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Ant Farm Question

I have an ant question! We just got an ant farm and I think they are soldier ants and they just sit on the surface of the sand all day.  What should I feed them and water them?  Will they ever tunnel?

Thank you,

Heather

If you got a standard commercial ant farm, the ants you have are worker ants. This just means that you don’t have a queen ant. Soldiers are extra big workers, which often perform special tasks.

Usually the type of ants sold with commercial ant farms are harvester ants, because their large size and tendency to tunnel makes them fun to watch. They are also relatively easy to collect.

Have you ever made a sand castle? If so, you have probably found out that if the sand is too dry it simply falls down when you try to build with it. If the sand is too wet, it is like mud and you can’t shape it properly. The sand has to have the right amount of water in it to build a good castle.

Ants have the same requirements. They prefer their sand to be a bit moist. If your sand is too dry or too wet, however, they won’t be able to tunnel in it.

Try adding some water to the farm with an eye dropper. Add a small amount at a time to dampen the sand a bit. Be careful, because too much water and food can make it moldy.

Another reason that ants won’t move around much is if they are too cold. Do you have your ant farm indoors? Is it warm enough for you to visit them without a sweater? If not, you might try moving them to somewhere a bit warmer.

As for food, adult worker ants mostly drink liquids. Mix a bit of honey or sugar with about the same amount of water in a small container. Soak the sweet-water mixture into a bit of paper towel rolled up into a ball or a piece of cotton ball. Make sure it is small enough so it will fit into the opening of the ant farm. Place it on the surface of the sand near the ants. Be sure to change the food often, as it might get moldy and/or dry out.

Please let me know if you still have further questions. You might also be interested in the posts on answers to questions from fourth graders, and the Ant Facts or Fiction quiz.

(Note: As I mentioned previously, I have been the “Consult-Ant” on the Leaping from the Box website. I answer questions about ants and ant farms. From now on I will post the answers here, and when Karen has time she will also post the answers on her site.)

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ASU Social Insect Expo

If you are going to be in Arizona this month, and youfils_expo_poster_thumbnail are interested in social insects, plan a trip to the Social Insect Expo at the Desert Botanical Garden on February 20, 2010. According to the program, there will be live colonies of leafcutter ants, honey bees, harvester ants, trap-jaw ants, and more. The expo will also feature a presentation by Ray Mendez, who has worked with insects in movies and design. The event begins 6 p.m., with a talk at 7:30 p.m. The admission is free and the public is invited.

This is the concluding event for the Social Biomimicry: Insect Societies and Human Design conference, which is being held February 18-20, 2010 at the Arizona State University Memorial Union, Tempe Campus. Unfortunately, registration is already closed for the conference.

With Mark Moffett coming in March and this Social Insect Expo in February, Arizona is abuzz with awesome events. Hope to see you there!

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Ants and Passion Vines

Any ideas what the yellow dots are on this Passiflora leaf? Are insects involved?

passionvine-leaf

It turns out that insects are part of the story, but probably not in the way that you might think.

heliconius-caterpillar

This is one of the insect characters, the larva of a Heliconius butterfly. The female butterfly lays yellow eggs on passion vine plants, mostly in the tropics. The larvae consume a great deal of the plant before pupating.

heliconius-butterfly

In Arizona, another species can wipe out passion vines.

fritillary-caterpillar

This is the larva of the gulf fritillary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae.

Researchers have shown the yellow spots on the leaves are made by the plants as a defense against these butterflies. When the butterflies lay eggs, they avoid laying on plants where another female has already deposited eggs. The yellow spots mimic eggs and thus fool the butterflies into going elsewhere.

That is only part of the story, however, because the yellow spots serve another purpose. Those are nectaries, glands that produce nectar. The free source of food attracts ants, which in turn defend the plant against any butterfly larvae that do hatch.

I have to say that at first glance the plant fooled me too. Did it fool you? Did you think those were insect eggs?

The theme today for Life Photo Meme at Adventures of a Free Range Urban Primate blog is “honor an invertebrate.” Why not ants that protect plants?