7 replies to this topic

[CNewton]

As a pre-teen and teen, I marveled at the ant farms in toy stores. I'd beg my parents for a farm, sorely disappointed every time until I finally gave up. Back then, with no real access to internets, I thought finding queens was impossible. Why bother with an ant farm if they will just end up dying in the end?

 

Fast forward 20 years, and here I am, picking up a childhood dream. I have no intention of grandiose endeavors. I want a fun desk conversation piece. I want to play god. I want to see a little community grow and prosper under my care. I want to build a metropolis. It's like Minecraft, but with real live inhabitants!

 

So, my first year, so far has been a mix of accidental encounters, fruitless wood-wandering, and Tetramorium. I swear they are the S. invicta of the North...  The only ants I have found while actually looking for ants has been Tetramorium. Beyond that, I found Camponotus. Basically exactly what you don't want to find wandering around your house.

 

I have been begging my friend to not use pesticide around his house. he has a massive Crematogaster cerasi colony around his garage. I've seen a lone C. ashmeadi on my back patio. Now that it is August, I'm waiting and watching, rather impatiently, for flights. This is so much easier said than done. My lifestyle makes me a better candidate for early morning flights, not so much nightly ones. By 8:00 pm, I'm in bed! My days start at 3:00. That sort of explains the Tetramorium collection I've acquired!

 

I know my yard has Lasius, I've watched them. I have seen colonies of Formica while out walking the woods. I have broke open and lifted logs on lunch breaks and even ventured onto concrete loading docks while "working"! You would think I'd have wandered onto a queen at some point. Wait, there was that one time a queen flew into my office. It was a Tetramorium.

 

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate finding all these Tetra-queens. I do. My first one is about to eclose her first nanitics. It's exciting. But, it's like watching dandelions bloom. At least, of all ants, these form fast. Instant gratification. Practice run toward a more entertaining species. It's a hell of a lot more fun than watching the Camponotus for two or three months!

 

So, all you new guys, don't get discouraged. I'm right here with you, trying to find the "cool queens". Starting colonies from founding queens. Gleaning information from these forums to find that one perfect moment where the weather and month and stars align into a nuptial flight. If this isn't my year to find Crematogasters or Pheidole or Formicas, at least I've found some Dandelions so I can further understand how to grow the Orchids next year.

[StopSpazzing]

Wow, your childhood closely follows my young years. I did get an ant farm however, but only worker ants you buy and get shipped to you. Good luck in your adventures.

 

On a side note, isn't this still related to ants? I believe this topic should be moved to "on topic" sub forum.

Edited by StopSpazzing, August 1 2017 - 9:18 AM.

[AndersT]

I spent a lot of my childhood putting dirt in jars and then filling them with ants, to create my own little ant farm. That is, until I broke one of the jars in my room and ants went everywhere. It's safe to say that my mother wasn't happy.

[StopSpazzing]

I spent a lot of my childhood putting dirt in jars and then filling them with ants, to create my own little ant farm. That is, until I broke one of the jars in my room and ants went everywhere. It's safe to say that my mother wasn't happy.

Lol. I learned to never give ants sandwich meat, unless you like maggots.

[CNewton]

Well, this is awkward! Less than 12 hours after posting this, my situation has changed. I've managed to collect a couple small wild colonies.

 

My friend called my saying he found an ant with "a white stripe on the fat part". To my knowledge, there is no ant with a white striped gaster, but I went over to his house to look. I've been bugging him about his ants, so he's well versed in my little endeavor. He actually has the Crematogaster living in his garage that I've been scoping out. So, now the new project at the house is digging and leveling out one of the many raised flower beds scattered throughout his yard. Upon lifting some rocks, he found said ant with some other brood. He showed me when I got there

 

It was a heavily fed Prenolepis imparis. He picks up his shovel and starts digging. I was picking out ants and brood and dropping them into the containers I brought. After 2 shovelfuls, he spotted the queen and I dropped her into the container. I didn't like taking this whole colony from the wild, but the garden was, literally, about to be leveled and their nest destroyed. So, four tupperwares full of dirt and ants, I got ready to leave.

 

We, my friend had other plans. I think digging that nest out got him excited. He ripped the plastic sheeting off the garden top. He found a small nest of S. molesta and started digging again. Looks like they are getting ready to fly, as there were many alates hanging out. Then, I spotted the queen. So, grabbing another container, we collected that small colony as well.

 

I had a formicarium I had made from the "CrystalS Method" (that is so punny) of grout. This morning, I went through 3 of the 4 containers and got the imparis into their new home. Once they found the opening into the formicarium, brood, ants and the queen all made it inside and settled down. I'm excited about this find because I missed the flight of these girls. Since they don't mind cooler temps, I might even be able to let them hang out in my office with the AC.

 

Still holding out for those Crematogasters!

[Reevak]

I had a formicarium I had made from the "CrystalS Method" (that is so punny) of grout. This morning, I went through 3 of the 4 containers and got the imparis into their new home. Once they found the opening into the formicarium, brood, ants and the queen all made it inside and settled down. I'm excited about this find because I missed the flight of these girls. Since they don't mind cooler temps, I might even be able to let them hang out in my office with the AC.

How are the Prenolepis imparis doing and can you link me CrystalS's formicarium tutorial that you used? thanks

[ultraex2]

Congrats, good luck with the hunt for Crematogaster!  I've been trying to keep an eye out for them too, as well as Pheidole...

 

This is my first "full" year of anting too and I have a ton of colonies... my favorite one is probably the Aphaenogaster colony I collected from when my dad cut down a tree in his backyard, they are medium sized and aggressive so they're fun to watch.

[RhodyAnts]

Awesome score on the p. Imparis, and on the plus side you don't have to wait 3 months for nanitics like I did! So far mine have been great starter ants. Very forgiving. KEEP THEIR TEMPERATURES LOW!!! I'm having a bit of a."brood-pocalypse" right now because I didn't follow that rule. It might cost me my colonies otherwise though they've been great!

Where you from?