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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 22, 2016 13:46:45 GMT
Hello! As some people may have noticed my presence here has been diminished for the last few years. I will admit that I got a bit too invested in my other pets and decided to drop ants for a while. But I've been spending a lot of time in the garden watching the Lasius niger colony recently and my passion for myrmecology has flared up again...so this summer I will have a go at keeping a few colonies. I'm just not sure what species I should get. My first candidate is Lasius niger. Straightforward and common but fascinating all the same. I'll catch a queen when they start the nuptial flights although if I can find an L.flavus queen, I'll certainly give that a try. I'd also like a foreign species. My main candidates are Messor barbarus and Pheidole pallidula, which I loved keeping...the trouble is choosing between them, and that's where you guys come in! I don't want more than two colonies at the moment, that was where I had trouble last time. I had so many colonies that I found it difficult to keep on top of everything. Last time I was kind of struggling to find suitable containers they could live in and so most of my colonies lived in crappy cricket boxes filled with soil...this time I'll get something more appropriate. Any and all opinions are much appreciated. It's a pleasure to be back.  |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 22, 2016 14:44:46 GMT
Good to hear you're getting back into the hobby again. I found Messor so much easier to keep than Pheidole, as I have had to stand my silver tank in a cat litter tray with an inch of water to form a moat, as otherwise dozens of workers keep getting out all over the work surface in our kitchen. No laughing matter when they find our canary cage as they keep nicking his seeds.  |
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Post by Jenny on Jun 22, 2016 17:50:24 GMT
Good news Jake  but don't stick to just nigers, there are so many species to choose from  |
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 22, 2016 20:00:32 GMT
Good news Jake but don't stick to just nigers, there are so many species to choose from Thanks Jen! I am giving Manica rubida some serious consideration. |
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 22, 2016 20:31:47 GMT
Hm...I've found a P.pallidula colony for a reasonable price and a pair of M.structor queens with a small number of workers that's also not too pricey. Definitely getting the Pheidole, are M.structor about as difficult to keep as M.barbarus?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 22, 2016 21:28:15 GMT
Hm...I've found a P.pallidula colony for a reasonable price and a pair of M.structor queens with a small number of workers that's also not too pricey. Definitely getting the Pheidole, are M.structor about as difficult to keep as M.barbarus? I kept Messor structor and found them the same, as the genus are all seed harvesters. |
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 23, 2016 0:23:18 GMT
That's excellent news, might order a two-queen colony by next weekend. I have searched extensively for a Manica rubida colony but was only able to find queens, and most of those are unavailable.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 23, 2016 7:48:51 GMT
Sadly I no longer have my old journal on Messor structor for you to read, thanks to some lunatic who posted abuse here on this forum about how I kept ants. Such a shame we get the odd nutter who just likes to spoil things, but such as he will never be a true ant lover and know that every hobby involving live animals has its ups and downs, its successes and failures. I look forward to you getting your ants, and will offer any advice to help you keep them, so that you will get the most enjoyment out of them.  |
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Post by Driver Ant on Jun 23, 2016 16:11:52 GMT
Unlike most Messor which only have 1 queen per colony, structor is more like Myrmica and can have several. Not too big either and very hard body armour.
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Post by TenebrousNova on Jun 23, 2016 16:22:38 GMT
Unlike most Messor which only have 1 queen per colony, structor is more like Myrmica and can have several. Not too big either and very hard body armour. That's my main reason for choosing them to be honest. Personally, I think it's a pity to keep a polygynous species if you're only going to have one queen. |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Jun 23, 2016 17:01:58 GMT
Unlike most Messor which only have 1 queen per colony, structor is more like Myrmica and can have several. Not too big either and very hard body armour. That's my main reason for choosing them to be honest. Personally, I think it's a pity to keep a polygynous species if you're only going to have one queen. That's very true, it was a shame I never found a colony of Formica lusatica with more than 1 queen, as although she is a good mother and egg producer each year, I think the colony would be a lot bigger if it had 3 or more queens? Also when a queen dies it means that unlike a monogyn species the colony doesn't die out if it has another queen or more to keep it going.  |
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