Post by TenebrousNova on Oct 17, 2019 20:19:20 GMT
A while back I ordered a lovely colony of Meranoplus bicolor from Detritus-Ant, a French seller. I have kept these ants before and found them fun to watch, and honestly very cute as well. This colony has one queen, over fifty workers and a decent sized brood pile. I've also made a custom formicarium for them to live in, which I hope they appreciate.
To the uninitiated, Meranoplus mostly comes from Asia (And can also be found in Australia) and is nicknamed the "shield ant" which comes from the shape of their broad, spiny backs. The workers look similar to Crematogaster but their exoskeletons have an almost scaly appearance. They are also very, very hairy, enough that you can see their hairs as a shining outline with the naked eye. These hairs actually serve as one of Meranoplus's defence mechanisms, since it's much harder for other ants to bite or sting them through the hair. Should they be accosted by an ant undeterred by the hairs, they have another defence: they will turn around to display their gaster and exude a small droplet of a chemical from the end that will make hostile ants run away and frantically clean themselves.
Because of their sedate, slow behaviour and their reliance on chemical defences, they will not bother other ants and can actually be kept communally with other ants such as Temnothorax- something I'd like to put to the test one day.
Anyway, here is the colony!
Queen:
Workers slowly exploring their new home:
Worker drinking some sugar water. They have also taken a cricket, although I didn't get a photo of that:
And here's their set up. For more information, see this thread. I've also added some dwarf white woodlice, which the sharp reader might be able to spot in the moss.
They show no signs of wanting to move out just yet and only a few workers have briefly visited the nest, but I'm sure they'll move out eventually.
As always, comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.
To the uninitiated, Meranoplus mostly comes from Asia (And can also be found in Australia) and is nicknamed the "shield ant" which comes from the shape of their broad, spiny backs. The workers look similar to Crematogaster but their exoskeletons have an almost scaly appearance. They are also very, very hairy, enough that you can see their hairs as a shining outline with the naked eye. These hairs actually serve as one of Meranoplus's defence mechanisms, since it's much harder for other ants to bite or sting them through the hair. Should they be accosted by an ant undeterred by the hairs, they have another defence: they will turn around to display their gaster and exude a small droplet of a chemical from the end that will make hostile ants run away and frantically clean themselves.
Because of their sedate, slow behaviour and their reliance on chemical defences, they will not bother other ants and can actually be kept communally with other ants such as Temnothorax- something I'd like to put to the test one day.
Anyway, here is the colony!
Queen:
Workers slowly exploring their new home:
Worker drinking some sugar water. They have also taken a cricket, although I didn't get a photo of that:
And here's their set up. For more information, see this thread. I've also added some dwarf white woodlice, which the sharp reader might be able to spot in the moss.
They show no signs of wanting to move out just yet and only a few workers have briefly visited the nest, but I'm sure they'll move out eventually.
As always, comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.
