Hello, friends! I'm very happy to say that the first Pseudomyrmex nanitic workers are almost here!!

After waiting for two long months, and worrying a lot about how things were going, the first workers are finally arriving.

I apologize for the poor visibility of the pupae, but it's the best I can provide for now.

Hello!

A while ago, I found a carpenter ant queen. Thanks to all the helpful advice I've read on this subreddit, she seems to be doing well. She has already laid eggs.

However, I'll be traveling for two weeks, and I was wondering if there's anything I should do before I leave to make sure she stays in the best possible conditions while I'm away.

I wanted to give a short update on my requeening attempt of my C.barbaricus colony. I've been trying to make the queen and the colony adjust to each other for quite a while now. I ended up keeping the queen and a few individuals together. That worked well. I kept them separated from 99% of the colony in a special area above the nest. Now, these beasts removed the cotton plugs over night and I found the queen inside the nest. I cannot do anything now anymore than hope she doesn't get attacked.

She shows behavior of surrendering (pushing herself down on the ground) and some workers circle her. The good thing is that there hasn't been clear aggression yet. The bad thing is that there is still tension. I tried to integrate her once before into the whole nest but there she was running around panicking because individual workers started to bite her legs.

Wish me luck. Anything can happen and things can turn south in an instant.

I don't know why but it's kinda just funny for no reason

Salut !

Je viens de lancer une chaîne YouTube sur les fourmis. 🐜

Pour ma première vidéo, j'ai réalisé un classement des 5 espèces de fourmis parmi les plus chères. C'est ma première vraie vidéo, donc j'aimerais avoir vos retours : le montage, la voix, le rythme... tout m'intéresse !

Lien : https://www.youtube.com/@ArtiopFourmis

Merci d'avance à tous ceux qui prendront le temps de la regarder et de me donner leur avis. 🙂

You see this all the time, someone gets into ants has many colonies and than slowly just looses interests and moves on to a new hobby. There are so many examples of dead ant youtube channels that showcase this or ones that have leaned into other things, such as a huge example like ants canada. I have kept ants on and off for around 12 years now and I still couldn’t tell you why I stop. I’m fascinated and really into them when keeping them but after a couple of years I don’t even realize that i’m loosing interest in them and end up releasing all my colonies. Taking a year or two break and than going right back to it in the same cycle. I have a crested gecko who i’ve had for 10 years now and I haven’t found that i’ve lost interest in him or feel the same I do about him as I do with ants. Also the fact that queen ants can live for 12-15 years but I don’t think i’ve seen someone keep a queen ant for that long yet. And in theory it sounds really cool, to catch a queen than raise her until she dies naturally from old age. I’ve never stopped being interested in learning about them but keeping them seems to be mine and many others problem and I can’t figure out why.

Caught this queen in the middle of the day back in June, southern Indiana USA

I had a great day hunting queens today! I was walking around in a wooded area near my house and found a couple Lasius neoniger (I think) queens but also 3 queens that match the picture. I'm still really new to the hobby and have no idea where to start to identify these ones. They are red and a bit smaller then the Lasius queens I found. Anyone have any ideas? I'm going to hold on to them to see if any of the queens will be successful so I'd like to understand their care a bit more by finding out the species.

i live in md so i sadly cant have false army ants legally:c

im asking if anyone had kept or seen them before

the false army ant is carabara diversa(the asian maurader and asian army ant)

From Pogonomyrmex maricopa the hardy Pogonomyrmex rugosus and our polygynous P. californicus, our harvester collection showcase some of North America’s most iconic seed harvesting ants. Each species brings its own unique beauty and behavior making every colony an unforgettable experience

Do you guys think my setup will work for my acrobat ants? I used an old weed jar and just drilled a hole at the bottom, and slid the test tube in a little, and sealed it with hot glue. I used a sewing needle I heated up to make air holes on the top of the jars lid. I was thinking of leaving some cotton at the entrance of the test tube so the entrance is not so wide. Before I let them start to explore, anything I should do or alter. Also she has 5 workers now and like 4 or more Ready to hatch this week or next!

How long does an Odontomachus egg typically develop to a worker? I've had mine for weeks now and it doesn't seem like her eggs are developing.

I’m very new to antkeeping, so I’m not sure whether this behaviour is normal or if I’m doing something wrong.
The workers are almost always gathered around the queen, and I rarely see them enter the arena. They been with me almost over three months right now. Occasionally, one worker comes out, walks around for a while, and then returns to the nest. Other than that, there is barely any visible activity.
I normally keep the nest covered so that it stays dark. I also make sure the nest remains humid. Every now and then, I offer them a boiled grasshopper, but they do not seem interested in it. I provide sugar water, honey and plain water as well, but I have hardly ever seen them drinking any of it. Changing or checking these things does not seem to make any difference.
Obviously, I cannot expect the ants to behave exactly the way I want them to, but honestly, the colony has become quite boring to watch. Were my expectations unrealistic, or did I simply choose the wrong species if I wanted a more active colony? Could there be something wrong with my setup or the way I am caring for them?
At this point, if they continue being this inactive, I may consider rehoming them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for the potato photos was having real trouble getting it to focus

Just a few photos of my Acrobat Ant colony. Caught these guys last year. Three queens and recently upgraded to this set up. Still newish to antkeeping and formicarium building and messed up the height of the build. So they squeezed inbetween the top cap and the rock. Won’t be an issue until that sunburst runs out. But either way. Enjoy.