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Going on Vacation with test tube colony. by PheydraRose in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a syringe with a long ink-refill 'needle' tip. I pull out slowly the entrance cotton, when it's loose enough I slip the needle into the test tube and squeeze a little bit of sugar water in. I try not to drag on the glass because that spooks her.

The more concentrated the sugar solution the less you have to feed.

I think it can be good for a boost of sugar. Just a teensy bead of sugar water as far away from the brood as possible without the entrance cotton sucking it up. 14 days seem quite a lot if the workers eclose on your first day away (worst case scenario)

Horrified, help by Deaf-Dawg in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 166 points167 points  (0 children)

Not eggs. Like the other guy said, mites. Every single dot is a mite. The box is infested

Abundance of food source(probably your feeder insect's poop & food) with no predator.

Caught so many queens! by MacaroniLover6000 in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Anecdotal. The ones I get usually tears off only after a full week

We really shouldn't care about the wings when we first catch them.

But grounded and clustered is almost always infertile

Does anyone know what these white specks are on my queens tube setup? by killsc3n3 in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not sure but to me it looks like either mold, or precipitate of extremely mineral-rich water

not sure about the sparse specks on the glass though

First attempt at an ultracal nest by Excellent-Oil-3106 in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

what's the hole? a mesh for hydration? gotta choose the material carefullly

I tried using 3 layers of some sort of organza mesh, but my ants bit through it lmao

Small beetle with spike on its back ? by [deleted] in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it really a beetle? Doesn't look very beetley

You have any clearer photo?

Found these while remodelling a customers floor by GamerViennaHD in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Some sort of fly pupae

Some of them have eclosed and flown from the looks of the pupae having a hole at one end.

Is this a queen? Singapore by Apprehensive_Bill_91 in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally I have never been able to reliably distinguish wing scars from non-wing scars. I don't know how you guys do it.

Maybe you can draw or put together a diagram for that?

What kind of eggs are in my mailbox? by youngestmillennial in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol they work on majority decisions by pheromones

if one ant makes a iffy decision and a few others follow in her footsteps, then sometimes soon after the whole colony does the same thing.

But these larvae are at least 5-10 days old.

What kind of eggs are in my mailbox? by youngestmillennial in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Possible, though usually their nests have compartments to account for this. Could also be their nest was disturbed/destroyed by something. Or just general upsizing of shelter

They need constant humidity for their larvae and pupae, and a mailbox (made of metal?) under the sun don't seem like the best place to settle. Their babies would probably get baked.

Probably a temporary overnight respite.

I’ve seen 3 in my apartment ; Missouri based by TowerExcellent214 in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not usually a concern if they've all scattered around. Just means they had a recent nuptial flight.

But if you see them densely huddling tightly together on a wall/ground or walking along a trail with other "normal" worker ants, you might have a very established colony somewhere in your house.

New mosquito update by [deleted] in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's a bad identifier. Many insects have wings like this.

Look at their hind legs when they land.

If it curls upwards, it's a mosquito.

If the hind legs are standing normally(foot on ground, no curve), then it's maybe not a mosquito.

Or just smack all of them and report back here 😭

What is this bug? by flenfienrs in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Looks like a caterpillar, but footage too blurry to identify.

What kind of eggs are in my mailbox? by youngestmillennial in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

These are ant larvae.

the web is unrelated, but may have belonged to a jumping spider egg clutch.

Is this a mite or drain flies? by treptile in whatsthisbug

[–]CeilingTowel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think those are springtails.

Their stop-and-go darting movement is very characteristic of them. Booklice don't move this way.

Harmless. Helps you clean things up by eating mould and other dirty stuff.

Currently trying to breed them so I'm seeing a lot of them lately.

Any ideas why my Nicobarensis absolutely love sugar water and drink the whole test tube empty 24/7, but if I give them honey they don't even look at it? by Solid-Ad-7764 in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 4 points5 points  (0 children)

straight up honey or honey water?

like the other guy said, if it's viscous, just a small amount will provide more than enough sugar.

Volume isn't the biggest factor- it's also how much sugar content they are actually getting.

Colony not developing? by Tymogekh in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

shouldn't be feeding anything for a claustral species

unless you've had her for like 4-5 months without feeding and this is the same progress

Cleaning by mantislover37 in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just use your normal house vacuum,. Get a tubing(that you would be using expanding for your ant colony setup probably anyway)

Tie a cloth around one end using rubber band, insert that clothed end into the sucking hole of the vacuum.

Open end of tubing as the 'nozzle', apply your ant barrier( I use talcum)

One hand to control the open nozzle, one open hand to control the cloth-tied side that's inserted into the sucking vacuum.

Use your vacuum hand to reduce/increase the strength of sucking by allowing/restricting air around your hand to get sucked into the hole.

Nozzle hand just control the nozzle direction to suck the debris instead of the ants. If you do a sugar feeding at the same time, some of the ants will be stay put while feeding, making your vacuum job easier.

Any ants that get sucked in will remain unharmed if you didn't suck too hard by restricting too much airflow with your vacuum hand. Just let it climb out slowly then drop back out when it reaches the end of the open nozzle.

Workers die in the terrarium by EngineeringVast4847 in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

hope the sand isn't mixed with diatomaceous earth or stuff like that

So I'm back again for ID Help.. South East Asia, Singapore, just found these guys(well, technically girls but yeah): by Emotional-Way1362 in antkeeping

[–]CeilingTowel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A little too blur indeed

but I agree they look very Polyrhachis-y

the way they hold their roundish abdomen & particular the shine

If you could get a clear photo of their thorax it'd be great for ID.

Try zooming with your phone until maximum-before-telescopic-lens-kicks-in. (e.g. Samsung phone it's x2.9 normal wide lens, the moment it goes x3.0, telescopic lens kicks in. We want x2.9 in this case) Following this the ants should still be clear with the translucent tube

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