8 replies to this topic

[cfreidsma]

Over on reddit I am being told that pooters are too stressful and/or lethal for catching queens. What's weird is that several ant keeping sites sell them for this purpose.

Have I been doing things wrong or is reddit being reddit?

[ArthurPencilgon]

I’ve used my vacuum to catch all my queens ever since I accidentally squished a Prenolepis trying to get her into a tube. I’ve never harmed an ant with the vacuum and they’re all happily doing their thing now.

[cfreidsma]

Like this one?


I asked on reddit and got a bunch of angry replies.

[ArthurPencilgon]

Like this one?
Screenshot_20250621-005207.png

I asked on reddit and got a bunch of angry replies.

i use this one: https://antgear.com/...uct/ant-vacuum/

reddit is easily the worst place to get any advice. Here or the AAK discord are the most active places with the most experienced keepers afaik.

[Mettcollsuss]

Stress alone does not cause ants to just drop dead, and once placed in an appropriate setup and given time, they'll get over it. There are potential physical dangers with aspirators: if the suction force is too strong, then queens could get thrown against the bottom of the vial with some force when aspirated. If substrate is inhaled with the ants, especially if it is a substrate with a lot of hard bits of debris like gravel, can rattle around the vial and harm the individuals collected. When collecting colonies of smaller ants, I often have workers run upwards and seek shelter in the narrow gap between the vial and the plug, making it near impossible to remove the plug without squishing or losing at least a few ants. The former problems, however, can be avoided with careful use, and the latter depends on the model of aspirator.

Edited by Mettcollsuss, June 21 2025 - 6:53 PM.

[ArthurPencilgon]

Stress alone does not cause ants to just drop dead, and once placed in an appropriate setup and given time, they'll get over it. There are potential physical dangers with aspirators: if the suction force is too strong, then queens could get thrown against the bottom of the vial with some force when aspirated. If substrate is inhaled with the ants, especially if it is a substrate with a lot of hard bits of debris like gravel, can rattle around the vial and harm the individuals collected. When collecting colonies of smaller ants, I often have workers run upwards and seek shelter in the narrow gap between the vial and the plug, making it near impossible to remove the plug without squishing or losing at least a few ants. The former problems, however, can be avoided with careful use, and the latter depends on the model of aspirator.

Absolutely agree. I tested the vacuum repeatedly in collecting workers while cleaning the outworld before I risked it on a queen. So far I’ve safely collected two Prenolepis and one Tapinoma queen with the one I linked, but I’ll agree that this is only my experience and caution should always be used with unfamiliar tools.

[gcsnelling]

Minimal danger if used carefully. I have had larger ants get stuck in the intake tube though.

[auntcindy]

I use my (manual) aspirator for small queens -- small pheidole, and dorymyrmex that are easy to squish if you use your fingers. I have not had problems with small ants getting injured. If you want to catch small queens that spray formic acid, you can go with the vacuum. For large ants, just pick them up with your fingers. Even Pogonomyrmex can be picked up. If done quickly, they don't have time to get their stinger out.

[Full_Frontal_Yeti]

I would suggest using a manual pooter over an electric one. You have control on how much suction force you want to apply, while the on/off motor just applies the power it has.

Any decent sized plastic pill bottle will work easy, a bit of vinyl hose, some cotton balls and scrap of fabric to make a filter.

If you build it right you can make the in hose have a little curve to it, so the insect comes out at a sideways angle to go into the curve of the bottle wall, instead of straight down into  the bottom of the flat bottle.
It's just two hoses passing through the lid. One short and wide that gets a filter of cotton balls and cloth over the part inside the bottle. This keeps me from inhaling any debris and some amount of filter for any defensive secretions the ants may have.
The 2nd hose is skinnier and a quite long.
The short tube in my mouth and the long tube as the vacuum end of the pooter for grabbing ants.
It was basically free to make out of household scraps and has worked reliably now for about two years.



When the in hose is aimed straight down you would hear a little "ding" every time an ant came swooshing in and smacks directly into the bottom of the flat pill bottle. It stunned them, but they did recover, and i altered the in tube so it angled into the curved wall to help ease the entry now.

I'll post a pic of it later when i get home.

 

Edited by Full_Frontal_Yeti, September 4 2025 - 11:42 AM.