6 replies to this topic

[futurebird]

A common problem for antkeepers are ants that won't move out of a dirty test tube. Often our motivations for wanting a colony to move are more selfish than altruistic. The test tube is dirty or the glass is cloudy and we can't see our pets. But sometimes it can feel like ants just won't move even when it seems to be to their advantage. 

 

The most common advice to encourage ants to move is to expose the old nest to light while making the new nest dark. This can often work, but sometimes even light shy species such as Formica and Camponotus will stubbornly stay in a brightly lit nest ignoring the clean dark new formicarium. This can put a colony in danger since exposing a queen to light may make her lay fewer eggs, and probably causes more stress shortening her life. 

 

I've read about antkeepers who kept their poor ants in light for days even as they refused to move. 

 

There is an alternative that I've found to almost always be more effective: Heat and cold. 

 

Ironically by shining a light on a nest it may seem more appealing rather than less due to a slight difference in heat. Ants can sense microclimates, and even a half degree difference matters to them. 

 

I've been trying to get a colony of F. subsericea to move into a hydrated nest. I decided to skip the bright lights and avoid stressing the queen. This morning I discovered they had unexpectedly moved! What had changed? Well it was a very cold morning in NYC and our building didn't turn on the heat. I made myself a hot cup of tea and shivered as I check on the ants. The test tube they moved to was a little closer to the heat cable for another colony. The heat cable is about six inches away. The difference between their old tube and the new one is literally ONE DEGREE F. I check with an infrared heat sensor!

 

(I don't like to put heat cables on test tubes since it's hard to make a heat gradient.)

 

I think the cold weather and the temp drop in our apartment ( it was maybe 65F ) made that extra degree (66F) matter more. I've move the heat cable so it's a little closer to them (about an inch away) and they seem to love it. The tube is now 76F and that seems safe. Other parts of the outworld and nest are closer to 68F, so even if it gets warmer they will have places to move should they get too hot. 

 

I have also had good results using ice packs to force ants out of nest in "emergencies" (I had a problem with Pogonomyrmex a few years back chewing a hole in a plaster nest so they simply could not be trusted to stay in that nest any more. I needed them to move right away. I tried light... it did nothing. I tried gently heating the new nest and that did a little. Then I put an ice pack wrapped in a wash cloth on their old nest and that got them out. It was harsh, but I just couldn't leave them in there when I was at work...)

 

What methods do you find most effective to get ants to move? Have you developed any tricks?

[Artisan_Ants]

Since I have mostly young colonies, what I find effective to move them is dumping them out. They move fairly fast (my F. palledifulva moved in about one hour into a new clean test tube on doing so) and when it happens every couple of months, they get fairly used to it, and don’t get stressed out so much. The best part about it is that it’s fast and easy. One time last year I put in the P. impairs colony into a setup to move on their own and it took SIX months. And now; that six months of waiting has “payed off” and the test tube molded in about one month. I’m not waiting six months just do do the same thing again a month later. Before you know it; to move your ants TWO times, you have to wait a year. Of course this varies for most species, but my I tried to do the same thing with moving my camps when I was first new to moving ants. But of course; it didn’t go well. And so, I just forced them out and found my new moving method.

[ANTdrew]

Direct sunlight will get any species of ant moving fast! No artificial lights can even compare.

[TacticalHandleGaming]

I've found UV black lights to be very effective. Especially with stubborn colonies.

[futurebird]

Many ants can see colors in the UV spectrum that we can't see. But they have trouble with the other end of the spectrum ... which is why there is that notion that they can't see red light. But it varies by species and it needs to be a very pure red for the trick to work. 

 

Bees can also see UV colors, and some flowers have markings only bees and ants can see. 

[AntidepressAnt]

If I'm not mistaken little UV light can get through glass or plastic.

[Artisan_Ants]

If I'm not mistaken little UV light can get through glass or plastic.

It depends on the kinds of rays. Usually in terms of UVA and UVB; but those are associated with the sun. Artificial UV light or the ones we use are a little different and could damage our skin to long exposure, but I don’t really know what kind of day of UV is best to describe those. Either way; some of the parts of its wavelength could pass through; which still makes it visible to the ants inside.