Never have, but I wonder how baby and juvenile apple snail shells would work for them? I mean many naturally pass before they grow in aquariums, maybe that's a solution
Besides Fish...
- Thread starter NoodleCats
- Start date
Waiting for warmer months so I can go out looking for ant queens to collect during their yearly nuptial flights. New queens leave their birth colony and fly away to mate and then find a new home during certain weather conditions certain times of the year. I rely on this as I collect these queens and they are supplied to a business who sells ants as pets to folks in my country. There are some ants only found in my region in all of Canada, so some are well worth the effort. This is obviously a seasonal income, but it also is great exercise to get me outside walking and hiking.
I have some "pretty" photos I've taken the last couple of years of some of queens I've found. I hope to get more photos this year of different variety of species to expand this photo gallery.
Funny enough, to get these photos I just needed to use a bowl covered with cling wrap pulled very flat (1 pinhead hole in for air) and a light source (in this case, aquarium led lights).
And then two workers from my camponotus castaneus colony out and about the other evening. Enjoying a feed at the sugar water feeder in their outworld.
And got some cute pics of my son's crested gecko. She's a little foodie, loves to eat anything that moves lol
I have some "pretty" photos I've taken the last couple of years of some of queens I've found. I hope to get more photos this year of different variety of species to expand this photo gallery.
Funny enough, to get these photos I just needed to use a bowl covered with cling wrap pulled very flat (1 pinhead hole in for air) and a light source (in this case, aquarium led lights).
And then two workers from my camponotus castaneus colony out and about the other evening. Enjoying a feed at the sugar water feeder in their outworld.
And got some cute pics of my son's crested gecko. She's a little foodie, loves to eat anything that moves lol
Found some other pictures I had, to add on to the previous ones.
The last two are personal ants, not ones I've sold. They're ones I kept.
I've taken everyone out of hibernation last night, everyone doing alright. No losses through winter.
Formica argentea. I love these. While they look plain black, they're actually a metallic colour and to me look like they're black pearls.
Camponotus nearcticus
Camponotus Pennsylvanicus
I opened my first stick for the year and was rewarded with a very nice temnothorax schaumii red morph colony, with 12+ queens (see pic marked with green, that's marking the queens in the pic)
One of the queens is very red (far right) even her head is red.
These very very tiny ants are mellow, slow moving and live inside sticks, acorns, or under tree bark.
The last two are personal ants, not ones I've sold. They're ones I kept.
I've taken everyone out of hibernation last night, everyone doing alright. No losses through winter.
Formica argentea. I love these. While they look plain black, they're actually a metallic colour and to me look like they're black pearls.
Camponotus nearcticus
Camponotus Pennsylvanicus
I opened my first stick for the year and was rewarded with a very nice temnothorax schaumii red morph colony, with 12+ queens (see pic marked with green, that's marking the queens in the pic)
One of the queens is very red (far right) even her head is red.
These very very tiny ants are mellow, slow moving and live inside sticks, acorns, or under tree bark.
Interesting! Do you have to separate the queens? Or maybe the very red 1 to get more redder 1s?
Those wings on the camponotus look too small to actually allow for flight. Can they fly?
Those wings on the camponotus look too small to actually allow for flight. Can they fly?
Depends on species. Some species are polygynous, meaning have more than 1 queen. And then others are strictly monogynous. It gets a little more complicated in that some queens are only primary polygynous, meaning they'll only have more than 1 queen if they START that way--they won't accept a new queen later. And then there are others who don't care and may accept new queens no problem.
Camponotus are not poly, they do not tolerate others. It's very unusual. Camponotus are the giant carpenter ants.
Temnothorax species are usually poly and will accept queens later, and it's part of their evolution since their queens don't live very long. Many times a queen will pass away during hibernation, leaving workers and brood alone. The workers in these ants are then able to lay eggs that develop into male ants which leftover queen brood from the queen that died will breed with these males and the colony lives on.
And then theres species that will tolerate other queens at first when starting a colony, but as workers begin to hatch the workers tend to kill off all but 1 queen. This would be the case with species such as crematogaster or tetramorium.
The red morph Temnothorax will remain red until that queen passes away. Since workers are all female as well and do not technically breed. In most cases, the colony only lives as long as the queen does.
Color morph in single species of ants has more to do with latitude than anything. Further north populations tend to be darker.
I live in Southern Canada, so we get some funky intergrades.
As for the flying, queens can indeed fly. They look a lot like wasps (ants are related to wasps) and can fly quite far and high. The wings are a one time use thing though.
Only queens and males have wings, and when weather conditions are right for that species during certain times of the year, they leave their birth nest, fly to find a mate, breed, and then come back to the ground to start looking for a new place to make their own nest. They either remove their own wings as soon as they land or shortly afterwards. The wings get in the way in cramped nests, and they no longer have a purpose so they remove them.
This is the time people like me go looking for them, because you can then capture them and raise them in captivity.
Example for my area, between late may into July when night time temperatures reach 20C/70F by 10pm, especially after a good rainfall the day before, Camponotus will fly between 7pm to 12am. It gets specific for some species, and some species only come to blacklight lures.
I got myself a new macro lens for my phone, so I can take closer pictures of bugs and such
Some macro shots of my own pets
And wild bugs
Some macro shots of my own pets
And wild bugs
Ant season has officially begun 
Prenolepis imparis queen from nuptial flight
Formica subsericea queen and worker
Myrmica sp worker showing off her stinger. Myrmica are fire ants. And their stings hurt like heck.
Camponotus subbarbatus
I made friends with a northern paper wasp queen. Released her to a nice field of flowers. Pollinators are good, and wasps are important pollinators too, often overshadowed by the much cuter bees. The colors on this lady were stunning. Loved her.
Had an unwelcome spider guest during yesterday's storms, so took pictures and released him after the storms ended. Out of my home. Northern yellow sac spider.
Kid found a giant waterbug, so guess his new pet lol I set up the 2.5 gallon for it.
And one of my isopods close up.
Prenolepis imparis queen from nuptial flight
Formica subsericea queen and worker
Myrmica sp worker showing off her stinger. Myrmica are fire ants. And their stings hurt like heck.
Camponotus subbarbatus
I made friends with a northern paper wasp queen. Released her to a nice field of flowers. Pollinators are good, and wasps are important pollinators too, often overshadowed by the much cuter bees. The colors on this lady were stunning. Loved her.
Had an unwelcome spider guest during yesterday's storms, so took pictures and released him after the storms ended. Out of my home. Northern yellow sac spider.
Kid found a giant waterbug, so guess his new pet lol I set up the 2.5 gallon for it.
And one of my isopods close up.
