13 replies to this topic

[Scrixx]

Caught four Pogonmyrmex sp. yesterday and placed them in a standard test tube setup. My problem is that they seem to be terrible at climbing and can't even walk horizontally in the glass test tubes. They seem to be in constant stress and are always biting, stringing and pulling at the cotton, both the wet side with the water and the dry side towards the exit. Will they settle in the future or should I do something to make it more hospitable for them?

 

One of the queens laid two eggs. Though she is still trying to walk up the sides of the tubes but is constantly slipping down. Though that might be because I bothered her by checking. 

 

Any tips please?

[Martialis]

They're semi-claustral. Feed them.

[VoidElecent]

I don't know Pogonomyrmex traction on glass, for my Ponera pennsylvanica queens I designed a little grout floor for them since the glass was hard for them to walk on as well. Martialis is right, these suckers are semi-claustral like Myrmica and Veromessor species. I would recommend opening up the test tubes to little outworlds and regularly (every 2-3 days or so) feed them small, soft-bodied arthropods like fruit flies. You can read more about semi-claustral founding techniques in the wild here.

 

Good luck with your harvester ants!

Edited by VoidElecent, July 7 2017 - 1:02 PM.

[Scrixx]

They're semi-claustral. Feed them.

 

That would explain it.

 

If I caught these queens while they were foraging would they lay new eggs if they already laid eggs in a nest they dug out?

[Scrixx]

I don't know Pogonomyrmex traction on glass, for my Ponera pennsylvanica queens I designed a little grout floor for them since the glass was hard for them to walk on as well. Martialis is right, these suckers are semi-claustral like Myrmica and Veromessor species. I would recommend opening up the test tubes to little outworlds and regularly (every 2-3 days or so) feed them small, soft-bodied arthropods like fruit flies. You can read more about semi-claustral founding techniques in the wild here.

 

Good luck with your harvester ants!

 

Thanks! Since it hasn't rained in a while these ants are probably not newly mated. If they laid eggs in a nest somewhere and I caught them while they were foraging. Are they able to technically restart their founding stage in the tubes?

 

I fed all four queens honey and they're drinking away! Hopefully that calms them down. Though is any insect okay to feed them as long as I boil it first? New to the hobby so I don't have any roaches or mealworms.

[Martialis]

Boling will denture the protein (making it a less attractive food) and not necessarily get rid of chemicals already absorbed by the insects. It's safer to do this in an area where pesticide use is not common, otherwise could lead to ant death.

[Scrixx]

Boling will denture the protein (making it a less attractive food) and not necessarily get rid of chemicals already absorbed by the insects. It's safer to do this in an area where pesticide use is not common, otherwise could lead to ant death.

 

I'm planning on making a trip up the mountains so maybe I'll catch a few insects to take home. 

 

Also all four queens have been fed honey and it was cool to see them instantly start drinking it. What other foods will a founding queen take aside from honey and crushed insects?

 

[Ants_Texas]

Caught four Pogonmyrmex sp. yesterday and placed them in a standard test tube setup. My problem is that they seem to be terrible at climbing and can't even walk horizontally in the glass test tubes. They seem to be in constant stress and are always biting, stringing and pulling at the cotton, both the wet side with the water and the dry side towards the exit. Will they settle in the future or should I do something to make it more hospitable for them?

 

One of the queens laid two eggs. Though she is still trying to walk up the sides of the tubes but is constantly slipping down. Though that might be because I bothered her by checking. 

 

Any tips please?

I find that they like dirt setups, maybe in a tuperware container, much more. That way, they can dig it how they want. Make sure you offer them an outworld type area (doesn't have to be big), and add some honey/crushed seeds in there. Maybe even some fruit flies.

[VoidElecent]

 

I don't know Pogonomyrmex traction on glass, for my Ponera pennsylvanica queens I designed a little grout floor for them since the glass was hard for them to walk on as well. Martialis is right, these suckers are semi-claustral like Myrmica and Veromessor species. I would recommend opening up the test tubes to little outworlds and regularly (every 2-3 days or so) feed them small, soft-bodied arthropods like fruit flies. You can read more about semi-claustral founding techniques in the wild here.

 

Good luck with your harvester ants!

 

Thanks! Since it hasn't rained in a while these ants are probably not newly mated. If they laid eggs in a nest somewhere and I caught them while they were foraging. Are they able to technically restart their founding stage in the tubes?

 

I fed all four queens honey and they're drinking away! Hopefully that calms them down. Though is any insect okay to feed them as long as I boil it first? New to the hobby so I don't have any roaches or mealworms.

 

 

My brother and I actually caught a semi-claustral Myrmica incompleta queen foraging for her brood in April, in a parking lot. We caught her, and placed her in a test tube setup connecting to a small foraging area. We didn't even feed this queen as often as we should have, and she now has two workers! It's totally possible.

[Scrixx]

 

Caught four Pogonmyrmex sp. yesterday and placed them in a standard test tube setup. My problem is that they seem to be terrible at climbing and can't even walk horizontally in the glass test tubes. They seem to be in constant stress and are always biting, stringing and pulling at the cotton, both the wet side with the water and the dry side towards the exit. Will they settle in the future or should I do something to make it more hospitable for them?

 

One of the queens laid two eggs. Though she is still trying to walk up the sides of the tubes but is constantly slipping down. Though that might be because I bothered her by checking. 

 

Any tips please?

I find that they like dirt setups, maybe in a tuperware container, much more. That way, they can dig it how they want. Make sure you offer them an outworld type area (doesn't have to be big), and add some honey/crushed seeds in there. Maybe even some fruit flies.

 

 

Is that as simple as placing sterile dirt in a container? Do I have to worry about keeping the nest moist?

[Scrixx]

 

 

I don't know Pogonomyrmex traction on glass, for my Ponera pennsylvanica queens I designed a little grout floor for them since the glass was hard for them to walk on as well. Martialis is right, these suckers are semi-claustral like Myrmica and Veromessor species. I would recommend opening up the test tubes to little outworlds and regularly (every 2-3 days or so) feed them small, soft-bodied arthropods like fruit flies. You can read more about semi-claustral founding techniques in the wild here.

 

Good luck with your harvester ants!

 

Thanks! Since it hasn't rained in a while these ants are probably not newly mated. If they laid eggs in a nest somewhere and I caught them while they were foraging. Are they able to technically restart their founding stage in the tubes?

 

I fed all four queens honey and they're drinking away! Hopefully that calms them down. Though is any insect okay to feed them as long as I boil it first? New to the hobby so I don't have any roaches or mealworms.

 

 

My brother and I actually caught a semi-claustral Myrmica incompleta queen foraging for her brood in April, in a parking lot. We caught her, and placed her in a test tube setup connecting to a small foraging area. We didn't even feed this queen as often as we should have, and she now has two workers! It's totally possible.

 

 

Nice! Looks like I'll try to pick up some containers and give them a foraging area ASAP. What can I feed her aside from insects caught in the mountains away from pesticides? I read they can't open seeds larger than 1mm but they still collect them so is there anything I can access that the queens can eat?

[JasonD]

 

 

Caught four Pogonmyrmex sp. yesterday and placed them in a standard test tube setup. My problem is that they seem to be terrible at climbing and can't even walk horizontally in the glass test tubes. They seem to be in constant stress and are always biting, stringing and pulling at the cotton, both the wet side with the water and the dry side towards the exit. Will they settle in the future or should I do something to make it more hospitable for them?

 

One of the queens laid two eggs. Though she is still trying to walk up the sides of the tubes but is constantly slipping down. Though that might be because I bothered her by checking. 

 

Any tips please?

I find that they like dirt setups, maybe in a tuperware container, much more. That way, they can dig it how they want. Make sure you offer them an outworld type area (doesn't have to be big), and add some honey/crushed seeds in there. Maybe even some fruit flies.

 

 

Is that as simple as placing sterile dirt in a container? Do I have to worry about keeping the nest moist?

 

 

If you're using a dirt nest setup you need to worry about keeping it moist. You also need to worry about using the right dirt so that tunnels don't collapse when they dry out. There is plenty of info on dirt box formicariums if you search the forum. Dirt setups can be really nice but if you don't do any research you could mess up. 

The simplest thing to do would be place your test tube in a foraging container that has (dry, sterile) dirt or sand. Don't worry about her being restless, she will likely settle. 

[Scrixx]

 

 

 

Caught four Pogonmyrmex sp. yesterday and placed them in a standard test tube setup. My problem is that they seem to be terrible at climbing and can't even walk horizontally in the glass test tubes. They seem to be in constant stress and are always biting, stringing and pulling at the cotton, both the wet side with the water and the dry side towards the exit. Will they settle in the future or should I do something to make it more hospitable for them?

 

One of the queens laid two eggs. Though she is still trying to walk up the sides of the tubes but is constantly slipping down. Though that might be because I bothered her by checking. 

 

Any tips please?

I find that they like dirt setups, maybe in a tuperware container, much more. That way, they can dig it how they want. Make sure you offer them an outworld type area (doesn't have to be big), and add some honey/crushed seeds in there. Maybe even some fruit flies.

 

 

Is that as simple as placing sterile dirt in a container? Do I have to worry about keeping the nest moist?

 

 

If you're using a dirt nest setup you need to worry about keeping it moist. You also need to worry about using the right dirt so that tunnels don't collapse when they dry out. There is plenty of info on dirt box formicariums if you search the forum. Dirt setups can be really nice but if you don't do any research you could mess up. 

The simplest thing to do would be place your test tube in a foraging container that has (dry, sterile) dirt or sand. Don't worry about her being restless, she will likely settle. 

 

 

Okay from what I've found I can keep her in a container and just put the test tube in there with some dirt. That way she'll have an outworld and I won't have to worry about keeping the soil moist.

 

Can I feed semi-claustral queens other ants? I took a few worker ants from a walk to ID some local species and thought about if I could feed them to the queen. After freezing the workers of course.

[Ants_Texas]

 

 

 

 

Caught four Pogonmyrmex sp. yesterday and placed them in a standard test tube setup. My problem is that they seem to be terrible at climbing and can't even walk horizontally in the glass test tubes. They seem to be in constant stress and are always biting, stringing and pulling at the cotton, both the wet side with the water and the dry side towards the exit. Will they settle in the future or should I do something to make it more hospitable for them?

 

One of the queens laid two eggs. Though she is still trying to walk up the sides of the tubes but is constantly slipping down. Though that might be because I bothered her by checking. 

 

Any tips please?

I find that they like dirt setups, maybe in a tuperware container, much more. That way, they can dig it how they want. Make sure you offer them an outworld type area (doesn't have to be big), and add some honey/crushed seeds in there. Maybe even some fruit flies.

 

 

Is that as simple as placing sterile dirt in a container? Do I have to worry about keeping the nest moist?

 

 

If you're using a dirt nest setup you need to worry about keeping it moist. You also need to worry about using the right dirt so that tunnels don't collapse when they dry out. There is plenty of info on dirt box formicariums if you search the forum. Dirt setups can be really nice but if you don't do any research you could mess up. 

The simplest thing to do would be place your test tube in a foraging container that has (dry, sterile) dirt or sand. Don't worry about her being restless, she will likely settle. 

 

 

Okay from what I've found I can keep her in a container and just put the test tube in there with some dirt. That way she'll have an outworld and I won't have to worry about keeping the soil moist.

 

Can I feed semi-claustral queens other ants? I took a few worker ants from a walk to ID some local species and thought about if I could feed them to the queen. After freezing the workers of course.

 

Ants don't tend to be very nutritious, but you can give it a go if you'd like to.