10 replies to this topic

[Silvak]

I've always been interested in animal behavior and tried disasterously to keep ants when I was as a child. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I took a serious look at ants again. To my surprise, the hobby/community is remarkable organized and sophisticated. As of right now, I don't have any ants at all. I've been really interested in the Myrmecocystus species, but from the journals here it seems you all have been having difficulty with them for the most part. It's the repletes that really have me facinated. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Chromerust]

Hi Silvak. Yeah Honeypots are not the best ants for beginners, but the challenge is part of the fun. I encourage you to go ahead dive right in, ant keeping is also about a lot of luck and you never know what the outcome will be. I plan on visiting Phoenix soon, I lived there for several years until recently. I'll let you know because I plan on doing some anting while I'm there.

[dspdrew]

Welcome! You are in the absolute best place in North America when it comes to ants.

[Gregory2455]

AZ is the dream location of all ant keepers. I suggest once you get into ants, you look at species sich as Myrmecocystus, Atta mexicana, Acromyrmex versicolor, Odontomachus clarus, and Cephalotes rohweri (or however you spell the last one). Welcome, you will learn a lot, you joined before any of these cool ants have fliwn, and good luck!

[Silvak]

@Chromerust - That would be great!

@dspdrew & Gregory2455 - Now I feel really special. I've been reading up on Acromyrmex versicolor which have their own charm and I'll definately look at the others!

[DesertAntz]

Welcome. Glad to see someone else from Arizona on the forums. 

[Gregory2455]

@Chromerust - That would be great!

@dspdrew & Gregory2455 - Now I feel really special. I've been reading up on Acromyrmex versicolor which have their own charm and I'll definately look at the others!

Atta mexicana are like the level two of Acromyrmex versicolor. They do the same thing, but are larger, have more and larger castes, and make larger colonies.

[Michaelofvancouver]

Welcome from Vancouver!

 

If only we could switch locations, I definitely would! Your local ants are very cool.

[Servercheck]

Welcome to the forum!

[Silvak]

@DesertAnts - You were one of the reasons I picked this forum. I couldn't find anyone else from Arizona (recently active) on any of the other forums. I look forward to swapping info with you.

@Gregory - Neat! I think something smaller will cause less of a stir with the wife.....at least starting out.

@Michael - I'm originally from Southern Alberta and we would vacation on Vancouver Island almost every year. If it were possible I would take you up on your trade offer. I love that area!

Thanks for the warm welcome everybody!

[DesertAntz]

Awesome. I'm still somewhat new to ant keeping as well but will gladly share any knowledge I might have with you. 

 

Plus, if you're down, we can probably meet up and go anting when the flights really start getting serious.