|
Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 21, 2016 7:25:04 GMT
This notice was shown in the Guardian newspaper just 2 days ago, which is as sad as when we lose a colony of our own. The Ant Queen has died.
|
|
|
Post by jeoff82 on Oct 21, 2016 13:18:54 GMT
This sign was there when I went 2 months ago. Also the dead queen with all the dead workers was just left there. They would be better off with a Lasius niger colony in a giant upright glass formicarium. Just as interesting for the kids. Or maybe one of the rarer Formica species native to this country that everyone can relate to, maybe raise some awareness.
|
|
|
Post by elitzchupa on Oct 23, 2016 0:46:40 GMT
This sign was there when I visited last year for my birthday. Has it really been that long and no replacement?
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 23, 2016 7:25:57 GMT
This sign was there when I visited last year for my birthday. Has it really been that long and no replacement? Same thing happened at Marwell Zoo when their colony of Atta lost the queen. It took over 7 months before they got a new colony, even though the old one died out fast once the queen died. I think they must clean the set up to get rid of bacteria, mould etc before putting a new ant colony in it? This sign was there when I went 2 months ago. Also the dead queen with all the dead workers was just left there. They would be better off with a Lasius niger colony in a giant upright glass formicarium. Just as interesting for the kids. Or maybe one of the rarer Formica species native to this country that everyone can relate to, maybe raise some awareness. Every zoo seems to think a leaf cutter colony attracts more visitors, as people want to see ants cut up leaves and forage a lot. They could get many other of the larger ant species/genera that would be as interesting, as the foraging habits of ants such as Formica rufa have trails going for hundreds of metres or yards from the nest, so a colony of something like Camponotus singularis would be perfect and probably take up less space than a colony of Atta which can reach several million ants.
|
|