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Carpenter Ant Culture

Started by Guest_scottefontay_* , Mar 23 2009 08:49 AM

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13 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_scottefontay_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 08:49 AM

I found a frozen colony of carpenter ants, complete with queen eggs (50+) and assorted workers (~20). Most were still frozen but some were waking up. I want to try maintaining a colony fo harvest and feed my fish and possibly store for over winter.

Calling all DIYers out there. Any ideas on a set up? I have too many things(options) going through my head. Anyone out there done somthing similar before? An ant farm on steroids is what I am shooting for.

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#2 Guest_Kanus_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 09:42 AM

I found a frozen colony of carpenter ants, complete with queen eggs (50+) and assorted workers (~20). Most were still frozen but some were waking up. I want to try maintaining a colony fo harvest and feed my fish and possibly store for over winter.

Calling all DIYers out there. Any ideas on a set up? I have too many things(options) going through my head. Anyone out there done somthing similar before? An ant farm on steroids is what I am shooting for.

Might want to gut load them with Tums before feeding to reduce formic acid effects :-P

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#3 Guest_scottefontay_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 09:54 AM

Might want to gut load them with Tums before feeding to reduce formic acid effects

They are going to be fed mainly to non-NA natives, the Australian and New Guinea rainbow fishes. They comprise a large portion of these fishes diets, apparently. When one rainbow collector was asked on another forum if he ever ate any while out in the bush he said they tried but they tasted to bad from all the ants they ate that it wasn't worth it.

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#4 Guest_Clayton_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 10:57 AM

A 20 long or 29 gallon with a screen top would make a pretty cool setup. A bead of silicone just thick enough to let you slide the lid on and off would probably make a tight enough seal to keep the ants in. If I recall correctly those guys are usually pretty decent sized. Fill it part way with whatever kind of substrate you found their colony in and try from there. That would be my approach anyhow. I bet they'd be an interesting thing to keep.

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#5 Guest_gzeiger_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 11:18 AM

That's an interesting comment about the fish. I didn't think eating ants directly tasted all that bad. Not recommended in large numbers, but they're ok.

I was meaning to make a post to ask what people thought about feeding ants to natives. They seem like they have a lot of shell, and a lot of formic acid, but probably a lot of protein too, and they'd be easy to collect.

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#6 Guest_Kanus_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 11:20 AM

They are going to be fed mainly to non-NA natives, the Australian and New Guinea rainbow fishes. They comprise a large portion of these fishes diets, apparently. When one rainbow collector was asked on another forum if he ever ate any while out in the bush he said they tried but they tasted to bad from all the ants they ate that it wasn't worth it.

That's pretty cool to know. I guess it makes sense for tropicals to make a good diet of ants. I've always heard that ant abundance increases dramatically toward the equator.

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#7 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 12:18 PM

Scott,

Do you own your home? If so, I might have reservations if it were me. Raising carpenter ants in the house seems to me like a problem waiting to happen.

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#8 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 12:19 PM

In examining the gut contents of scarlet and telescope shiners we routinely find ants, especially in the summer. They might be the second most common arthropod we find, after the apparently ubiquitous springtail. I'd say that shiners at least have no problems with ants.

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#9 Guest_threegoldfish_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 12:47 PM

I haven't tried feeding ants to my natives yet, but since I have some that like to invade my houseplant pots and then start moving house every time I water, I've dumped a lot of ants into the tropical tanks. What I find interesting is the fish that register them as food and the ones that don't. My major ant eaters are black neon, blue and bloodfin tetras, white cloud mountain minnows, platies and rosy barbs. Most everyone else ignores them unless they get pushed below the surface.

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#10 Guest_scottefontay_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 12:49 PM

Yes, I do own our home...they will definately not be in the house. I agree that would be a silly silly thing to do. They will be in the back yard by the compost, in the shade. They came from inside an apple tree I cut down this weekend, whick was only 50 feet from the house. Unlike termites carpenter ants don't eat wood, they just remove it as their nests grow. they eat insects and sugars. right now they are eating a papertowel and maple syrup sandwhich in a large yogurt container......D-licious!!

Edited by scottefontay, 23 March 2009 - 12:51 PM.

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#11 Guest_airbrn1187_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 02:12 PM

If you are serious about keeping an active colony I suggest picking up the book "The Practical Entomologist" by Rick Imes. It has lots of cool things about insects in general but it has a real cool way for setting up a colony and everything.

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#12 Guest_scottefontay_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 03:39 PM

Thanks, I'll check it out. I'm sure they have it at the ESF library.

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#13 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 04:41 PM

An ant farm on steroids is what I am shooting for.

Yah, that's what I've got. A $ 275,000 ant farm on steroids. :rolleyes:

Seriously, we get carpenter ants in the house every spring. I have given carpenter ants to various fish and herps over the years with varied results. If memory serves, some fish, lizards and most native frogs spit them out. Others take them. I'd be careful feeding too much, those big carpenters are full of chemicals with the rest mostly undigestable exoskeleton. My big lizards used to pass the crushed exoskeleton undigested in their feces.

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#14 Guest_scottefontay_*

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Posted 23 March 2009 - 06:45 PM

I was thinking more along the lines of the eggs of these guys, but the smaller workers would be good too. I encounter enough of the smaller species of formica ants during the gardening season to collect and or get a colony of those going. They would probably be better overall.