Playing With Fire (Ants) - Drip floatation and other research techniques

[mrxcal123]

some how i think this is like doing tests on humans ants are smater then us it takes us what 5 months to make a house maby a year if lazy workers ants around 4 days i know but there more smarter than us soo its like keeing humans in a chemical lock down area then saying you cant see your family CAUSE WE FUCKING KILLED THEM

[monalfre]

are all the orange buckets filled with fire ants?

[JasmineNicoleFlores]

I would kill them....

[7mean7bunny7]

Alison, I am currently doing a project on Solenopsis Invicta Fire Ants and I am having trouble finding any Alates. I live in the Middle Georgia area and it seems all the area around where I live has been treated. If you have any tips about where and when I can run into a nuptial flight, let me know. It has been raining the past 2 days, but still no sign of Alates flying in the sky.

[AlisonB13th]

@7mean7bunny7 Fire ants tend to have mating flights in the afternoon immediately following a rain, after it has cleared up. You'll have the very best luck after a long dry spell in the summer or fall. The queens shed their wings quickly so look for either type wandering the ground in areas near water or reflective surfaces. It's best if you find somewhere where the queens can't easily go to ground (hard packed gravel, paved walk ways, edges of sidewalks). Queens are shiny and trundle along.

[AlisonB13th]

@7mean7bunny7 (cont'd): I find newly mated queens on the ground, but hardly ever see them flying. Signs of a mating flight is a colony that has workers swarming around on the ground (with alates) and the nest entrances are opened up into large holes. They mate very high in the air, so you won't see swarms like with some other genera. If you are just looking for queens, you can consider digging up colonies and sorting out queens, workers, brood. (See link in description.) Hope this helps!

[7mean7bunny7]

@AlisonB13th Thanks a bunch for the tips Alison. Since the area around where I live has been treated, I guess I'll have to go look in a local park or on the side of the highway. Unfortunately, more and more people are treating for Fire Ants in the South. Hopefully I'll get lucky and come across an infested area. Its been raining 3 days straight now on and off, and havent seen a single Alate, but I set up a tinfoil trap inside a bin in my front yard, hopefully I might just get lucky this time! :3

[dudamota]

Why the ants do not climb on top of a bucket ?? it has some substance that puts the bucket so they do not climb ??

[ZevN47]

Why don't they climb out of the orange buckets?

[AlisonB13th]

@ZevN47 We coat the sides with baby powder. It is too slippery and they can't climb on it. They can, however, gradually wash it away with their damp bodies if you're not careful!

[delldimensionX]

Somewhat I hate ants, probobly because I just dont like the feeling of having em on my body and making me paranoid. This video made me shiver like scooby doo and panic! Yet, somehow you made this quite a beautiful video mate. Cheers.

// Someone that hates ants!

[AlisonB13th]

@delldimensionX - Thanks! I spend too much time around them. I think of them as cuddly. ;)

[swantonz]

the beginning of the ants revolution. too much horror movie experience to see whats gonna happen in 10 years.

[diego8111996]

i actual rise this species of ants

[pyr0static]

Hello, I saw a link to your video on "The Ant Farm and Myrmecology Forum" and I really liked it! I love the bucket technique for removing ants there. I started a colony myself from a single mated queen mid-2010, and boy do they grow like weeds. They're difficult buggers to contain, too!

[alexuks]

Are plastic container nests good enough to sustain a colony for long periods of time? (years) Have you done any work with other genus?

[AlisonB13th]

@alexuks I have not personally kept ants for quite that long. Plastic container nests seem to work very well for fire ants provided you provide a nice warm temperature and an appropriate nesting area. Fire ants require very high humidity to raise their brood, so we use a blacked out petri dish (and cover) partly filled with plaster which is 'watered' regularly to keep it damp.

I have not done lab work with other genera, although I do have a small Crematogaster colony.

[alexuks]

@AlisonB13th thanks for the reply. I may try a setup made of small plastic jars interconnected by plastic tubes. Its cheap to build and simpler to clean up when needed. Good luck on your work!

[AlisonB13th]

@30000killers Good spot! That is indeed a mated queen. Fire ants in the US are primarily polygynous, however, and can have multiple unrelated queens in a nest. Some nests I dig up don't have very many, and some nests will have dozens of queens.

[PreppyPoser1]

Great video, this was helpful!

[AlisonB13th]

@PreppyPoser1 Thanks!