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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 13, 2007 7:49:03 GMT
The vast majority of people who join this forum are interested in ants, for one reason or another. I have been mad about ants since I was about 7 years old, although I didn't start to keep and study them until I was 11. My ant hunting exploits and studies have lasted for many years, as I will be 57 in December this year, so work it out for yourselves just how long I've been into Myrmecology (the study of ants) I like many animals, but the social insects I find absolutely fascinating, despite being traumatized by an attack of wasps and receiving many stings. Not a nice experience let me add When it comes to the Hymenoptera family (ants, bees, hornets and wasps etc.) I must admit that ants come out on top. Why? Simply because they are so much like us in their habits, and yet they are so removed from us in size and form. This is what makes them so fascinating for me. Like humans they herd and milk their own version of cattle (aphids), they grow food in gardens (Leaf Cutter ants and their fungus garden), they make paths which they follow back and forth to find food (shopping for us), build towns and cities ((nest sites) and they also wage war to gain territory or even capture 'slaves' as they will raid other ant nests and raise brood not of their own species. Yes, I am ant crazy; and I will probably keep this craze until the day I die. So what makes you want to study or keep ants then?
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Post by malteser1994 on Jul 13, 2007 15:32:49 GMT
Well I've been studying ants since like um, for about 4 years now what I find cool about them is the way they work, like 1 worker could not keep the queen alive and could not do everything, but they work together and produce great results I think ants should be the roll model for all us humans
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redyoder
Ant Larva
zergs need to evolve to ant zergs, and starcraft rules
Posts: 14
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Post by redyoder on Jul 21, 2007 18:38:57 GMT
well I got in to ants by killing them sorry I was only 6 years old. when I was 11 I started to look at them in wonder now 14.7 years old I looked at a nest a big one close to granddad's house. I watched a worker walking about 1.5 meters. then I went home, typed in ants, looked on myrm's web site talked to him, got and bought some ants, got a tank. now my ants are dead and that's it ;D
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Post by Honeydewman on Aug 1, 2007 11:02:25 GMT
When I was 5 years old I fell into a Myrmica rubra nest and got absolutely covered in Ants. The stings were not pleasant either. From that point I was fascinated and loved watching the mating swarms. I used to collect rubra ants in sweet Jars and found them absolutely fascinating. It was not until I was in my late 20's that circumstances allowed me to collect them properly and keep them . My main species for collection was the Lasius niger and attempts at keeping Lasius flavus failed dismally. I did try to raise a Wood Ant colony but they succumbed to a disease after 6 months post worker hatch. Today I have a Myrmica rubra colony; kindly donated by another member [ Marshall ] and a Lasius niger colony, 1 year old. I use fish tanks as homes for them, rubra has a 3ftx1.5ftx1.8ft tank and the niger 6ftx1.8ftx1.8ft tank. I am trying again to raise a flavus colony this year from a mating swarm. Wish me luck plz... In short I find watching them is an excellent means of relaxation when watching their perfect society. They co-ordinate so well together and all have their own jobs to do. Shame humans cannot be so productive together.. Okay so thats my input.
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Post by Jaikaiman on Aug 1, 2007 20:23:14 GMT
I was thinking to myself today, how and why I got into ant keeping and a piece came on the radio about the anniversary of the scout movement. BING. It came to me...thats where it all started. When I was 7 or 8, I went with the cub scouts to Brownsea Island in Dorset, birthplace of the scout movement. It was there that I first set eyes on the hundreds of massive wood ant nests. Never had I been more facsinated. I believe thats what set me on this road. The only other wood ants nest I have seen is in Cotham River Park area of Bristol about 2 years ago. I have lived around a lot of pine forests, and have only ever seen that one. I would love to keep them, but imagine it being supremely difficult.
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Post by kanejames on Aug 4, 2007 0:47:12 GMT
well it started when I was 6 and well I had these small red ants in my garden and I was bit (stung) every day I went in the garden. so I thounght whats under that hole in the ground :Pand thats what started it off.
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Post by kalistes on Aug 4, 2007 6:02:38 GMT
I think I first got an interest for ants at the age of ten. My family and I moved to Hong Kong, and I remember sitting for hours watching these huge columns of ants moving across the beach. I don't know exactly which species of army ant they were, but they had massive, beartrap-like jaws & would tackle anything! ;D
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Post by Wood~Ant on Aug 4, 2007 8:00:55 GMT
well it started when I was 6 and well I had these small red ants in my garden and I was bit (stung) every day I went in the garden. so I thounght whats under that hole in the ground :Pand thats what started it off. Sounds like good old Myrmica species to me Welcome to the Ant Hill Kanejames, and I am happy to see that you guys are hitting this thread and remembering your first encounters with ants; and the reasons which got you all interested in them in the first place Just what I was hoping for when I started it
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Post by kanejames on Aug 4, 2007 9:04:39 GMT
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Post by Zarbi on Aug 4, 2007 9:14:10 GMT
I watched Formica fusca workers when I was 9 running around the cliff paths near Lynton, up on the valley of rocks in Exmoor north Devon, and used to look for their nests under the rocks. Being so close to the sea, I would often get sunburned from staying up there too long and my mum would have to rub calamine lotion on me. I've seen lots of different ants since then, and they're all lovely
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Post by ross on Aug 13, 2007 18:15:08 GMT
First of all its 'not cool' for me to like ants I'm 16 and still every year when I see the mating flights out with my mates all of a sudden I feel very tired or my tea is ready race home and catch them stick em in an ant world or test tube and see what comes of it It all started when I used to go up to my grans, in the 6 week holidays and used to play in her field all day, exploring and building trenches playing armies throwing 'clay bombs' at each other ;D was good old days, but in the field were loads of Myrmica colonies and I used to watch them dragging caterpillars back into their nest which tickled me inside somewhere, and ever since I've got these ant worlds and put ants in them, collecting queens watching them dig
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Post by ant777 on Oct 13, 2008 0:20:01 GMT
;D I like ants because well I would be walking and find a forager and say "oh cool" I would follow it and find a nest and feed them for years by the time I was 11 I had my own fire ant habitat.
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Post by Black Ant on Feb 12, 2010 17:06:34 GMT
Simple answer, because they're the best insects on the planet
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Post by ryan349 on Feb 12, 2010 22:28:10 GMT
Sorry if it's a bit long Well,when I was three I use to drop food everywhere literally... it wasn't long before I had ants at my feet any time I walked out the house. From then I watched them like a horny devil (lizard), I picked them up out of there little lines and investigated them until I was 5-6 years old. I grew up and started learning about giraffes and elephants and I totally forgot about the undergrowth of the world. Then after that phase I kept hundreds of snails in a blue tank continuously getting more interested in little living things from snails to ear wigs to centipedes to woodlice and even at one point to spiders. But I then hit year 7 and I had to grow up big time and therefor forgot about all living things. Then last year when I was watching TV my mum shouted me outside and pointed at a hole with ant alates pouring out of it. I immediately got a cup and collected over 40 L.niger queens and kept them in a small tub separate (not knowing anything about ants)It was then when I started reading articles, books and forums then testing living styles and techniques (trial and error). Up till now I haven't lost interest in them for one reason. They have the one technique that man can never master...Working as one.
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Post by Zarbi on Feb 13, 2010 16:16:13 GMT
They have the one technique that man can never master...Working as one. Well said Ryan, as ants do work as one giant super organism; and now you know that winged ants have to mate, and shed their wings before they become proper queens which will lay eggs
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