6 replies to this topic

[Rattus]

Hello!

 

Today, while feeding my colony, a thought came to my mind - What if we used controlled nest disturbance to positively affect the colony growth?

Will they (ants) change their habits... or, if they had castes, would that influence them. Lets say a larger and larger object is placed near or on the top of nest entrances?

Has anyone tried this or have any ideas, thoughts about it?

 

Rattus

[Aquaexploder]

AntsCanada has tried things like this. Here are a couple of videos:

[Rattus]

Thanks. Interesting. I can only agree with the duplication of the natural environment. Also, that gives some new points of view to study ants in general and might even lead to more natural behavior and so on.

[Loops117]

I have always stress trained my more common species of ants, and I barely have any issues with it either.

 

By "stress train", i mean pretty much the same conditions as living in the open on a computer desk. All of my ants are kept in glass top boxes that get usual day/night light schedule. as well as daily movements and vibrations. Since i am keeping these ants to look at, i want them to be used to human interactions. I don't want my ants to shy or run when i go to look at them. If i pick them up to put them in an easier area to view, i don't want them to think their world is flipping just from a few vibrations.

 

When i put my light on them for inspection or pictures, they have no problem with it. Your ants will get used to things as they happen, regardless if it's a human or nature.

[Antking117]

I have always stress trained my more common species of ants, and I barely have any issues with it either.

 

By "stress train", i mean pretty much the same conditions as living in the open on a computer desk. All of my ants are kept in glass top boxes that get usual day/night light schedule. as well as daily movements and vibrations. Since i am keeping these ants to look at, i want them to be used to human interactions. I don't want my ants to shy or run when i go to look at them. If i pick them up to put them in an easier area to view, i don't want them to think their world is flipping just from a few vibrations.

 

When i put my light on them for inspection or pictures, they have no problem with it. Your ants will get used to things as they happen, regardless if it's a human or nature.

will this work with queens aswell?

[Serafine]

I would not advise to disturb queens during founding. They might eat their eggs or not found at all if they feel too disturbed.

[dermy]

I do this with all my new colonies, once they get workers. The founding stage is always in the dark, I'll check on them once a week or so, remove dead queens if they are dead make sure there isn't major mold etc. Once they get workers it's into the light and usually within a week [mostly less] they are good to go. There are some species I've noticed that will almost always freak out anyway. Formica species are one.