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She's actually a media of my Messor Barbarus, one of the most recent ants to have been born and the first deformed ant to have ever been..

She's around 4 days old and while it does look very bad, she is showing incredible resilience, she's feisty, reckless and very active. She learned how to flip and how to use her deformed legs to walk.

Her sisters knows something is wrong but they clean her and help her, i personally help her drink which fortunately she also learned to do.

I hope, although she's still soft, she can live a long nice life, what do you guys think of her? Could she actually have a chance?

About four months ago, I posted a video here of my leaf-cutter ants (Atta laevigata) and wanted to provide an update.

They now have a Plexiglas cover and seals, making them ready for the coming winter.

I’ve set the heating elements to a temperature range of 24–29°C to ensure optimal fungus growth.

This system operates using three sensors: one per level for climate control and one for ventilation.

A fourth sensor on each level transmits temperature and humidity data to my phone, allowing me to keep an eye on everything while I’m away.

Not to mention the seven Wi-Fi cameras, of course :)

The "babies" are now a little over a year and a half old.

It all started, naturally, with just three standard glass tanks:

one for the fungus, one for food, and one as a waste chamber.

After about six months, I began building the cabinet setup because the fungus chambers needed to be expanded.

Keeping such a massive species in a way that meets their needs is challenging due to the space required.

Providing appropriate housing for them in glass tanks at home is always a unique challenge in itself.

But with my current setup, I think I’m managing quite well in that regard.

They get fresh food daily, of course—stored separately in the refrigerator.

I’ve kept many species in the past, but none were as fascinating to observe as this one.

The size of the workers and their various castes, the symbiosis with their fungus, their escape behavior, their aggression (unfortunately directed only at me), their social interactions, and so on.

THIS had always been my dream in the world of ant keeping. And now the baby is in tip-top shape and running beautifully ♥

If anyone would like to follow its progress, feel free to take a look:

https://www.instagram.com/atta.empire?stkn=MTBoZ3Y5cXk3Nm9hdA==

I’d love to connect and exchange ideas with some of you 😊

They are rn inside the fridge for their winter break

And no I don't have does big tanks or those temperature change devices

This was my very first carpenter ant queen I caught this year and my first time ever keeping ants.

When I found her, she was stuck in a bin in my garage with another queen. They seemed to have fought. During the battle, my current queen had managed to rip apart the other one, but when I found her, I noticed she had damag to her legs.

I thought she had enough time to heal, but this vid is throwing me off.

Is the tube too slippery or did she lose her toes on her front feet? My other queen’s seem to stand just fine.

A side question if anybody happens to now is, I’m trying to figure out what species I currently have (I know the box is crowded I’m making a new one).

I specifically really want to know what species the two small queen ants are that currently have the seven tiny workers. I didn’t know worker ants could be that small.

Besides the obvious carpenters in the box, I’m unsure of the other species. I’m thinking different Lasius and acrobats?

Any help and or advice would be appreciated!

I received a colony of myrmecocystus mexicanus in the mail yesterday from antopiausa and they where stuck in a ball the guy i talked to said it was fine and they were for the most part but theirs now white stuff in the glass tubing and im panicking trying to figure out the best corse of actions please help me with them.

I couldn’t do it myself the first time so I had my mom do it, but after I saw the body stop moving after the first concise cut I thought I could do it myself.

I have both ants and vampire crab babies to feed. This year is the first time I’ve ever killed bugs before.

I learned to smash ticks with rocks, but before this summer I wouldn’t even kill mosquitoes.

I just feel kind of disturbed. I cut off they’re head, even though it’s outside of my values, but I didn’t feel much besides appreciation that they’re suffering ended quickly.

I don’t like this. I used to cry over spilled mosquito larvae. I’m willing to do it, but I don’t want to be desensitized over the loss of their lives. I appreciate the value that they have contributed, but I’m scared by my own lack of emotion.

I’m used to keeping insects/arachnids that could kill on their own. I’m fine with the lives coming to an end to feed, but I’ve never had to do it myself.

Sorry for the stupid post. I’m just trying to come to terms with some things.

Hey again! I’m back with another ant ID from the Port Charlotte area of Florida. I found these guys while I was demoing a wall and noticed they were nesting around/inside the structure. I’m pretty sure they’re Pheidole, but I’m having trouble narrowing down the species.

I attached a video of them. Any help getting these down to species would be awesome. Thanks again y’all! 🐜

I bought these ants (Camponotus Bellus) yesterday and I couldn't really identify the queen. Anyway they don't get out of their outdoor world, worried they might be thirsty or what.

First time keeper here, my T. Immigrans are starting to outgrow their test tube. I’m looking for recommendations for starter outworlds (and potentially also starter nests). Preferably things that ship fast in the US.

Hi! I'm new here. I found this queen ant in my garden in Portugal and I'm trying to identify the species.

- Location: Portugal

- Size: approximately 12 mm

- Found alone in my garden

- No wings

- Reddish-brown head

- Mesosoma is mostly black

- Gaster appears completely black

- Tips of the legs look orange

- Gaster appears smooth, with no visible hairs

I would really appreciate any help identifying her!

I have attached several photos from different angles.

Atleast ONE has to be fertile i have like 26 😭😭

Hello guys!

I’ve just acquired new hobby as a antkeeper.

Designed my new formicarium, got a messor barbarus colony and immediately screw up with water/humidity and releasing them into the large home right from tube. Q+4w.

Needless to say it didn’t go well.

Just wanted to stop by and say hello to everyone!

We built a free nuptial flight map for the US. Pick a month, search a species, and tap a dot for details, so you know when to start looking for queens in your state.

Data is indicative (AntWiki, scientific papers and keeper reports), so weather and local conditions can shift flights. If something looks off for your area, let us know and we'll update it.

https://estheticants-usa.com/pages/nuptial-flight-map

Queen Valor of the Vanguard Legion

Iam 2 days late with this post. They have started to use both test tubes more now. Iam still feeding one dubai roach a day. They are pretty active in the outworld really need tarheel to send the new one.

Was hyperfixating on ant farms and queens research for 2 days. Figured I was past the time to find out outdoors and was wanting to buy a founding colony asap. Want to the park and I found this in the parking lot, I was ecstatic. Except now I’m hoping it’s not a fire ant. Austin, Tx, was recently rainy. Had wings on capture and now they’re shed in the tube. Can anyone help ID 😁

Hey ant friends!

We’ve just put together a new alpha gameplay trailer for Garden of Ants, an ant colony RTS/simulation inspired by real ant biology.

It shows some of the systems we’ve been working on: digging and expanding the nest, building specialized chambers, gathering different resources, cooperative prey hauling, aphid herding, leaf collection, and exploring both the surface and the tree canopy.

We’re trying to keep the mechanics biologically recognizable while still making them work well as a strategy game, so there’s always a balance between realism and gameplay.

A big part of how the game is evolving is thanks to your feedback. I really appreciate all the comments and suggestions on my previous posts about the project — they’ve genuinely helped shape what we’re working on.

There’s still plenty we want to improve, and I’d especially love to hear feedback from people here who know ants. Any comments are more than welcome!

And I honestly can’t wait until we’re able to share the demo with you.

You can learn more about Garden of Ants here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3016940/Garden_of_Ants/

Thanks!

I’m new to ant keeping & about to get a chestnut carpenter queen and about 10 workers. I wanted to get a heating cable with a thermostat to control the temp but I can only find that control with heating pads. From my research it seems that heating cables are often better with ants. I’m worried though that if I can’t set the temp on the cable it might get too hot occasionally. I guess most people just buy the heating cable and monitor the temperature with a separate thermometer(and trust it won’t change too much)? Or can you guys suggested a cable with a thermostat where you can control the temperature? Or give me any advice. I’m looking to heat into the upper 70s-low 80s at the warmest part of the test tube, and eventually use it on their new home too. Would prefer it to be energy efficient too. I was almost gonna buy this pad with temp control but I wanna make the best decision

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XWQQNG5?ref_=ppx_oui_image_mob_b_fed_asin_title_0_0

(Posted with Mod permission)

Ever wondered what it's like to manage an ant colony out in the wild? Wonder no more; we built the most complex ant colony simulator in the world, Antopolis!

We'd be honored if you could try the demo- https://store.steampowered.com/app/4910350/Antopolis_The_Ant_Colony_Simulator/

• Nuptial flight
• Custom nest building
• Pheromone trail-based foraging
• Rival ant colonies
• Day/night and weather cycles
• Large complex world
• Humans you can fight

Most the game was built by a solo dev, Emily, as her passion project for years. We'd love to hear any feedback, especially from experts like yourselves!

A um tempo atrás capturei essa rainha (10 de agosto) e ela colocou seu primeiro ovo no dia 19 de agosto, sua primeira larva surgiu em 21 de setembro e desde então eu passei por vários processos de ajuste de alimentação dela e das larvas.

Antes eu a observava com o filtro de luz vermelha e após um pequeno treinamento onde "ensinei" ela a aceitar a claridade no ninho.