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Post by Wood~Ant on Jul 25, 2015 9:19:21 GMT
That's very kind of you Wood! I hope they come to you for questions :-) They only live next door in a ground floor flat, so know where to come if they need help with advice. ![;)](http://www.cosgan.de/images/more/bigs/c033.gif)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2015 14:54:23 GMT
Nice dives colony you have there. I thought they live in rotting wood and other substrates as they weave nests?
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 15, 2015 15:40:50 GMT
Nice dives colony you have there. I thought they live in rotting wood and other substrates as they weave nests? In the wild they are able to weave nests, but I have seen them kept in artificial nests fairly successfully without weaving, as they are not true tree dwellers like Oecophylla. A member of this forum did keep his colony in an artificial nest made from just wood and glass, so I will see how this colony does. If they are happy then I will leave well alone, as most tank set ups require a lot of careful thought in the preparation.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2015 15:42:42 GMT
Ah alright, I'll watch the journal with interest ![:)](http://www.cosgan.de/images/more/bigs/c015.gif) .
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 22, 2015 16:58:06 GMT
With so many different hungry ants in our home, I bought enough live food today to feed my girls for months. A box of small crickets around 200, a box of small locust hoppers and a box of meal worms. To keep the food fresh I have frozen the crickets and hoppers (sad, but necessary) and will keep most of the meal worms alive for now, though I may freeze some of these later. My girls are feasting well this evening ![B-|](http://www.cosgan.de/images/midi/nahrung/e010.gif)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2015 10:30:23 GMT
I'm very interested in the harpengnathos colony you have, they look really primative. I was watching a video about this species yesterday evening ans it seems that when a queen is not present the workers fight to get a dominant egg layer gammergate is the term I believe.
Where did you get the colony from Wood~Ant?
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Post by Jenny on Oct 28, 2015 12:15:26 GMT
I'm very interested in the harpengnathos colony you have, they look really primative. I was watching a video about this species yesterday evening ans it seems that when a queen is not present the workers fight to get a dominant egg layer gammergate is the term I believe. Where did you get the colony from Wood~Ant? Well I wouldn't promote these for captivity. We have lost one and another is on deaths door, don't seem to be strong and not interested in eating live food or dead. They look the part, but that is it really. Slow and laid back, nervous to any sound or lid being removed they shy away. They are not a "I am going to get you species" when you tend to them. Colony came in from China.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2015 12:23:08 GMT
I'm very interested in the harpengnathos colony you have, they look really primative. I was watching a video about this species yesterday evening ans it seems that when a queen is not present the workers fight to get a dominant egg layer gammergate is the term I believe. Where did you get the colony from Wood~Ant? Well I wouldn't promote these for captivity. We have lost one and another is on deaths door, don't seem to be strong and not interested in eating live food or dead. They look the part, but that is it really. Slow and laid back, nervous to any sound or lid being removed they shy away. They are not a "I am going to get you species" when you tend to them. Colony came in from China. Ok. All the YouTube videos I have seen show the ants being able to forage on a large open ground tank and they live in a ytong/plaster nest. Maybe the colony is too small to support itself and a queen might not be present? Wish you luck anyway with them, hope they pull through.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2015 18:40:10 GMT
Have you spoken to the Chinese seller you got the ants from about why they aren't surviving?
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Post by Jenny on Oct 30, 2015 18:53:37 GMT
No as they were via Dean. It's just a waiting game to see what happens with them if anything. They are well known for their difficulty.
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Post by Antkeeper on Oct 31, 2015 12:30:22 GMT
The problem probably is a Queen (proper) was not sent with the colony to Dean via China. It is a waiting game to see what happens...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2015 8:17:02 GMT
I tried this species (from a China seller!) and had the same problem as having no notable queen present. Real queens can be identified by their slightly larger size and bigger thorax. Eggs appeared in the colony but they never hatched and where eventually all eaten giving me the impression that there was no fertile gamergate present. Its a shame that bad sellers can put hobbyists off keeping exotic species. The only advice I can give here is avoid any Chinese sellers.
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Post by Wood~Ant on Nov 4, 2015 8:24:32 GMT
I am beginning to think the same about the H. venator Peter, as although the Chinese seller sends stock to Ant Store in Germany, she is always posting ant sales on Facebook and seems to have hundreds of species for sale. You can't tell me that she can collect so many by herself, so it comes down to what ants are taken from the wild, as if many are just workers and have no viable queen, then such ant colonies are bound to fail.
I do NOT blame ant sellers for this problem, only the collectors.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2015 10:20:16 GMT
I'm hoping you have eggs? Would like to keep these myself one day, although the Indian version Harpegnathos saltater looks even more impressive.
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Post by Jenny on Nov 8, 2015 10:25:53 GMT
They did have 2 eggs, they were eaten alongside the mealworm.
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