Post by vaants on Jun 12, 2014 19:58:51 GMT
Hello I have started this Journal about one of the easiest and hardy little species you can keep, Lasius Niger which is common in many parts of the world or may have closely related cousins near you.
You will find them just about in any situation. Be it after a mating flight or under stone, wood, brush, garden, or in a open field. I've seen them use old bottles or pots in the ground as their nest.
So obviously if they are like this in the wild then it's a safe bet you can keep them in just about anything as long as you take care of them.
My current colonies I found in the wild. Colony 1 I found in a old garden pot that was rusted out and being thrown away. 1 queen with 25-30 workers and some brood. Colony 2 was found under a stone in a flood area(which was surprising) as well as the fact it had 2 queens and 15 workers with about 10-15 eggs.
Colony one is 1-2 years old as though I caught around 30 workers...the same number got away. My guess is Colony 2 is around a year or less and had just woke up from winter.
All I had to put them in was small plastic containers. I had dirt from each location (as it helps them settle) Colony 1 dug tunnels throughout the small container...clever devils even used the dirt to build up to the lid. This made it hard to feed them and they would cover up the food.... so after 2 weeks naturally mold came about... in the same time Colony 2 was also starting to mold...not do to food issues but the natural dirt was staying to wet.
So I went back and found a large clear container for Colony 1. Put olive oil around the container and moved colony 1 into it. The dirt made a thin layer so I went and got a few leaves which they chose as there nest.
I did not move Colony 2. I removed what mold I could and put olive oil around the top. I placed a small piece of paper tower and a leaf inside. The ants covered the paper towel half way with dirt and put dirt on the leaf making a tent and dirt under the leaf.
I have since put a half cotton ball in each container which every 1-2 days I put a little sugar water or water on. Both Colonies have no lids and a towel is used on the side light may hit heavy.
Colony 1 is being a bit odd they are well hidden in the leaves but 4-5 foragers can be seen coming out every now and the to the cotton ball or dead meal worm. I actually just boosted this colony now with 10 cocoons and 2 final stage larvae. Doing this I got to see there numbers for the first time. They are holding at about 30 workers. Queen looks healthy, had a number of cocoons and eggs (didn't see ant larva). I gave Colony 1 a slight boost because I felt the queen had been under stress from 2 moves so soon.
Now Colony 2 needs no such boost.... both queens stay in the open so easy to see and are healthy. About 20 workers visible with a big batch of eggs, small larva, and about 25 cocoons in the open. They use the leaf and paper towel for only two things. To hide(which they rarely do and to plant final stage larva/moister control.
Well this has you caught up on about a bit over a month lol. I'll try to post more but will take time as doing this all from a phone in the mountains.
You will find them just about in any situation. Be it after a mating flight or under stone, wood, brush, garden, or in a open field. I've seen them use old bottles or pots in the ground as their nest.
So obviously if they are like this in the wild then it's a safe bet you can keep them in just about anything as long as you take care of them.
My current colonies I found in the wild. Colony 1 I found in a old garden pot that was rusted out and being thrown away. 1 queen with 25-30 workers and some brood. Colony 2 was found under a stone in a flood area(which was surprising) as well as the fact it had 2 queens and 15 workers with about 10-15 eggs.
Colony one is 1-2 years old as though I caught around 30 workers...the same number got away. My guess is Colony 2 is around a year or less and had just woke up from winter.
All I had to put them in was small plastic containers. I had dirt from each location (as it helps them settle) Colony 1 dug tunnels throughout the small container...clever devils even used the dirt to build up to the lid. This made it hard to feed them and they would cover up the food.... so after 2 weeks naturally mold came about... in the same time Colony 2 was also starting to mold...not do to food issues but the natural dirt was staying to wet.
So I went back and found a large clear container for Colony 1. Put olive oil around the container and moved colony 1 into it. The dirt made a thin layer so I went and got a few leaves which they chose as there nest.
I did not move Colony 2. I removed what mold I could and put olive oil around the top. I placed a small piece of paper tower and a leaf inside. The ants covered the paper towel half way with dirt and put dirt on the leaf making a tent and dirt under the leaf.
I have since put a half cotton ball in each container which every 1-2 days I put a little sugar water or water on. Both Colonies have no lids and a towel is used on the side light may hit heavy.
Colony 1 is being a bit odd they are well hidden in the leaves but 4-5 foragers can be seen coming out every now and the to the cotton ball or dead meal worm. I actually just boosted this colony now with 10 cocoons and 2 final stage larvae. Doing this I got to see there numbers for the first time. They are holding at about 30 workers. Queen looks healthy, had a number of cocoons and eggs (didn't see ant larva). I gave Colony 1 a slight boost because I felt the queen had been under stress from 2 moves so soon.
Now Colony 2 needs no such boost.... both queens stay in the open so easy to see and are healthy. About 20 workers visible with a big batch of eggs, small larva, and about 25 cocoons in the open. They use the leaf and paper towel for only two things. To hide(which they rarely do and to plant final stage larva/moister control.
Well this has you caught up on about a bit over a month lol. I'll try to post more but will take time as doing this all from a phone in the mountains.