interact in a negative manner with other pets/animals which may come in to their care. Fire ants come to mind although being a European group perhaps not a huge consideration. But ants in general can impact hatchling, old or sick birds.

On Christmas Island they managed to significantly reduce the populations of Anoplolepis gracilipes (yellow crazy ants, which are wiping out the island's native birds and crabs) by targeting another imported creature, a lac scale insect, with tiny parasitic wasps.
Less honeydew-producing scale insects -> way fewer yellow crazy ants.
 

[Ernteameise]

Since this is a veterinary conference I would absolutely consider adding how ants can/do interact in a negative manner with other pets/animals which may come in to their care. Fire ants come to mind although being a European group perhaps not a huge consideration. But ants in general can impact hatchling, old or sick birds.

Well, as I have shown in my abstract above-

I will mainly talk about ants being kept as pets.

This is the main focus.

I will have one slide on evolution, one on taxonomy, and then go off talking about husbandry and nutrition and about a few select examples of species that are kept.

There will also be a slide on problems caused by ants- but I would like to focus on the issue of problems caused by introduced ants and the pet trade- this is an issue in Europe.

I know that the US are far ahead in having outright forbidden the trade in ants across states, but over here, everyone can buy species like Carebara diversa and even Paraponera clavata, the famous 24 hour ant (!!!!!!!!)  online.

Our law makers are now scrambling to somehow get this under control.

The popularity of the hobby has taken off here, and it is only a matter of time until something really bad happens and the hobby will take a dive because of much much stricter laws.

 

This will only be a 45min talk max, and I want to show the awesomeness of the hobby.

If there is further interest, I can do further talks at later conferences into other deeper topics.

 

And yes, I have the "Guests of Ants" book, and I WILL share the awesome pictures of the ant being hijacked by the liver-fluke Dicrocoelium. This is a VERY important parasite for the meat industry, and the pure awesomeness of how these parasites work, that only one of them takes command and will assume control of the ant while the others bide their time, this has always fascinated me since I started studying.

I am a parasitologist by training and it is parasites (even if it was parasites of wild birds) what I did my PhD on, after all!

Of course I will cite this amazing book when sharing the pictures.

[rptraut]

Please use any of the photos I’ve posted. Good luck

[Serafine]

Okay, so i finally looked it up (because I was pretty certain it was not a tapeworm and unsure if it was a round worm) - it's actually Dicrocoelium dendriticum, the lancet liver fluke, which is a parasite of sheep that uses ants (mostly Serviformica) as an intermediate host.

The parasite spreads its eggs via sheep poop, the eggs are eaten by snails, which then "cough up" a slime sack filled with parasites that is eaten by ants.
The parasite causes infected ants to climb up grass when it gets cold during the evening and then forces their mandibles to lock into a blade of grass, hoping that in the morning a sheep will eat the ant while grazing. If the ant is not eaten and temperatures rise the parasite allows the ant to open its mandibles and the ant will go back to work as if nothing happened (until the next evening).

 

This parasite can also end up in other grazing mammals like cows, and there is at least one case of a human getting it after drinking water from a bottle contaminated with infected ants.

Edit: Oh, someone already mentioned it...
 

Edited by Serafine, June 9 2023 - 4:12 AM.

[Ernteameise]

Okay, so i finally looked it up (because I was pretty certain it was not a tapeworm and unsure if it was a round worm) - it's actually Dicrocoelium dendriticum, the lancet liver fluke, which is a parasite of sheep that uses ants (mostly Serviformica) as an intermediate host.

The parasite spreads its eggs via sheep poop, the eggs are eaten by snails, which then "cough up" a slime sack filled with parasites that is eaten by ants.
The parasite causes infected ants to climb up grass when it gets cold during the evening and then forces their mandibles to lock into a blade of grass, hoping that in the morning a sheep will eat the ant while grazing. If the ant is not eaten and temperatures rise the parasite allows the ant to open its mandibles and the ant will go back to work as if nothing happened (until the next evening).

 

This parasite can also end up in other grazing mammals like cows, and there is at least one case of a human getting it after drinking water from a bottle contaminated with infected ants.

Edit: Oh, someone already mentioned it...
 

My vet parasitology professor always warned us to not chew on grass on meadows-

because humans can become infected, too.

And it has happened that way!

No idea if they are the ant with the grass or how that had happened....

 

But you are right, maybe it was the contaminated water.

[Ernteameise]

Hello again,

I finally had some time to check out some of the amazing pictures here at the forum.

I already have decided on a few.

I am still on the hunt for some pictures of invasive / introduced species and some pictures of leaf-cutters, and have PM-ed a couple of members on this forum.

 

This is what I have decided on so far.

Please let me know if this would be okay for you all:

 

ANTdrew- I would like to share some pictures of your home-made nests, your Pheidole and the Crematogaster. Some amazing colonies with great growth.

 

AntsCali: A couple of pictures of your Camponotus colonies and the amazing and beautiful honeypot ants.

 

Concord Antman: Some truly amazing pictures! I would like to share some pictures of alates, your AMAZING pictures of Trophalaxis and of the aphid herders.

 

rptraut: I would like to share a couple of pictures of your setups, your ant room and your home-made nests.

 

TacticalHandleGaming: Some great setups, also some great pictures of Camponotus and Lasius.

 

Please also let me know how you want to be acknowledged, with your real name, your forum name, or not at all. If you do not let me know, I will just cite the picture with your forum name.

I will also cite the forum as a great source of help and information at the end of the talk.

 

Thank you all again!

[ConcordAntman]

Ernteameise, feel free to use whatever pictures you want for your presentation. 

[Barristan]

Hi,

 

you can also use any picture you find on my website: https://crazyants.de

[Ernteameise]

Hi,

 

you can also use any picture you find on my website: https://crazyants.de

Wow, this is awesome!

Should I cite you as "Crazyants" ?

 

You have some truly amazing pictures.

I am thinking of using some pictures of feeding ants and of course the amazing trapjaw ants!

Edited by Ernteameise, June 16 2023 - 11:00 AM.

[UtahAnts]

Feel free to use any of my stuff, photo album is linked below in my signature if you have time to look through 600+ photos 

[Ernteameise]

Feel free to use any of my stuff, photo album is linked below in my signature if you have time to look through 600+ photos 

Thank you!

[rptraut]

Hello Ernteameise;
It would be an honour if my photos were used to enlighten and educate others about keeping ants. If I can provide any other photos, please let me know. You can use R. Traut for credit.
RPT

[Ernteameise]

Got some great news!

My direct superior was in a meeting with the Big Boss of my company yesterday.

And she told me that the Boss was very happy for me showing some initiative and doing something totally different and new and also run it with your company logo (which makes great advertising).

Since I am doing this lecture as part of a company trip to support the UK staff at the company stall at the conference, I agreed to fly our colours so to speak and entered the lecture into the list of seminars / lectures that company staff are giving this year. And this got a lot attention from the "higher ups".

For something that started out as a silly idea from me to create my own entertainment during a work outing, this really shapes up to something I enjoy creating and planning for and I also get some praise and support at work for it.

So yay. Win-win.

[ConcordAntman]

Been offline for a while. How’s your lecture coming together? We’re all interested and wishing you success. When will you be presenting??

[Ernteameise]

Been offline for a while. How’s your lecture coming together? We’re all interested and wishing you success. When will you be presenting??

Well, I am still thrilled I am able to use all your amazing pictures!

So far, I put around 25 work hours into the lecture.

I have finished the concept and the first draft.

It is a whopping 40 slides (however many of them pictures) so I should be able to talk the allocated 35 mins with 10 min question time.

The lecture itself is at the conference of British Zoo and Exotics vets in Birmingham, and I will be talking on Saturday, the 4th of November.

I will give the same lecture again, this time in German at the German exotics vets conference in April 2024 (there is no concrete day for it yet, though).

Of course I will give full reports on this!

Edited by Ernteameise, August 6 2023 - 10:37 PM.

[rptraut]

Congratulations! Do you still need pictures of anything specific?
RPT

[Ernteameise]

Congratulations! Do you still need pictures of anything specific?
RPT

I am very happy to report you all helped me immensely already.

Right now, I am sorted.

But who knows?

Maybe this takes off and I will be giving a more detailed lecture on problems in ant keeping next?

[rptraut]

Perhaps, as your first patient, you can help me diagnose and treat a problem I am having with some of my colonies.  This malady has affected various ant colonies, Lasius, Tapinoma and especially my Myrmica colonies.  They seem to be strong and healthy and then suddenly there is a massive die off of workers, leaving mainly the nest workers and brood alive.  The remaining workers still seem to be tending the brood, but there is little foraging activity and feeding activity is slow.  I haven't had a colony grow out of this yet, this has all happened over the last two weeks to five of my colonies.  Does this sound like something you have ever heard of before and how can I treat and prevent it?