Ant Keeping

[Bsuds]

That's pretty cool - I don't think I know anyone who's kept ants before. What purpose are the magnets?

It's how they navigate.

https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/201 ... compasses/

[Catsumi]

If you google "carpenter ants odours" you can determine the difference between them and termites. Both can cause damage to wooden structures.

(Sorry, I can't figure how to do links from ipad).

[chetgunderson]

Ants are fascinating (when they aren't in your house, of course). Here's the extreme of ant keeping. Good luck to you!

https://www.youtube.com/user/AntsCanada/videos

[Poindexter]

Ants are fascinating (when they aren't in your house, of course). Here's the extreme of ant keeping. Good luck to you!

https://www.youtube.com/user/AntsCanada/videos

Watched this Ants Canada video and it actually raised a few alarm bells with me.


So is it actually legal for ant farm hobbyists to import species like bullet ants for thier collections? These are large and aggressive ants whose colonies are extremely resilient because they are one of the few ants that can create a new queen when the old one dies. I'm no expert so would like the opinion of someone who knows more, but seems to me we've been down this road before with evasive species that started off as pets.

[Catsumi]

Ants are truly amazing. I watched a parade of leaf cutters in Costa Rica for an hour or so. They have large guard ants proecting the pathway that the smaller leaf cutters must travel with their snippet of greenery to their nest where they masticate and then spit it out. The green mash turns into a fungus found nowhere else and is their food source. To me the ants looked like mini sailboats with bright green sails.

The honeypot ants have dedicated individuals that imbibe honeydew (?) and become rounded food jars that refresh the rest of the colony when needed.

E.o.Wilson, world authority on ants has written many scientific articles and a comprehensive book (800 pages if i remember correctly) on ant species, their fascinating habits, and their place in the environment.

Apparently fire ants are on the move, northward bound as the climate warms. Something evil this way comes.

[Catsumi]

^^^^interesting, I didn't know that. Thankx

Had the ants been trainable they'd have been great replacements in the flea circus racket. Visibility first, foremost.