32 replies to this topic

[Ants_Dakota]

 

Formica are exceedingly difficult to keep. Sorry for the loss. Hopefully some day someone will crack the code to successfully raise a colony to maturity.

I'd disagree with Formica as a genus being difficult to keep. They will do pretty well if heated well and fed consistently. Although I may have less experience with the genus than some others, my founding colonies are doing pretty well so far. Ants_Dakota's colony seemed to be doing pretty well up until the mold popped up. Otherwise they would've been alright with warmish temperatures and frequent feedings. My advice would be to keep an eye on humidity levels in the tube, since Formica tend to be pretty messy and will scatter food and waste everywhere. Mold will definitely grow in those conditions. I also think it helps to move them to a nest after a dozen or so workers, since in a tube they'll mess up the sponges and cotton on the inside. Hope these tips come in handy for anyone thinking of starting their own Formica colonies. 

 

Anyway, my condolences for your loss of the queen. Wishing the best of luck for having success with another colony!

 

I do agree with your analysis, raising Formica queens to workers is very easy; they were some of the first colonies I kept. But ANTdrew is right, it always seems like something slightly wrong happens sometime down the line, and Formica just can't take it as long as most other ants. Had I known about the mold, I would have moved them pretty quickly, but I had no time. Interestingly, it seems like this colony was pretty clean: whenever they brought food inside the test tube, they would bring it out whenever finished, minus the extra large piece of mealworm they could not fit back out the entrance hole that was the source of the mold in the images above. How have your colonies been in their nest? I worry they might be even more mess, and that has kept me from moving this colony into a nest I already had prepared. RushmoreAnts had a negative experience when he moved a colony of his into a nest too early just this past year, and I don't want to repeat that.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

Formica are exceedingly difficult to keep. Sorry for the loss. Hopefully some day someone will crack the code to successfully raise a colony to maturity.

I'd disagree with Formica as a genus being difficult to keep. They will do pretty well if heated well and fed consistently. Although I may have less experience with the genus than some others, my founding colonies are doing pretty well so far. Ants_Dakota's colony seemed to be doing pretty well up until the mold popped up. Otherwise they would've been alright with warmish temperatures and frequent feedings. My advice would be to keep an eye on humidity levels in the tube, since Formica tend to be pretty messy and will scatter food and waste everywhere. Mold will definitely grow in those conditions. I also think it helps to move them to a nest after a dozen or so workers, since in a tube they'll mess up the sponges and cotton on the inside. Hope these tips come in handy for anyone thinking of starting their own Formica colonies.

Anyway, my condolences for your loss of the queen. Wishing the best of luck for having success with another colony!

When you show us a *mature* Formica colony, then I will agree with you. I can’t point to one mature Formica colony documented on FC in all my years on here. They say Mack from THA has one, but I haven’t seen any documentation of it. That colony may be another ant-keeping urban legend.

 

From my memory, dtrmiller and Mack are the only ones who have had a large colony on this forum, and Mack's is documented here: https://www.youtube....XlxJyQ#ddg-play. Given, that was 6 years ago, so it is unknown if that still exists.

Edited by Ants_Dakota, May 24 2025 - 5:17 AM.

[bmb1bee]

 

When you show us a *mature* Formica colony, then I will agree with you. I can’t point to one mature Formica colony documented on FC in all my years on here. They say Mack from THA has one, but I haven’t seen any documentation of it. That colony may be another ant-keeping urban legend.

I'll be looking forward to doing so, since this year I plan on completely locking into keeping colonies of the genus. The only problem with mature colonies of these, and virtually any other ants, is that they need a ton of food. Since Formica really like lepidopterans, I've got a silkworm culture set up to keep them going long term. As for good-sized Formica colonies, they do exist, just probably really uncommon. I've seen some from Discord servers, although they're likely collected portions of polygynous colonies (which seem to be thriving long-term). UtahAnts got close to a nice colony in his journal here, but it seems he wasn't able to keep up with them. 

[bmb1bee]

 I do agree with your analysis, raising Formica queens to workers is very easy; they were some of the first colonies I kept. But ANTdrew is right, it always seems like something slightly wrong happens sometime down the line, and Formica just can't take it as long as most other ants. Had I known about the mold, I would have moved them pretty quickly, but I had no time. Interestingly, it seems like this colony was pretty clean: whenever they brought food inside the test tube, they would bring it out whenever finished, minus the extra large piece of mealworm they could not fit back out the entrance hole that was the source of the mold in the images above. How have your colonies been in their nest? I worry they might be even more mess, and that has kept me from moving this colony into a nest I already had prepared. RushmoreAnts had a negative experience when he moved a colony of his into a nest too early just this past year, and I don't want to repeat that.

My colonies so far have been cleaner in a nest than in a tube, although perhaps it's because I use cotton for my tubes and it just looks dirtier compared to with sponges. In tubes they tend to scatter food remains and regurgitated fluids into the cotton on the water end, though they do move the larger chunks of food over to the front for me to clean up. I find that small nests like Petri dishes or "Formisquariums" are pretty good to start with, since Mini Hearths have too much volume. My Formica obscuripes grew pretty quickly despite being moved to a small nest with around 20-30 workers. There's enough brood to cover about half the nest floor now, so I'll have to move them soon.

[ANTdrew]

If large colonies are “probably really uncommon,” then that basically proves my point. It is high time to stop calling Formica an easy genus to keep. I truly hope you or someone else will eventually crack the code to their care, though.

[RushmoreAnts]

 RushmoreAnts had a negative experience when he moved a colony of his into a nest too early just this past year, and I don't want to repeat that.

 

The pallidefulva was due to lack of heat. And the 'negative experience' was the colony not growing, which is typical of most ants. Once I put them back on heat their brood started developing like normal, and they now have 15 large larvae and pupae and ~25 eggs and small larvae. The argentea was due to the nest just overall sucking. I won't mention the brand, but a nest that can't hold humidity for more than 24 hours isn't conducive to a healthy colony. My Tetras hate it. That says a lot.

Edited by RushmoreAnts, May 25 2025 - 6:20 AM.

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 I do agree with your analysis, raising Formica queens to workers is very easy; they were some of the first colonies I kept. But ANTdrew is right, it always seems like something slightly wrong happens sometime down the line, and Formica just can't take it as long as most other ants. Had I known about the mold, I would have moved them pretty quickly, but I had no time. Interestingly, it seems like this colony was pretty clean: whenever they brought food inside the test tube, they would bring it out whenever finished, minus the extra large piece of mealworm they could not fit back out the entrance hole that was the source of the mold in the images above. How have your colonies been in their nest? I worry they might be even more mess, and that has kept me from moving this colony into a nest I already had prepared. RushmoreAnts had a negative experience when he moved a colony of his into a nest too early just this past year, and I don't want to repeat that.

My colonies so far have been cleaner in a nest than in a tube, although perhaps it's because I use cotton for my tubes and it just looks dirtier compared to with sponges. In tubes they tend to scatter food remains and regurgitated fluids into the cotton on the water end, though they do move the larger chunks of food over to the front for me to clean up. I find that small nests like Petri dishes or "Formisquariums" are pretty good to start with, since Mini Hearths have too much volume. My Formica obscuripes grew pretty quickly despite being moved to a small nest with around 20-30 workers. There's enough brood to cover about half the nest floor now, so I'll have to move them soon.

 

Do you mind sharing the dimensions of your formicarium? That does sound like a very productive colony.

[RushmoreAnts]

 

 RushmoreAnts had a negative experience when he moved a colony of his into a nest too early just this past year, and I don't want to repeat that.

 

The pallidefulva was due to lack of heat. And the 'negative experience' was the colony not growing, which is typical of most ants. Once I put them back on heat their brood started developing like normal, and they now have 15 large larvae and pupae and ~25 eggs and small larvae. The argentea was due to the nest just overall sucking. I won't mention the brand, but a nest that can't hold humidity for more than 24 hours isn't conducive to a healthy colony. My Tetras hate it. That says a lot.

 

Also I didn't move them too early, their test tubes were molding and drying up. 

[bmb1bee]

Do you mind sharing the dimensions of your formicarium? That does sound like a very productive colony.

The nest itself is about 3x3x1 inches, but the actual depth that the ants have to nest in is less than 1 cm. It's pretty much the same thing as the Formisquariums from Arthropod Antics. I personally think that too much volume, like with founding colonies in mini hearths, causes them to be less active and trash up the inside of their nests a lot more. Sanded nests are recommended since they do prefer to use a substrate for larvae pupating, but it's not much of a problem if they don't have it and start making naked pupae. The only problem with not having substrate is that they might use insect remains for pupation. Naked pupae will develop perfectly fine and usually don't result in any problems.

[bmb1bee]

If large colonies are “probably really uncommon,” then that basically proves my point. It is high time to stop calling Formica an easy genus to keep. I truly hope you or someone else will eventually crack the code to their care, though.

They are honestly not much more difficult to keep than most other ants commonly available in the hobby, such as Camponotus for instance. It's just that people tend to not keep them long term because 1) they think Formica are boring (which is subjective) or 2) they don't want to commit to the amount of food the colonies consume and would rather save it for other ants they have. 

[MyrmecologyMaven]

Aweful loss. I'll be watching my F. montana colony I got from you closely!

[Ants_Dakota]

 

Do you mind sharing the dimensions of your formicarium? That does sound like a very productive colony.

The nest itself is about 3x3x1 inches, but the actual depth that the ants have to nest in is less than 1 cm. It's pretty much the same thing as the Formisquariums from Arthropod Antics. I personally think that too much volume, like with founding colonies in mini hearths, causes them to be less active and trash up the inside of their nests a lot more. Sanded nests are recommended since they do prefer to use a substrate for larvae pupating, but it's not much of a problem if they don't have it and start making naked pupae. The only problem with not having substrate is that they might use insect remains for pupation. Naked pupae will develop perfectly fine and usually don't result in any problems.

 

Does it have a water tower or is it passive hydration? I agree with you, TarHeel ants formicaria are way to big for most ants except Camponotus.

[bmb1bee]

Does it have a water tower or is it passive hydration? I agree with you, TarHeel ants formicaria are way to big for most ants except Camponotus.

It's just passive hydration, where the plaster soaks up water from the reservoir at the bottom. I've filled it up with a bit of sand, so that it could last a bit longer than if there were none.