2 replies to this topic

[futurebird]

The very first ants I tried to keep were Formica subsericea. The queen kept laying for about a year, but the total number of workers never really got over 30. I probably messed with them way too much, shined too much light on them, jostled them, forced them to move, put them in too big of a nest etc. Lots of rookie mistakes. I was looking at some photos of that colony and they are such beautiful ants. They have large eyes making them very sensitive to light. I love the way the callow workers were always translucent and white. So, if you have a big colony I'd love your species specific tips. I bought a colony with four workers and they arrived with one pupae and no brood. (Did you eat the babies again?) I've offered them a little food and put them in a dark quiet place. I don't think their transport tube has sufficient water so I may need to move them. I'm thinking of moving them to a petri-dish with grout as a base and a tube watering system. Would another test tube with a proper water res be better? This time I will not bother them to death.

[futurebird]

Shameless bump of my own topic. 

 

This new colony is doing OK in their small founding formicarium (from undergroundciti on etsy) There were 8 of them on arrival now there are 9 and about as many pupae and a little ball of eggs that one of them is always nervously holding. I have put them in a quiet place and check on them no more than every three days, and then I do so without any bright lights, gently lifting the felt light cover and taking a count of the colony. They have collected sand from the outworld and made a midden of bugparts and sand in one corner, they also use the sand to help the larvae weave their pupae. They seem more calm after these few weeks and now and then I see one of them in the outworld collecting the dead insects I leave them. I can't tell if they can use or like their sugar feeder. 

 

 

They are very beautiful ants, and very sensitive to noise and vibration. If I remove the lid to their outworld the vibration scares them so much all of them run out of the nest, including the queen. So I try to avoid any such stimulation. 

[ANTdrew]

Formica are such beautiful ants.