Aphaenogaster cockerelli

[mattg]

Hi,
For those of you who recently bought A. cockerelli queens from Martin, I thought I'd post a link to recent pictures of my colony (started 9/05).

www.flickr.com/photos/13392514@N00/

They are a great species - big and so easy to keep!

MattG (my flickr name is Myrm, not to be confused with Myrm on this forum)

[mattg]

Sorry, you'll have to copy and paste the link into your browser - can't get it to recognise the last bit of the web link.

MattG

[Jenny]

I like that species, they are a fair size though The long legged ones usually come up the tank gunning for me when I take their photo's

[mattg]

I bought some PTFE from Cornish Crispa which has worked out really well. You paint it on around the top of your foraging area and it dries rather than remaining oily (hate the thought of ants getting stuck in oil or drowning in moats). It's basically the same chemical they use in non-stick pans and the ants can't get past it. It has made such a difference - I can open the foraging areas now without fear of having to fend off loads of ants. VERY impressed with the stuff.

You can also get it from Antstore (in fact, Cornish Crispa obviously import it from Antstore since their name is on the label), but the postage is obviously much higher.

MattG

[Formicalondon]

Those are some very attractive ants, would like to have got a colony me self, but buy the time I had the money Martin had sold out of them and Pheidole rhea.

[Wood~Ant]

I like the idea of using the PTFE stuff, as it sounds an ideal barrier for keeping ants where you want them to be
Thanks for telling us about it Matt.

[mattg]

It's a milky fluid that you paint on (little paint brush attached to lid of bottle) and it dries pretty rapidly. No goo or mess, you can wipe it off with a tissue if you need to, but it's not dusty like talc. I love the stuff - it's great being able to look at my ants foraging without fear of them marching up the walls of their containers - they just slip straight off the stuff.

[Phasmid]

I'm getting some PTFE with some other kit for my C.ligniperda colony as I realy need something better than petroleum, (it can't stop my M.barbarus !)

[Formicalondon]

It stops mine no problem, you can't be using enough I've been using it for months thats if you mean vaselin aka petrolium jelly.

[Phasmid]

Well, they climb the plastic sides with difficulty and if they reach the vacelin most of the time they back off, so it helps, but a lot of the time they walk up it like steps .

Edit:
I just got my stuff from Antstore and have to say that the PTFE is great , unlike vaselin, where it only stops ants that don't like it, nothing seems to be able to keep their feet on it, no mess no smell, just great!