4 replies to this topic

[Jaybug]

My 9 year old son is crazy about ants so we have experimented building quite a few formicariums. We have caught lots of local trap jaw ants but struggling to find a queen. Even spent 3 hours this morning following a colony tunnel two feet underground! Lots of careful digging. No luck. Looking to buy a queen or small colony. (Odontomachus).

[Air]

Hi Jay! Welcome to Formiculture, we're happy to see another Florida ant keeper! For Odontomachus, they are a bit "rare". If you have some woods nearby, look under rocks, under leaf piles, and you can find a founding colony or a even a small colony of them! Also, I am sure you found a queen, the queen looks almost identical to her workers, except the bigger thorax. As for digging up colonies, research how deep they dig, and try to see what size the workers are. If they are nanitics, it will be a lot easier to dig!

[Goldsystem]

Welcome to formiculture, I'll be very jealous if you find one! Looking forward to your journal if you start one.

[Jaybug]

Thanks for the info Ice. We caught about 30 workers around the hole at the surface and more on the way down. We did get 6 come out of the last chamber before I lost the tunnel at about the two foot depth. Where we live the water table is very high so I doubt it would go much lower. That may have been bottom chamber. No brood. We have them in the new formicarium and are working on the out world. Will post pictures when I figure out the process.

[WickedTico]

Welcome!