7 replies to this topic

[aqandres4]

Note: I don't have a formicarium, yet. I'm asking these questions just to be more aware and prepared of what's to come in the future.

 

My queen is Solenopsis invicta.

 

Question #1:  Can I control the population of my ants?

 

I do want them to have a lot of workers and soldiers but there's a limit to how big I want them to be.

 

Question #2: Can I move my ant queen and their workers (when she has workers) to a formicarium is theirs not a lot of workers (let's say 3-4)?

 

Question #3: Can I have a formicarium in my air conditioned room (the temperature is usually about 74 degrees F - 76 degrees F).

 

I'm asking this question because I saw a video that had to do with AntsCanada saying something like (if you move your ant queen and her workers into the ant formicarium early, then you'll get away with the trouble of moving them after. This made me presume that it's okay to move them into a formicarium. But then this other youtuber called "AsianBatman" said that his ants were really stressful about it (I think they even died) because the formicarium was big for them and they used the lower chambers as their garbage disposals.

 

Thanks! (If you want, you could just answer one question.)

Edited by aqandres4, May 26 2016 - 5:27 PM.

[drtrmiller]

Yes! You can absolutely control population size.  I've been doing this for over a year now with my Solenopsis invicta colony.  I plan to make a detailed tutorial video in the near future, but until then, I'll explain the basics:
 

• Limit feeding of insects
  
  It is very important that the colony maintain some brood of all stages because the brood are a critical part of the macro colony stomach.  However, the size of the colony will be influenced greatly by the frequency and amount of insects and other proteins fed.  Continue to feed workers byFormica Sunburst Ant Nectar and plain water, as needed, to prevent mass die-offs of your existing workforce.
   
• Cull unnecessary workers
  
  If the colony gets so large that they are overcrowding your foraging area, simply take a vacuum and suck up the desired number of workers.  It shouldn't be a problem to release these non-reproducing insects into the wild, where they will die of natural causes and be recycled by nature (never release reproductives!).
   
• Limit the temperature of the nest
  
  Tropical species like S. invicta do require some heat in order to mature brood.  To allow the colony to grow at a reduced rate, place a heat cable over a single part of the nest, and maintain the room temperature between 23-26 C (73-79 F).  This will limit the area of the nest where brood may mature the fastest.

As to your other question, you should only move this colony after it has attained 10-20 workers, depending on the size of the formicarium.  If you have a very small formicarium, or something similar in size to the byFormica GroTube, it should cause no harm to move them sooner, as I actually started my current S. invicta colony in a GroTube just about 54 weeks ago, where they remain, to this day.

 

Edited by drtrmiller, May 26 2016 - 6:44 PM.

[Loops117]

• Cull unnecessary workers
  (never release reproductives!)

Thought this was only for invasive species, and not native. As long as you release in the area of capture.

[drtrmiller]

Because IDs are not always certain, especially among beginners, it is useful to adopt a "just say no" policy with regard to releasing any reproductive ants to any area.

[NightsWebs]

ants in captivity have different biologics (bacteria etc) than the ants in the wild.  Releasing reproductive ants from captivity into the wild runs the risk of releasing these biologics into the general natural population.  I will not release any ants from my formicariums back into the wild instead they suffer the ultimate demise of freezing and trash removal. 

[aqandres4]

NightWebbs, I'm confused...

 

Wouldn't the ants in a formicarium be healthier than the ones in the wild?

 

I don't understand how bad it releasing them can be. (not that I will if you say it's bad, I won't. I'm just curious.)

 

Can you please explain what biologics I'd probably be releasing?

 

Thanks.

 

Also, I really appreciate the fact that you guys replied. I didn't expect to be seeing answers these detailed. Thanks again!

Edited by aqandres4, May 27 2016 - 11:19 AM.

[aqandres4]

 

• Cull unnecessary workers
  (never release reproductives!)

Thought this was only for invasive species, and not native. As long as you release in the area of capture.

 

They're almost all around where I live from what I've seen. If not, they're everywhere. I caught my Solenopsis invicta queen about half a block from where I live. As I was back to my house I saw a lot more queens traveling and a lot of things flying (which I presume are male and female alates). I even spotted this other ant queen that was like Solenopsis invicta but she was completely black (she was literally outside of my house). I wish I caught that one and another Solenopsis invicta just in case the one I have right now dies. I've been walking around my neighborhood keeping an eye on the ground for any other queens. I'm trying to analyze what triggers these nuptial flights. They definitely have nuptial flights after rainstorms, but I didn't see any males or females around flying. Maybe they're all done mating..? (I saw a lot of males and females flying at like five feet above the air.

[NightsWebs]

My formicariums are made of plastics, ytong and hydrostone. Absolutely none of these items exist in the desert where my species were captured and thus suffer different problems.  I expect mold to create its own issues not to mention I use large foraging areas but it still difficult to clean.  Another issue, I keep my ants contained and although I like fluon I still have issued with humidity so the lids stay on.  I have noticed when the lid is on the formicaries or foraging areas a smell builds up inside that takes several days to dissipate if the lids are removed.  I just see too much chance no matter how sterile I make their environment of the ants carrying differing diseases. I absolutely will not let species go that I maintain in captivity.