37 replies to this topic

[Ernteameise]

Right.

Since I still do not dare to spend a small fortune on honeypot ants (I am from Germany where they are worth their weight in gold) and they are known to be more difficult to keep anyways, especially in the founding stage....

Well, I looked on the most popular German trading website, and there are many different ant species from all over the world for sale (for a high price!), including bullet ants, Australian bull ants, leaf-cutters.... you name it. Then I saw an offer for a small Asian harvester species, which I already had admired 1 year ago, when another member on here shared pictures.

These ants are soooo cute!

Plus, the colony on offer was in my budget range!

 

So yay, I am now the proud owner of a colony of Acanthomyrmex sp.

The seller was not sure which species, but they were collected in Thailand and he is pretty sure it is Acanthomyrmex thailandensis.

As you might have realized, I am into harvester ants- and this was one of my dream species!

 

Not much known is about them, the species was only just discovered 30 years ago.

This was even after Mark Moffet wrote his paper on the genus (this is why they are not mentioned), which can be found here:

https://www.antwiki....offet_1986c.pdf

 

I have not found many journals and information about them online- so my goal is to write a nice journal reporting everything like I do for my other colonies.

For better or for worse- even if I make mistakes and things go wrong, this will also be valuable information for me to share.

 

In previous reports about them (and after I asked in my Facebook group), people were saying that:

"This species is a nice eye-candy, but VERY boring. They just sit around and do nothing."

(well, same as my Camponotus to be honest....)

 

These ants form small colonies of around 50- 200 workers.

They are nocturnal (so I will not expect massive action during the day) and they are not very active in general, with a short active range - which means they do not need a massive outworld.

All in all- they do not require a lot of space, so are perfect for people like me living in a small flat.

They come from the Asian tropical rainforest.

They nest in twigs and leaf-litter, they are not a digging species.

They are specialized harvesters of fig seed, and for cracking these, they have these massive amazing cute majors.

They will also take chia and other small seed, sugar water, honey and small insects.

 

The Antstore did a video on them, and they keep them in a cork nest.

So I decided to put my small colony also in a cork nest, and since everyone is happy with Wakooshi, I thought I order the small complete set from them with a cork nest.

 

https://www.wakooshi...ll-complete-set

 

Sadly, the delivery is now stuck in German customs. (my luck....)

So the colony arrived before the nest arrived (this did not go as planned), so I just put them into a preliminary housing.

I added some moist vermiculite and the heat cable is attached to the side.

 

For the future, if the colony grows, I also already have a plan, I ordered a Ready-To-Ship bifurcated Mini Hearth from Tarheel, which is already on the way (and probably will also be stuck in customs, I know my luck).

Anyways, we will see how the colony develops and how I do with keeping my first advanced species!

I am VERY excited.

 

Here they are:

 

The colony is at around 30 workers at the moment

 

 

Look at these beautiful majors!

 

 

 

They already come with some brood:

 

 

The preliminary housing- the colony is still living in their test tube (covered with a toilet paper cardboard)

 

 

I bought some organic figs to get at some fig seed

 

 

 

I offered them a cricket, some chia seed and some fig seeds in a dried fig (plus some fluffy dandelion seed)

 

 

We already have some exploration!

 

 

And the ants are drinking some sunburst nectar

 

 

Right, now I hope that customs is finished soon with their searching of my Wakooshi parcel, so that these girls can go into their small starter home for the time being.

 

Wish me luck!

Edited by Ernteameise, April 17 2024 - 11:13 AM.

[Kowal]

I had a colony of Acanthomyrmex sold as glabfemoralis for 2,5 years. Don't be scared if they won't be interested in the seeds - mine did take some initially (plucked from a fresh fig), I have even seen them gnaw on one, but then stopped taking them into the nest. I think they are specialising in seeds in nature because this type of food source is not as contested as insect carcasses and fruits/nectars/honeydew, once they have ad libitum access to sugars and proteins in captivity, there is no need to go for the seeds anymore. 

Lovely colony, large already. The amount of soldiers is a bit concerning (there's so many of them!) but I bet they will balance out the worker caste ratio quickly, especially with all those larvae. 

[Ernteameise]

I had a colony of Acanthomyrmex sold as glabfemoralis for 2,5 years. Don't be scared if they won't be interested in the seeds - mine did take some initially (plucked from a fresh fig), I have even seen them gnaw on one, but then stopped taking them into the nest. I think they are specialising in seeds in nature because this type of food source is not as contested as insect carcasses and fruits/nectars/honeydew, once they have ad libitum access to sugars and proteins in captivity, there is no need to go for the seeds anymore. 

Lovely colony, large already. The amount of soldiers is a bit concerning (there's so many of them!) but I bet they will balance out the worker caste ratio quickly, especially with all those larvae. 

Thanks for the information!

I am also very excited and curious how they will work out.

 

As with glabfemoralis- the little I found online, it said that glabfemoralis is harder to keep than thailandensis?

Did you have any problems?

Did you sell your colony after 2.5 years or did it die naturally?

 

Also, I heard that they can sting.

Have you had them sting you?

I am really curious about this (well, right now I am reading the book "Sting of the Wild" and the pain scale of insect stings... ).

I would have tried them having sting me, but then I decided I will try at a later date when they have settled down and not freak them out more than necessary.

I am a bit weird about this, but then I am missing a fingertip since as a small child, I wanted to find out how a lawnmower works. I found out.

[Locness]

Beautiful colony! Impressive majors

[Kowal]

 

As with glabfemoralis- the little I found online, it said that glabfemoralis is harder to keep than thailandensis?

Did you have any problems?

Did you sell your colony after 2.5 years or did it die naturally?

 

Also, I heard that they can sting.

Have you had them sting you?

 

I have no idea which one is harder to keep. I doubt there are any significant differences between the species from antkeeping point of view. 
My colony was staying on a small side, they had 2 soldiers (and never produced more under my care) and up to 50 minors, they preferred producing males rather than getting more workers. There were occasional workers every now and then produced, so the queen was fertile - they just wanted to stay that size. They were a bit picky with insects, they took mostly small and soft bodied prey. For some time Camponotus fallax gyne butts ripped of alates worked well.
I sold them as I honestly just got bored of them. They aren't exactly most entertaining ants on their own... they would work well in a multispecies vivarium, I guess, but I am not doing those. 

I was never stung by one but I did not give them a lot of chances either.

[Ernteameise]

 

 

As with glabfemoralis- the little I found online, it said that glabfemoralis is harder to keep than thailandensis?

Did you have any problems?

Did you sell your colony after 2.5 years or did it die naturally?

 

Also, I heard that they can sting.

Have you had them sting you?

 

I have no idea which one is harder to keep. I doubt there are any significant differences between the species from antkeeping point of view. 
My colony was staying on a small side, they had 2 soldiers (and never produced more under my care) and up to 50 minors, they preferred producing males rather than getting more workers. There were occasional workers every now and then produced, so the queen was fertile - they just wanted to stay that size. They were a bit picky with insects, they took mostly small and soft bodied prey. For some time Camponotus fallax gyne butts ripped of alates worked well.
I sold them as I honestly just got bored of them. They aren't exactly most entertaining ants on their own... they would work well in a multispecies vivarium, I guess, but I am not doing those. 

I was never stung by one but I did not give them a lot of chances either.

 

Ah, I think you were the one I discussed these with on Facebook!

Well, I have a small flat, so I think the fact that these ants are not very active and do not need a lot of space will work to my advantage. And I have not yet grown tired of my Camponotus who also only do one thing- sit around, unmoving, looking fat.

Thank your for your valuable advice.

 

My colleague who keeps bees has promised me to bring me bee larvae for feeding to my ants (during the upcoming months), so I think these will be perfect for this species.

I have offered them a cricket which I had cut in half, but so far no takers- but that might just be because they are still freaked out after the move.

 

I think I will have a lot of report on how this is going.

Including the sting.

[Flu1d]

I love Acanthomyrmex so much! I really really wish that I could keep this genus!

Since I cannot, I would ADORE a preserved specimen of each caste. They are so great!

[Ernteameise]

I love Acanthomyrmex so much! I really really wish that I could keep this genus!

Since I cannot, I would ADORE a preserved specimen of each caste. They are so great!

Well, if the colony grows larger, remind me again about preserved specimens.

 

You will however have to walk me through on how to preserve them, since I never took an entomology course and I just do not know.

Also, will I be allowed to send DEAD preserved ants into the US? Per mail? Without permit?

[Ernteameise]

Looked into the enclosure this morning during breakfast, and there was no ant to be seen.

There was quite a bit of activity last night, with many workers drinking from the sunburst nectar, but they have all retired to the test tube now.

I think I can verify that these ants are nocturnal and not morning people (which makes them very close to my own heart).

They also do not seem to have taken many of the seed I had offered and maybe only nibbled on the cricket.

Probably still stressed out.

[Leo]

Very cryptic ants I think. Native to my area but very very rarely encountered. Fig seeds sound like a good idea to me considering how common they are in their native habitat.

[Ernteameise]

Very cryptic ants I think. Native to my area but very very rarely encountered. Fig seeds sound like a good idea to me considering how common they are in their native habitat.

You say they are rarely seen in your native area.

Are they deeper in the forest?

Or need unspoiled habitats?

Or are they just nocturnal and hardly active at day so you hardly see them?

If you would go out looking for them, where would you look and would you maybe go at night?

I am just curious.

They are such a cool species. Would love to see them in their natural habitat, and that part of Asia has been on my bucket list for a while. Lots of other cool ants to see, too. Plus birds, and fish (I do scuba diving).

[Leo]

I have only seen alate queens (twice), but according to others who have found them they live in rotting logs. Habitat wise, its like semi-disturbed but the forest around the area with some old-growth forest here and there. If I were to look for them it'd probably be leaf-litter sifting. Unsure if they are diurnal or nocturnal

[Ernteameise]

Right- be prepared for a lot of pictures.

And cuteness overload!

 

Well, since the nest that was intended for this colony is still in customs, and the colony is bigger than I thought, a friendly ant keeper gave me their old, used mini-hearth style nest for these girls to move in.

Now I actually thing this was actually the best move.

Since this species forms only small colonies, this might be all they ever need (and if not, as I said, there is another mini-hearth on the way that I could connect).

 

This new nest is the size of a Tarheel mini hearth, only difference is that it is not outworld on top, but outworld to the side, like with a fallen fortress.

Comes with a water tower.

I cleaned it up with some warm water and supplied the girls with a sugar and water feeder.

 

 

 

Heat cable is attached at the opposite end of the water tower

 

 

My whole setup now

 

 

Dinner

 

 

As for the ants.

Honestly. These are the most CHILL ants on the planet. There is no running. There is no attacking. They are just chilling.

Yes, these pictures were (by accident) taken without the cover on the colony. I did not notice at first.

The ants just sat there. Nobody moved.

 

 

You can also see that they already dragged in some chia and fig seed into the nest (so these are indeed harvested)

 

 

Her majesty, the queen

 

 

As you can see, the queen has a similar big head to the majors, but a broader thorax

 

 

And those majors are simply the cutest ants ever

 

 

 

 

 

I am totally in love with this colony!!

[Ernteameise]

These girls are really amazing.

I realized that their defense mechanism seems to be (different from most other ants) that they sit absolutely still when they are observed (like me removing the cover or switching the light on).

Even if I open the proper nest cover, they freeze.

I think this "freeze!" reaction to intrusion makes a lot of sense- they are not fire ants who swarm to defend, they form very small colonies and they are therefore not rich pickings for predators. Their nests will most likely be disturbed by accident, maybe when a wild animal stumbles over it. They sit still to avoid detection, and will repair the damage when the danger has passed. My theory, nothing official however.

 

This might also be the reason why people say this species is beyond boring- they are nocturnal, so not much action during the day, and they freeze up when you want to watch them..... I actually got kind of around this a bit by shining a red light on them at night, that way I could watch them forage.

Yes! I managed to see them move around. By using a red light at night. They are like my other ants, they collect their seed, they drink their nectar and they did eat parts of the cricket!!!!

Just do not make a move and do not switch on any lights, otherwise, the workers either run away or freeze.

 

Therefore, I think taking pictures of these girls foraging will be a real challenge!!!

[Ernteameise]

Some behavioural observations on this genus by Mark Moffet.

He also observed the timitidy of these ants, and that they often did not move, even if the nest was disturbed.

He however observed that the queen usually was very shy and running away at the slightest disturbance.

This I could not observe.

 

https://downloads.hi...1985/053040.pdf

[Flu1d]

I love Acanthomyrmex so much! I really really wish that I could keep this genus!

Since I cannot, I would ADORE a preserved specimen of each caste. They are so great!

Well, if the colony grows larger, remind me again about preserved specimens.

You will however have to walk me through on how to preserve them, since I never took an entomology course and I just do not know.
Also, will I be allowed to send DEAD preserved ants into the US? Per mail? Without permit?

As far as I know, dead specimens are 100% legal to ship.

97-99% ethanol is the best preservative for specimens.

[Ernteameise]

 

 

I love Acanthomyrmex so much! I really really wish that I could keep this genus!

Since I cannot, I would ADORE a preserved specimen of each caste. They are so great!

Well, if the colony grows larger, remind me again about preserved specimens.

You will however have to walk me through on how to preserve them, since I never took an entomology course and I just do not know.
Also, will I be allowed to send DEAD preserved ants into the US? Per mail? Without permit?

As far as I know, dead specimens are 100% legal to ship.

97-99% ethanol is the best preservative for specimens.

 

Great.

Just remind me again when this colony is bigger (I hope they grow!) and maybe when I get alates that I send you some specimens over.

[Ernteameise]

I did not post this picture yesterday, but it might be the best picture of this colony.

 

 

Plus a picture of the foragers- they were actually eating from the cricket, but as soon as I came near, they started to run.

 

[Ernteameise]

So I ran into an issue.

I had Saturday work duty, so was not in the flat all day.

Since I do not really heat a lot when I am not here to preserve energy, the air temperature in the flat is much lower than in the heated formicaria...

 

So my new tarheel style nest (no idea from where it came, I got it used from another antkeeper) shows some condensation on the top glass.

I had on purpose NOT put the heat cable near the water tower, and still this condensation happened.

I think the reason is that we had a sudden return of winter after some real hot days, and my central heating is just not going full power anymore and so the temperature of my flat has cooled down.

I REALLY look forward to summer....

I know that Acanthomyrmex comes from the rainforest and loves humidity, but this might be too much.

So I actually took one of the Tarheel nestmates from a different nest and fitted it into this used nest. I used bluetac to hold it in place.

 

I am not sure I did this right? The metal mesh screen is facing inwards and blocks the entrance to the nest. I left the top of the nestmate open to allow air flow.

Since this species is pretty timid, I do not expect chewed up plastic and escape attempts any time soon.

I also added some of the heat cable on top of the glass, maybe I can work against this when the glass is warmed up a bit?

 

I do not have any experience with this, so am I doing this right?

Let me know if any body has suggestions.

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

Well, a couple of hours later, and it is MUCH better, my measures seem to have helped.

I will keep a close eye on the humidity (I do not want them to dry out) nor do I want the majors to chew through the nestmate.

I just had the idea to use it like this because Mack from Tarheel ants suggests to use the nest mates like this in his FAQ and his Youtube video.

I am in luck- so far, none of the ants has shown any interest, they still sit huddled together like they have done since arrival.

I think these are just such chill ants, they are not out for world domination or uncontrolled exploration.

So I hope the situation is under control for the time being.

Edited by Ernteameise, April 20 2024 - 12:40 PM.

[The_Gaming-gate]

They really remind me of Pheidole.