Ask The Consult-Ant

Question
July 15, 2008
O.k, so I live in the high desert of southern california, and finally! we had a massive thunderstorm!

Jim

After a thunderstorm is a great time to find queens, no matter where you live. Congratulations.

I am sorry to say that ant queens of two different species are not likely to get along. Sometimes two queens of the same species will set up a colony together, especially in species known to have multiple queens. However, different species are going to fight.

One idea would be to keep the queens of different species in separate smaller containers, like test tubes, for awhile. That way you can see which ones do better in captivity. Also, if one isn't mated or doesn't lay eggs, you still have an active colony to put in your tank.

Good Luck,

The Consult-Ant

Question
June 27, 2008
I've caught two carpenter ant queens(during mating time) and i've been keeping them in a jar; they seem to co-exist peacefully (they keep all their eggs in one pile)and they have 30+ eggs and a few larvae. I'm planing on transfering them to a larger cage when some of the workers are born and i was wondering what i should have in the cage for their home? I've had mound building ants before but never carpenter ants.

Ike

Dear Ike,
Congratulations on your carpenter ant queens.

Once the workers emerge from their cocoons, they will start looking for food. Up to now the queens have been supplying their own food, although they probably took some from you if you provided it. In the cage you will need to provide some sort of place for the queens to have their eggs. One simple "nest" is a large test tube. Fill it about 1/3 full of distilled or clean water. Then push a clean cotton ball into the top of the water, so that one side is in the water and the other side is pretty dry. This keeps the water from coming out, but keeps the inside at a higher humidity. Make sure everything is as clean and sterile as possible so that mold doesn't grow.

You might want to add two test tubes so the queens can have a choice to stay together or not.

In another area of the cage you might ant to add a feeding station. Make sure it is easy to reach in, remove old food and clean up.

Here is a picture of the test tube nest

And here is a link for building ant nests.

Good luck,

The Consult-Ant

Question
June 26, 2008
I live on the north oregon coast and we have ants that are completely black except for their head which is red they also burn when they sting you, if you put them in a jar and shake'em arround they have a formaldic smell. What kind are they???

Andy

Andy,
Sounds like you have some lively ants.

I can think of several different ants off the top of my head that could roughly fit that description. I would need some more information to narrow it down. First of all, how big are these ants? 1/2 inch? 1/4 inch? 1/8 inch? When you say they have a red head, does that include the middle section, which has the legs? Are they truly stinging, or merely biting? The reason I'm asking is that the the most common red-headed ants do produce a lot of formic acid, but don't have stingers. They can only bite. You can see some pictures of this kind of ant at Formica rufa group ants.

But there are other ants that also look like this.

If you could tell me a bit more about where you found them, that would be really helpful too, like were they in a mound, under a log, that sort of thing.

Thanks for being curious about ants,

The Consult-Ant

Question
June 24, 2008
Hello, Just want to say I really like what you are doing.

Dave

Dear Dave,
What a cool idea. You know, people have done similar things with honey bees for a long time and have been quite successful.

Having worked with ants a bit, here are a few things to think about.

You would have to be careful to choose species that no one would consider to be pests. For example, I personally think carpenter ants are wonderful, gentle giants and would make great pets but many of my neighbors would probably disagree. Some people might think all ants are pests, which of course is not true. Also, you would want to use local species. Introducing species to areas where they haven't been found previously leads to all sorts of problems.

You would have to make sure the ants wouldn't be running into areas where people use pesticides, either.

Ants have minds of their own. You would have to make their indoor home extremely attractive or they would be likely to find a new home and move their colony. One way to prevent this would be to take a tip from the beekeepers and make the opening to the outside too small for the queen to pass through.

How far will ants travel for food? That really depends on the species of ant. Think of the highly mobile army ants, which can travel for miles, whereas tiny acorn ants may only go yards.

The Sonoran Arthropod Studies website has some information about raising ants in captivity. At the home page, look at the picture of the whip scorpion. On the bottom right, there is a link to "the instar, previous issues." Click on that link. Once you are on that page, scroll to the bottom and click on "other articles of interest." Scroll down a bit to "Casa Hormiga." That has some interesting articles about ants. Other articles on the "other articles" page might also be useful.

If you have a zoo nearby, check to see if they have an ant exhibit. Although they are not always successful (I've seen some poor exhibits), they might give you some ideas.

If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask.

The Consult-Ant

Question
April 24, 2008
Do Ants Prefer Sugar or Tuna? Thank you.

Lauren

Dear Lauren,
That is a simple question but I'm afraid there isn't one simple answer. It depends somewhat on what kind of ant you have, and it also depends on what time of year it is and what life stages are present. However, before I go into details, do you really have to give them only one or another? Why not give them both?

Okay, so let's say you can only give them sugar or tuna. The general rule is that adult worker ants tend to use sugar-based foods, for two reasons. The first is that anything an adult ant eats must pass through a very narrow passageway, their "waist" is extremely thin. Adult ants can only eat liquids, so sweets like honey water or sugar water are easiest for them to eat. Also, the ants are not growing, so they need energy from sugars to move around more than proteins like tuna to build new muscles or to grow.

On the other hand the youngsters, the larvae, are growing and need a lot of protein like tuna. When there are a lot of larvae present, the workers tend to pick up "meat" like pieces of insects or tuna to feed them. The larvae are able to process those kinds of foods. Ant colonies tend to have a lot of new larvae in the spring and early summer in places with distinct seasons.

Different species or kinds of ants also vary in their preferences. A common name for one species is "grease ant" because they prefer oily foods. Some ants collect seeds, some eat a fungus. If you know what species your ants are, or can find out, then you can look up what they like to eat and get a better idea what to feed them. Let me know if I can help.

The Consult-Ant

Question
April 1, 2008
My friend recently purchased an ant farm and received the ants my mail.They started with about 20 ants but in just 2 weeks are down to 5. They have made a few tunnels but the nice white sand that came with the kit is now a much darker not so nice looking color. I'm keeping the ant farm for a while and she has given me some new sand thinking maybe the old sand is moldy and their environment is killing them. Do you think this is the case? She has been feeding and watering them daily. I'm a little worried that I may do more harm than good trying to change the sand in that I may hurt them trying to get them out. It is the Uncle Milton Ant Farm. Any advice?

Robin

Dear Robin,
It is wonderful your are taking such an interest in your friend's ant farm. I wish I had better news. I'm afraid what is happening is pretty standard for ant farms. You see, once the worker ants have been removed from their queen and fellow workers, they usually do not live very long. If you can see obvious mold, then changing the sand might help for a short time. Healthy colonies can usually keep mold at bay, but with only five ants, they probably are overwhelmed. If you can't really tell if it is mold or not, I would say leave them be. It could be the food has caused the discoloration.

Good luck,
The Consult-Ant

Question
March 24, 2008
I have recently captured a black carpenter ant queen an some of her eggs. She had only 5 workers with her when i found her but was unable to capture the workers. Is she going to be good this way? Will her eggs hatch and start working, and if so how long will it take?

Thank You,
Cory

Dear Cory
Congratulations on finding a queen. The queen should be fine without workers. As long as you feed the queen something like honey/water mixed together and soaked into a cotton ball, she should be able to rear more workers on her own. If she only had 5 workers with her, she was probably a new queen from this year.

As to whether her eggs will hatch, it will depend on the time of year and the temperature. Don't be disappointed if she eats some or all of the eggs in the winter. She should lay more in the spring.

You probably already know you can't add workers from other carpenter ant colonies, because they would fight with the queen. But if you can find cocoons (or pupae), the queen will accept those. When the workers emerge, they will treat the queen like their own.

Good luck,
The Consult-Ant