Very picky ants

[dthunter]

I have a colony of black garden ants who are still in the test tube I first put the queen in last year. They are in a small plastic tank with peat/sand and a small stone in it for them. The queen now has about 20+ workers but they look only a little bit bigger than the first lot of workers she had. The ants used to like banana's and spiders, but now they will only eat pears and don't touch the killed spiders, crickets, or maggots I have put in for them. I put the food in and take it out after two days so it doesn't rot or go moldy. I have not tried flies yet because I can't find any and the maggots haven't pupated yet.

I would love to know how to get these ants out of the test tube now, but I don't want to tip them out because when I have tried this in the past the ants have died. Also where the ant's have blocked the other end with the soil(peat/sand), the queen sits in there so she is out of the light.

[Wood~Ant]

If you do not wish to force the ants out of the test tube, then it might be better to leave them alone and wait to see if the queen vacates it herself once things get too hot during summer

At least they are eating something, even if it is only bits of pear, as fruit supplies the adults with fructose (a natural simple sugar found in fruit) which is as good for them as honey would be.
Jen and I find our own ants love small flies just as much as larger insects, as they don't seem to mind what their larvae eat.
If spiders are being uneaten, but the colony seems healthy and is growing well, worry not, as I am sure they will find a taste for other kinds of protein foods such as flies; and you should find small caterpillars around soon which I have never known any ants to turn down as good meal