what part of a colony eats protein?

[sithmaster676]

hi all haven't posted aything on the forum for a long time. I have been having a discussion with a few members about what part of the colony eats things like insects, I know larva do but does the queen ?
Sithmaster676

[Wood~Ant]

Queens and even workers will eat some form of protein, usually in the form of dead insects, as then they can pass some of this onto growing larvae via trophallaxis.

Alate males are fed a purely liquid diet which consists mostly of sugars, as they need to have high energy levels for flying. As do female alates which are also fed mainly with high energy foods, but do get some protein and fats to build up body reserves to keep them going while they raise their first brood.
As you may already know, a newly mated queen ant also uses the degenerated muscles from her wings. This body mass turns to liquid fats and sugars which she can use as a kind of soup to feed first generation larvae.

[sithmaster676]

ok thanks a lot for your help
That has cleared a lot up for me.
Sithmaster676

[shaunus]

Ok, that seems fair enough, but the solid food that is brought back, what happens to it when it is dry of juice that can be consumed, and has little content left? It is surely prone to molding over time? I for one have never seen them bringing up the remain of a meal. How does the recycling system work for ants, may I ask? Or are they landfill loyalists? It won't work, I'm telling ya, you'll run out of space!!!

[Jenny]

After feeding flies to our Messors, they disect them and take a part or whole of a fly down the nest entrance. You very often see a few hours later, the dried up carcass being dragged back out and thrown on the midden pile in the corner of the tank. The midden either rots away, or you disgard some of the remains yourself if it builds up a lot.

I have very often seen ants returning to this part of the tank, to scout over any parts they may have missed. Ants are very much like other insects and animals, they won't clutter their home up with unwanted rubbish were it is going to cause harm and disease..........

In the wild of course the midden is outside the nest, a bit difficult when you are stuck in a tank! They usually opt for a corner, or in the case of the uprights, they throw the remains in the feeding dish or foraging area along with any dead sisters, which again is down the tube and so outside of the nest

[Wood~Ant]

shaunus said:

Ok, that seems fair enough, but the solid food that is brought back, what happens to it when it is dry of juice that can be consumed, and has little content left? It is surely prone to molding over time? I for one have never seen them bringing up the remain of a meal. How does the recycling system work for ants, may I ask? Or are they landfill loyalists? It won't work, I'm telling ya, you'll run out of space!!!

Unlike us, all insects have their skeleton on the outside, or what is referred to as an 'Exoskeleton'. Once all the fluids have been drained from inside the body, the hard dead shell is left, and this is what is placed on the midden.
In the wild, the dried up carcasses of the insects exoskeleton are in time blown away by the wind, or washed away by heavy rain. Inside a captive colony set up, this does not happen of course, and the carcass will slowly but surely begin to decompose owing to the presence of moisture, warmth and bacteria. Therefore it is best to clear away any dead bodies from the midden yourself from time to time.

As Jen said, we often clean up the midden in our Messor barbarus colony tank, as it is only about 7cms (approx. 3 inches) from the nest entrance.
Whereas in a wild colony their midden may well be placed 2 or 3 metres, or more from the nest site.
Ants are meticulous when it comes to keeping both themselves and their nests clean, and that is why ants in the wild are often far more healthy and disease free than some captive colonies, because we cannot always provide our own ants with the same fastidious conditions that they have in the wild.