r/Antkeeping 🐜

Location: Netherlands - Gelderland

I found an old, empty test tube of mine that I used to keep a queen ant in. One issue I always found was the buildup of mould where the water was stored. How do I stop mould and how do I remove the mould - and/or change the water - while the queen is already in the tube?

Caught in northern Virginia

I live in Northern Somerset, England, On the 18th July I go to Florida for 2 weeks so I won’t be back until the second of August, I’m worried I’ll miss all of the nuptial flights, specifically for lasius flavus/niger, what should I do, I have the budget to buy online but I’m not very trustworthy and I’d prefer to capture a queen myself as there’s less risks and allows me to bond a bit more with it,

If anyone knows if theres flights in the next four days, or in August in where I live (just south of Bristol) please say, and if not can anyone give me any advice, thanks a lot.

I currently have Dubia roaches, and I'm planning to buy B. Lateralis, can I mix them together?

For some information, I am keeping Lasius flavus and the colony is about a year old with 30-50 workers.

Their current test tube has become moldy and has almost no water left. I put a new test tube setup next to theirs and exposed it to light while keeping the new one in the dark, but I'm not sure if they will move on their own, they are currently showing no interest. So should I just dump them? Some people say it's okay, while others are strongly against it, who should I believe?

I have 3 trap jaw ant queens, each with eggs they are taking care for, each on their separate set ups. I feed them every other day. About 2 weeks of feeding them, I noticed that their eggs are missing, a week later, I saw new eggs (I know these are new since they are smaller than previous ones that are missing) and today as I was feeding them those new eggs are gone.

Can someone tell me what's wrong, I am new at ant keeping. Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/plcxkmzstgcd1.jpg?width=4064&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e487fe4f96399b40e6a5501d28d227e81879e9d

Can't seem to find any so any tips would be appreciated.

Hi,

I have a worm bin and this contains a whole eco-system.

There are of course worms, but also isopods, fungus gnats, rove beetles and mites.

I am planning on adding a little of the contents of my worm bin to the future ant farm.

Is this save for the ants? Do ants eat any of these? Can I create an eco-system in my ant farm that will be self-sustaining, meaning the food for the ants will procreate and the ants can eat them?

Love hearing your thoughts!

https://preview.redd.it/81c5e7xd6gcd1.png?width=423&format=png&auto=webp&s=685ad27c816aaefb1ad9cc1ca8e0a72418e03e46

https://preview.redd.it/uoknze6g6gcd1.png?width=663&format=png&auto=webp&s=ecd4f763dc2fc06da51017daafab91324b06c8b2

captured yesterday in southern norway

standard size of test tube for scale (17mm diameter)

So one of my crematogaster colonies unfortunately suffered a random queen death, I discovered her body today, about 30+ workers and a huge pile of brood was left, went ahead and gave all of the eggs to one of my crematogaster laeviuscula queens, she’s since rounded all of them up and added them to her egg pile so hopefully all will go okay, just thought I’d share my interesting antkeeping experience of the day, will update everyone when the workers arrive

I found it on my car (park underneath tree). It just walking around and I use leaf to gently put it on the ground. I am curious what ant is this (never seen a ant so huge before). Oh yeah I lived in Asia.

I'm pretty sure it's Solenopsis Molesta. If that's the case it's certainly not a male. Going to wait and see if she's mated. Any tips? Also, sorry for my hairy knee. It landed on my leg and hung out till I could grab a test tube.

If you were going to create a formicarium for carpenter ants, is hydrocal plaster (or equivalent) appropriate? I know they can chew through wood, but can they chew through that? If it isn't appropriate what is the best material? Thanks in advance!