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Post by garyd on Aug 29, 2007 15:14:48 GMT
 I have tried sugar water, honey, natural jam - they have ignored any of this from the start and now rarely forage at all (unless they do this at night whilst I'm in bed). Any insects are attacked and dragged into the nest area but then promptly discarded in the 'graveyard' area of the nest! I wonder if anyone has has experience of these ants ,and, how I can get them to eat . I'm hoping they will not run out of energy and die  Also today the queen started walking up and down the connecting tube between the basin and nest area and the workers then started following her with eggs and cocoons in tow! Unfortunately I had to leave for work at that point so who knows what I'll find when I get home!! Cheers Gary.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 29, 2007 18:30:15 GMT
Hi Gary and welcome to the Ant Hill  I too have a colony of these ants, and they seem to like eating spiders. You may find that the insects are eaten when fresh, but they discard them when they dry up or start to grow mould. A. senilis are not normally too fussy with their food, but do seem not to like honey or other liquid type foods unless it is covered with dirt. Being a species from southern Europe, they also prefer to kept fairly warm at all times, as cooler temperatures will stop them foraging. |
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Post by garyd on Aug 30, 2007 8:22:16 GMT
Thankyou for the reply -very helpful.  Do you think I should place some sand/loam and wood chippings in the food bowl on top / in the honey?? I agree about the spiders - seems to be their preference insect wise, annoyingly their 'graveyard' is inside the nest area (of the AntStore starter kit) and I'd love to be able to clear it out soon but I'm sure I'd have an escapee as they are very fast when they want to be! I've wondered if the colonies' movements (up and down the tube) were temperature induced, as the colder weather we have had this week has been felt where I live and the building heat system only kicks in 1st October - Thus I have bought a thermoheat pad (7watts) I'm wondering weather I should place this under the basin , or, the nest area?? WoodAnt - would you be kind enough to provide a photo of your set up for A.Senilis (?) and a description of the conditions and feeding routine you provide them ?? They are fascinating creatures for sure  Gary |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 30, 2007 8:32:36 GMT
WoodAnt - would you be kind enough to provide a photo of your set up for A.Senilis (?) and a description of the conditions and feeding routine you provide them ?? Basically I keep them in a plastic medium sized fish tank, with a plastic milk bottle top for placing food or honey into. The ants themselves add bits of sand or soil onto liquid foods like jam or honey. Here is my web site page which shows what type of set ups I am currently using www.anthill.org.uk/antsetups.htm |
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