12 replies to this topic

[Alabama Anter]

  (This was before I was told not to do illegal shiz Please don't yell at me, but I think I'm still in team exotics, though I haven't participated in trades though.)   

 

 

 

 

Hey yall!


I have a Formica ​fusca colony, a Tetramorium sp E colony, and a Lasius niger colony, and Maybe a Camponotus pennsylvanicus/novaboracensis and I was wondering if they could do well together in a 30 or 50 gallon tank which I plan to turn into a natural setup so I can have an ecosystem. My question was do you think that they won't slaughter each other automatically? I understand when they grow bigger, that the colonies will dwindle down, and I plan to take them out before that.

[Alabama Anter]

  (This was before I was told not to do illegal shiz Please don't yell at me, but I think I'm still in team exotics, though I haven't participated in trades though.)   

 

 

 

 

Hey yall!


I have a Formica ​fusca colony, a Tetramorium sp E colony, and a Lasius niger colony, and Maybe a Camponotus pennsylvanicus/novaboracensis and I was wondering if they could do well together in a 30 or 50 gallon tank which I plan to turn into a natural setup so I can have an ecosystem. My question was do you think that they won't slaughter each other automatically? I understand when they grow bigger, that the colonies will dwindle down, and I plan to take them out before that.

 

Ok scratch this. A friend has told me that Camponotus and Lasius niger are super aggressive. Any other suggestions?

[Reevak]

I'd imagine that that is not enough room if you are planning on doing this. With that little room, I imagine that if you tried feeding them anything, two colonies would find it because there isn't a large distance to travel and then they would fight. Even if you tried to feed them enough to where they wouldn't need to travel to find food, the ants would still explore the entire area. They would just end up killing each others queens and most likely you will end up with 1 queen, 1 injured queen, or no queens at all. Also, Tetramorium sp. E is relatively aggressive and would surely fight. I'm not sure about the other species but I don't think it would end up well either way.

Edited by Reevak, February 4 2017 - 5:45 PM.

[Reevak]

Any other suggestions?

You could put the colonies in separate fomicariums and give them separate outworlds but put them close to each other. Maybe even rap the tubing between the formicarium and outworld of one colony around another's. That way they will look like they live close by but can't actually get to each other.

Edited by Reevak, February 4 2017 - 7:03 PM.

[Leo]

https://www.gamergat...arium-of-the-34

[Serafine]

Camponotus tend to be aggressive towards other ants and their majors excel at killing them. Some of them are more aggressive than others though.

Tetramorium are super aggressive towards other ants but occupy a very limited territory (often only about 30 meters).

[LC3]

All of these ants are quite territorial. 

Like stated above Camponotus pennsylvanicus are very aggressive, while Tetramorium sp. e are highly territorial, most likely getting into fights with Lasius niger, which can excel at killing them. Formica fusca is probably the most timid one out of all of them and I wouldn't be surprised if they were wiped out. Overall this idea requires way too much space and maintenance. I can't possibly see how this idea would work at all. The best chance you have is to get an ant species that compliments one another, usually a small inconspicuous ant and a larger slow growing ant. Say Strumigenys and Cephalotes; one is a leaf litre ambush predator another one is an arboreal scavenger, the two if in the right environment would likely never interact. Even then you would need lots of space and an ideal environment. 

 

I wouldn't advocate doing this at all if you would like to keep your colonies in one piece.

Edited by LC3, February 4 2017 - 9:05 PM.

[Alabama Anter]

All of these ants are quite territorial. 

Like stated above Camponotus pennsylvanicus are very aggressive, while Tetramorium sp. e are highly territorial, most likely getting into fights with Lasius niger, which can excel at killing them. Formica fusca is probably the most timid one out of all of them and I wouldn't be surprised if they were wiped out. Overall this idea requires way too much space and maintenance. I can't possibly see how this idea would work at all. The best chance you have is to get an ant species that compliments one another, usually a small inconspicuous ant and a larger slow growing ant. Say Strumigenys and Cephalotes; one is a leaf litre ambush predator another one is an arboreal scavenger, the two if in the right environment would likely never interact. Even then you would need lots of space and an ideal environment. 

 

I wouldn't advocate doing this at all if you would like to keep your colonies in one piece.

 

Thanks so much! One of my good friends told me the same thing xD. He said Temnothorax could work out with an arboreal genus like Crematogaster. I don't think I will try this until I'm a little more experienced.

[Canadian anter]

I've done Temnothorax and Camponotus at some point.

[Alabama Anter]

I've done Temnothorax and Camponotus at some point.

Oh wow! That's really cool! I think there's some colonies near my church, but I don't know if they are Solenopsis molesta...

[LC3]

 

I've done Temnothorax and Camponotus at some point.

Oh wow! That's really cool! I think there's some colonies near my church, but I don't know if they are Solenopsis molesta...

 

I think S.molesta is smaller then most Temnothorax, with S.molesta being around 1.5mm while Temnothorax at around 3mm. Temnothorax also have rugae (ridges) that run across them, compared to S.molesta which are completely smooth. The colonies of S.molesta can dwarf their Temnothorax counterparts in size. Queens of Temnothorax resemble Myrmica queens. S.molesta and other thief ant queens have a large disproportionate elongated gaster. Somewhat like Camponotus queens.

Edited by LC3, February 5 2017 - 2:17 PM.

[Mdrogun]

Even if you got your hands on an S. molesta colony this still probably wouldn't work out. They will most likely either directly harm the other ants or steal their brood. Because they're so tiny most ants probably won't even notice them and that would allow the S. molesta to do a ton of damage.

[Alabama Anter]

 

 

I've done Temnothorax and Camponotus at some point.

Oh wow! That's really cool! I think there's some colonies near my church, but I don't know if they are Solenopsis molesta...

 

I think S.molesta is smaller then most Temnothorax, with S.molesta being around 1.5mm while Temnothorax at around 3mm. Temnothorax also have rugae (ridges) that run across them, compared to S.molesta which are completely smooth. The colonies of S.molesta can dwarf their Temnothorax counterparts in size. Queens of Temnothorax resemble Myrmica queens. S.molesta and other thief ant queens have a large disproportionate elongated gaster. Somewhat like Camponotus queens.

 

Yeah, I think I found an underground colony

Even if you got your hands on an S. molesta colony this still probably wouldn't work out. They will most likely either directly harm the other ants or steal their brood. Because they're so tiny most ants probably won't even notice them and that would allow the S. molesta to do a ton of damage.

Yeah, I agree