Photo Blog | the ant's sandbox: ants.org.uk | Wedge

Alates (Winged, breeding ants)

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

You can see two very large ants at the bottom of the grape; they are 'alates'.

An alate is a male or female ant with wings; the female (princess) alate mates with a male, and then establishes a new colony as a queen. It's probable that my Thai Tree Ants have multiple queens. Male alates do not live long in any circumstance.

As you may know, my Formicarium is open-air, and in my lounge, so flying ants are a major concern of mine! However, for some unknown reason, my alates don't tend to fly much. Although they come out of the nest every couple of months, only a small percentage of them bother to fly, and even then they always land immediately.

Two Ants on Quartzite

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 14:23:04 +0000

A great shot of two ants; would I say that they are two different polymorphs? Well they do seem to be different sizes, like the 5mm and 3mm lengths I have identified before, but is the size difference enough to claim they are different castes?

Wet Grapes

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:35:00 +0100

My ants often enjoy a grape. I slit the grape skin open, and they burrow into the juicy flesh for days, hollowing it out.

Or, I might offer them a slice of grape, as above.

I've noticed that as the grape dries out, the ants pay less attention to it. By re-hydrating the grape with a dash of water, it becomes much more appealing to the ants - they go crazy for it!

A video accompanies this photograph within my Video page, at the bottom right.

Cat Food

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:32:00 +0100

You can try your ants on cat / dog food, and see how they like it.

Here's a few of my Thai Tree ants investigating a chunk of cat food, and a chunk of the gelatine jelly. In a short time they became quite busy over them, although the food does dry out over a period of time.

Grape

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 13:39:00 +0100

I slice, tear and sculpt grapes into various states to intrigue my ants; here they are tucking into a torn grape half.

The exciting thing about this photo is it shows yet another body-type of my Crematogaster rogenhoferi ants!

Previously, I have explained how I feel there are three sizes of workers (as well as alates and queens) but today, I noticed two different gaster shapes.

The gaster is the abdomen, and on the picture above you can clearly see that the (very) large ant at the south of the grape has a ribbed gaster, wheras the majority of other abdomens appear smooth.

Crematogaster rogenhoferi are noted for their heart-shaped and banded gasters, but this startling shape difference is new to me, and I wish to make it known that this is the first time I have seen such phenotype differences on the abdomen of this species.

See a close-up of these gaster differences.

Fly Progress

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 13:34:00 +0100

View a large close-up (JPEG image / 1000px/ 300KB)

I took these pix with the 10 megapixel Digital IXUS 900 Ti camera, and I used the 'macro' setting to get real close, although brilliant results can be got without macro.

Two Flies - sharp focus

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:35:00 +0100

This was a five fly day! It was nice and sunny outside and I caught five flies that wandered in through my back-door. My colony were very busy with so much food, and took several hours to disassemble the carcasses.

The next day, my colony hardly ate at all, and were only slightly excited by the honey I gave them.

The shot above is taken on a 10 megapixel Digital IXUS 900 Ti.

Ready for your close-up?

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:05:00 +0100

On the bottom ant you can make out the banding / articulation on the gaster (abdomen) - in optimal light conditions the gaster is a rich brown with golden banding.

This wonderful image was set-up with a drop of honey on paper and then taken by Chris with his new digital IXUS camera. I should have marked the paper to show what 5mm looks like; as these are 'Mid Workers' they are about 5mm long. Read more about sizes.

I am quite excited by this image as it's the closest I have been to my ants - I don't have a magnifying glass so I haven'y seen them up close and personal yet. This photo clearly shows their physical structure.

Meat

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 16:12:00 +0100

On sunny, fine days, I can catch as many as three house-flies that wander through my backdoor and into my lounge. My ants are voracious and make short work of disassembling the squashed creatures I give to them.

I always ensure fresh fruit (non-citrus) is available to my colony, along with fresh water, but I honestly don't know how much 'meat' to feed them. With autumn and winter fast approaching, I am seriously considering buying some stocks of live insects, to keep my colony happy and fat. Unlike British ants, my Cremotogaster Rogenhofer will not be hibernating at all.

As a vegetarian, I am slightly concerned that I now hunt woodlice and flies for my colony! But everyone who keeps animals must be a responsible keeper, so there you go.

Swarming on a house-fly

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:47:28 +0100

Here's a shot of my Thai Tree ants swarming down their branch and onto the squished fly I gave them. I'm certain they sensed the chemicals the fly gave off, and the pheremones the first ants to find it gave off. I've never seen them swarm quite as much as this, they don't get quite so excited by woodlice!

There's a video of them swarming on my home page, check it out.

Next Honey Trail

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 18:45:00 +0100

See, the ants then went on both sides.

Honey Trail

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 18:32:00 +0100

I put a drop of honey on the side of the branch and watched it run all the way down. Minutes later all these ants came out to follow it. Notice how well spaced they are down the left side of the honey trail.

Check the next photo to see what happened next!

Water

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:54:00 +0100

A close up of their water bowl, with the sponge within.

At the bottom corner you can just see half a (squished) woodlouse that they will dismember and devour in a matter of hours.

At the top corner is a blue crumb of dolly mixture sweet!

Nest

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:54:00 +0100

Here's a shot of the nest; it came in the mail in a plastic box, all wrapped in tissue, and I had hoped to wedge it into the crook of the V of my branch. Oddly shaped as it was, I had to glue a stick (the green stick) to make a tripod to hold the nest.

Honey on the rocks

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:54:00 +0100

My live webcam often shows my ants encircling and eating a drop of honey on their rock, near their nest's branch.

Air plant and honey drop.

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 18:54:00 +0100

On the laid down branch, I feed the horde drops of honey that they encircle; they take many hours to eat it but when it's done there's not a trace left of it.

You can also see one of my Air Plants, which I ensure are dampened everyday, which also allows the ants to drink from them.

Ants encircling a drop of honey.

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:00:27 +0100

I feed my ants honey, sugar, fruit and insects from my garden. I always ensure the Air Plants are damp, and that there is water available for my ants.

My Free-standing formicarium.

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:00:21 +0100

My Thai Tree ants have an interesting habitat to forage around, and they are always exploring. The branch and nest are very prominent in my lounge. I keep my lounge at a nice warm 'room temperature' (20/21C) and it happens to be humid enough for them too, at around 60/70% humidity.

Thai Tree ants going up and down their branch.

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:00:15 +0100

Their nest is at the top of their branch, and their food is on the loamy, sandy ground. They have a bit of a motorway going on, on the bright side of the branch.

The nest.

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:59:59 +0100

The nest needs a little help sitting in the nook of the branch.

Pebbles and debris are added.

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:59:22 +0100

Sand is added.

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:58:33 +0100

You can see the plastic moat that has been hot-glued all around my base. It's not very beautiful but this was a DIY job and I've learned a lot.

Plastic Base.

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:56:56 +0100

The branch has been sawn to size and hot-glued to the plastic base.