I would like to find ants for an ant farm. What I'd really like to do is find more interesting ones instead of the common harvesters that a lot of people use.
2006-10-10 03:52:18 · 4 answers · asked by Chris 1 in Environment
find some fire ants, put them in your bed, they will live there....
2006-10-10 03:54:00 · answer #1 · answered by predhead33 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There are biological supply firms that will sell ants, however most of them sell the same common field ants that you could find around your home.
More exotic, interesting ant species are a bit harder to get your hands on. Many ant species have the capability of becoming pests if they escape into the wild, and as such, organizations such as the USDA (in the US), and the CFIA (in Canada) take a rather dim view of people shipping ants in from other countries, or even across the country in some cases.
You would have to check with local regulations wherever you live, to ensure that you have proper permits for importation of whatever species you decide you want.
Many other ant species will not do well in environment provided by an ant farm either. Some, such as leaf-cutter ants, would require a lot more room than can be provided in a typical commercial ant farm. You would have to construct your own, including large chambers for the fungal rearing, and separate areas for brood galleries and the like.
Most museums, zoos and bug rooms that have more exotic ant colonies have actually gone on expedition to the regions where those ants live, and collected the ants themselves. Many of them also fail, simply because no one knows what conditions some of these ant species may require in their home. Experimentation and trial and error is the only way to find out how to raise many of these ants.
Some of the biological supply companies that sell ants include Carolina Biological Supply in North Carolina ( http://www.carolina.com ), Nasco Science in Wisconsin and California (1-800-558-9595), or Ward's Biology in New York (1-800-962-2660)
There is a pretty good forum that includes a lot of information about ant farms and how to set them up. http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/index2.html
They may be able to provide you with more information, and possibly even sources of interesting ant species.
2006-10-10 05:19:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I used to go out and get a shovel and dig up a ant mound and take the queen and a few workers and start my own the red ants are the best,
2006-10-10 03:58:46 · answer #3 · answered by outlaw64 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will need to buy a single Queen, not just ants. If there is no Queen, they have no purpose, and will simply walk around in their tank and do nothing.
As a kid I would put on some gloves, and dig out a queen myself. They where African Red Ants.
2006-10-10 04:00:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anria A 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋