8 replies to this topic

[Chomp231]

If a hole is only big enough for workers to go through (mabey elates too) but not a queen, at the end of a running tube to outside, would this be a ok idea or no? Like let them do a little outside in one of my formicariums just as a experament and it might let them do garbage disposal better to the wild?

[Evanthomas89]

If a hole is only big enough for workers to go through (mabey elates too) but not a queen, at the end of a running tube to outside, would this be a ok idea or no? Like let them do a little outside in one of my formicariums just as a experament and it might let them do garbage disposal better to the wild?

 

I'm pretty sure it's generally frowned upon allowing captive animals out into the wild even if it's just to forage for food. 

[Batspiderfish]

Plus this is going to allow mites and wild colonies access to your nest.

[Chomp231]

The mite thing i was considering a risk and I'm wondering if anyone has tested these mites for weaknesses, as in repelling smells plants ect? but for the enemy colonies if its only one hole and one tube then itd be a bottle neck only allowing one worker in at a time to mabey a thousand ants and i personally don't mind those odds bc the hole would be big enough for say my formica but not a camponarus to squeeze through even or lesser size against more enemies then you can get through at once, and on the captive ants statement i captured them from the yard i live in so wouldn't it not effect the outside enviornment?

[Connectimyrmex]

I considered this idea as well. It would not work, because of the fact that most ants, given access to a better wild environment, would move. Nomadic ants like Tapinoma sessile can squeeze through any crack large enough to fit a thorax (Tapinoma sessile queens have surprisingly flexible gasters). I know that you are asking this because of your "breeding" project. It is better to just ant-proof a room and give the ants free reign in it.

[Chomp231]

Ohhh that want my breeding experament i was trying to see if theyd make a interior ecosystem and a bunch of other stuff if it worked i was gonna see if theyd do basic terraforming and other stuff more like a eniornment studdy if the queen would be able to be trapped and not her workers, would this work with formica or carpenter ants at all?

[Connectimyrmex]

If you want to study terraforming, why not get a bin of soil and put a colony in it?

[Chomp231]

id need the colony to not just move out when they are in and ima give them the opertunity to chose what grows in their enviornment from a mostly sterile enviornment (sand and wormcastings no seeds). Would a queen Camponotus, or formica be able to squeeze through a worker sized hole? And does anyone know the name of the red mites scientific or not? (i am not concerned with the white mites)

Edited by Chomp231, October 3 2017 - 6:32 AM.

[Connectimyrmex]

Most red ant mites are parasitic and can become a serious problem