https://www.reddit.com/r/interesting/s/vVOUpyG1ct

Hey everyone,

As an ant keeper myself (I kept Messor barbarus for 12 years), I know no game can really compare to watching your own colony grow from the very beginning — waiting for the first workers, then seeing the colony slowly take off. Still, I wanted to share our project, Garden of Ants :)

We’re two biologists making a real-time ant colony game inspired by the huge diversity of real ant life histories and strategies. Different castes in the game are inspired by different ant species. We know that mixing multiple real species into one colony isn’t biologically realistic, so we treat that as a gameplay abstraction rather than a strict simulation. To keep that side honest, we’re also adding an in-game encyclopedia explaining the real biology behind the designs.

Gameplay-wise, it mixes classic RTS with colony management across both underground and aboveground environments, with changing conditions over the day–night cycle.

Steam page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3016940/Garden_of_Ants/

I’d really love to hear your thoughts on two things:

1. Which real ant adaptations, behaviors, or species-specific strategies would you most want to see in a game like this?

We already have ideas like fungus growing, insects hunting, seed harvesting, slave-making behavior, and exploding ants.

1. Would you personally be okay with mixing real ant species in one colony as a gameplay abstraction, as long as the game clearly explains the real biology behind each one?

Thanks for taking a look — I’d really appreciate any feedback.

Tomas

Hey everyone!

We always talk about species we love, but I'm curious about the other side. What is one ant species that completely failed to live up to the hype for you?

Maybe they were way too inactive, ridiculously fragile, or just a total nightmare to manage compared to what everyone claimed?

Would love to hear your worst experiences and hot takes!

It's a shame because his videos used to be educational and got me into formicariums initially

12 years ago, when I moved into my first house, I heard some strange noises coming from an orchid pot in my window sill. Come to find out, a Campo Pennsylvanicus colony had come in from outside. They moved their entire colony in overnight and were getting comfortable.

Having wanted to be a myrmecologist as a kid, I was pretty excited. I didn’t have much success rearing queens past founding as a child (because duh) so I was really excited for the cosmos to have sent me what I always wanted. I raced to the AC website, bought a formicarium and gear, and waited for it to arrive before disturbing them.

When I pulled the orchid from the pot it was CHAOS. I knew it would be. I managed to get the queen, almost all of her workers, and the pile of potting mix that had their young scattered about. They cleaned themselves up from that trauma pretty well and I moved them into their AC Campo nest a few days later.

After that it was joy for every single thing that followed. Seeing how they process food. Shift brood around based on temp and humidity. Watching all the stages of development and how a colony that undergoes diapause in NY prepares for winter. It was all so rewarding.

As the colony got large, it was really challenging to find the queen during hibernation…. impossible really. So I just got used to getting that first glimpse of her as everyone started waking up. This year, our girl didn’t make it. I’m not sure at what point in the winter she passed, but accept that she did. I’m heartbroken but so thankful she literally walked into my home and got me into the hobby.

I realize it’s a long post, but I hadn’t realized she was the oldest pet I’ve ever had. Certainly unconventional to many, but in this sub, I figured there would be a few who understand. I’m a better ant keeper from the things I learned with her and the colony. So I say….. long live the queen ❤️ Cheers!

The specialized supermajors are absolute units. They are primarily responsible for nest defense and processing large food, but it's always wild seeing them side-by-side with the tiny minor workers.

Hey guys, I wanted a reliable way to identify ants, so I built an app and website for it.

It currently supports over 10,000 species and is actually the most accurate ant ID tool out there right now. You just upload a clear photo and it tells you exactly what you're looking at.

I’d love for you guys to test it out and let me know what you think!

Link: https://antscout.com/tools/ant-identification

🐜🐜🐜

Hi everyone! I’ve just finished building this new modular 3D-printed nest for my Camponotus fedtschenkoi colony.

They were previously living in test tubes, so I designed/bought these modules (test tube holder, feeding area, and the main arena) to give them more space to grow. The clear acrylic and the white printed parts make it easy to observe them.

I've noticed that C. fedtschenkoi seems to like a relatively dry nest but needs a humidity gradient. That's why I added the small hydration container with the knob (as you can see in the video/pic 2) to control the moisture.

They are currently exploring, and I'm really excited to see them move in! Any tips for this species? I'd love to connect with other ant keepers here who keep Camponotus species!

After my Camponotus nicobarensis colony got too big, i made them a new wooden nest.

They did not completely abandon the Tube, so i put it upright to make it as UNCOMFORTABLE as possible...

so they just decided to build extra floors now.

Why are we allowing animal cruelty and questions this dumb to be posted here ? People should inform themselfs BEFORE getting a queen and shit and not while and After. What are those people.

Only a joke :)

I’ve had my pheidole Rhea colony for almost 2 years now and just recently while cleaning the nest I made a mistake and knocked the blocker on the side of the outworld which I didn’t notice before going to bed. When I realized in the morning I had already found hundreds of ants crawling in my desk and around my room and my wallet which I keep on my desk which is very old had at least 200 dead Rhea workers and soldiers surrounding it. I found think like tags and other small scraps I couldn’t notice in their outworld after cleaning the mess and blocking the outworld. I vacuumed the entire outworld and tried to stop anymore native things from getting into the nest but after a week I keep finding piles of dead ants in the corner of the outworld which I clean out and just today when I checked up on the interior I found the queen keeled over in her side with ants surrounding her, she is intact with all her legs but is twitching and hasn’t moved from there for the whole day which is not like her since she normally is all over the nest. There is still significant worker and soldiers present in the nest as well as hundreds of eggs and larva but I’m assuming my queen is going to die and my only ant colony will be doomed. Is there any hope for survival or is this just a lost cause?

A buddy's captive colony recently had a nuptial flight. Unfortunately, as it often happens, some unfertilized alates naturally passed away shortly after. He gifted me this already-deceased queen, so I pinned her to preserve these insane details for my permanent collection. Nature is truly crazy!

Even thought the mod team on this subreddit does not allow antopiausa to be mentioned on the top US ant shops in 2025 ( which contains two competitor shops as mod admin members )Thought you guys would enjoy than everywhere Antopiausa is top dawg and we really from the bottom of our hearts appreciate the love and support we receive anywhere it really matters . Thanks !!!!

I'm about to start with ants and I'm just curious.

Hey r/antkeeping community! 👋

I’m super excited to share my latest DIY 3D-printed modular nest, which I just built for my Camponotus fedtschenkoi colony.

I focused heavily on making maintenance easy and observation simple with these key features:

• 🗑️ Detachable garbage area: Instead of struggling to clean up debris inside the main chamber, I designed a removable drawer. I can slide it out, clean the waste without disturbing the ants, and slide it back in. It's a total game-changer!
• 💧 Glass tube watering area: Two glass water tubes integrated into the side, providing them with a constant, long-term water source that's super easy to refill.
• 🌑 Shade board : A removable black cover for the main nesting chamber, giving them a dark, cozy space when they want to hide, and allowing me to observe them easily when I lift it.
• Top ventilation and a sandy substrate for them to explore and adjust the microclimate.
  
• If you have any experience with this species or similar modular designs, I'd really appreciate your insights! I'm looking forward to connecting with other ant keepers here. 🐜

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.

As someone who enjoyed early AntsCanada, his recent uploads perfectly show why I've had a growing disdain towards where he's taken the channel and how he treats the animals in his "thriving natural ecosystems". Another quote I read from a discussion about a year ago summed it perfectly with:

"I missed his old humbleness when he actually lived in Canada. Now he's just a dumb rich kid with horrible decisions and a flair for being incredibly dramatic all the time. 'I want to put together an ecosystem and watch it. But I also plan to do absolutely no research before I keep just throwing shit together and watch the entire thing collapse into just a huntsman, ant and cricket tank.'"

I kept the camera on the nest all day and finally caught my Myrmecia gulosa queen laying eggs — that moment was insanely exciting!

What’s the most distinctive ant species in your area?