|
Post by TenebrousNova on Nov 30, 2011 18:02:29 GMT
In my hesitation, the ideal colony (15 euros for 100 workers and queen) from Ants-Kalytta got taken. Other Temnothorax nylanderi colonies seem pretty overpriced (About 26 euros for about twenty workers and queen). I have ordered a 15 euro Camponotus herculeanus queen with a small number of workers instead, from Ants-Kalytta. I look forward to their arrival, and hope they do well. I will be commencing further research into this species with immediate effect. With luck, they will arrive by Saturday. This thread has now served its purpose; I will definitely get a Temnothorax colony one day. Thank you for the information everyone. Hopefully, it will also be of interest to other people as well.
|
|
|
Post by Wood~Ant on Dec 21, 2011 13:46:00 GMT
I kept my own colony of these ants in a plaster Ant Mine, but found that they remained mostly in just 1 or 2 chambers. So my advice to anyone who wants to keeps very tiny ants like Temnothorax or Leptothorax is, make sure the set up is small and not too sprawling, as they do seem to prefer being in a cramped nest rather than one where they have a lot of space to wander about in. This is in stark contrast to larger ants who prefer more space, as for most larger species it is a case of 'the more room, the better' for them to live in. ;D
|
|
|
Post by bobdol on Jan 2, 2012 17:09:05 GMT
That's exactly what I've found keeping Leptothorax/Temnothorax. They hate being open or exposed and one colony I kept managed to hide itself in a small strip of bark in a gap of maybe 1 mm - the whole colony including the queen and brood all got in there! The best way to keep these ants is in some sort of tiny cork/wood nest (5 by 5cm max) with a low humidity inside a basin (10 by 10 cm or bigger) filled with leaf litter and pieces of wood. The chambers should be very small and don't be surprised if most of your brood turn into alates rather than workers, you will probably never get over 200 workers even in a mature colony. I really would not say these ants are suitable for beginners as I've struggled to raise them and out of the two colonies I had only one is still alive. They require huge amounts of patience and you can have days of not even seeing them because they are so small. And small does not begin to describe these ants, people say Pheidole are small but the Temnothorax species I've kept are about 3 times smaller than a Pheidole pallidulla minor worker. Leptothorax are quite a bit larger in my experience though and nearly the size of a P. pallidulla worker. I found them easier to keep often with lots of queens in a colony meaning they don't die out suddenly.
|
|
|
Post by Zarbi on Jan 2, 2012 18:51:21 GMT
Sorry bobdol, but I must disagree that Temnothorax are that much smaller than Pheidole minors, as there isn't that much to choose between them size wise. The smallest ants are normally around 2mm, as in Pharaoh's Ants for example.
|
|
|
Post by bobdol on Jan 3, 2012 9:29:43 GMT
Sorry bobdol, but I must disagree that Temnothorax are that much smaller than Pheidole minors, as there isn't that much to choose between them size wise. The smallest ants are normally around 2mm, as in Pharaoh's Ants for example. Thats what you would think but after keeping Temnothorax for the last two years when I first got a Pheidole colony I was shocked at the size after looking at the measurments online. Its not just a smaller length but also a less stockier body and much smaller legs. Its not just about length for instance a Formica rufa worker is around 10mm in length and a Myrmica rubra worker around 6mm but the Formica is easily 3 times larger. I've kept both Temnothorax and Pheidole at the same time and honestley I was shocked at the size difference even though online measurements show Pheidole at 2-3mm and Temnothorax at 1,5-2,5mm I remember having two test tubes side by side a while back with a freshly mated Temnothorax queen and a Pheidole pallidulla colony and the Pheidole workers were almost the same length as the queen! The queen was a larger size being quite stocky but it still goes to show the size difference. A Lasius niger worker is actually often larger than a Temnothorax queen but is not even close to a Pheidole queen!
|
|