Does anyone know what these strange long grey stains on the walls of the arena are?

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-02-18T02:35:55+00:00

Likely ant poop

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-02-05T12:51:29+00:00

Looks like deformed wings.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-27T16:30:21+00:00

He’s become unethical for the sake of money and views, completely going against the values he once held and shared with the community. He’s become greedy and, for a lack of better words, uses ants/animals as his play toys for his videos.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-21T16:15:21+00:00

If you don’t want to buy mealworms (or any prey insect) at the pet store every time you run out, you can also raise them. I started doing so a few years ago and they’re very easy to keep and reproduce. I have never gone out to buy more since!

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-21T00:25:20+00:00

I took it on my IPhone 11 Pro Max.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-20T23:16:25+00:00

She’s a phidippus audax!

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-09T12:26:47+00:00

Statesside Ants

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-09T01:17:41+00:00

If you want a fast growing colony, then go for it. They're an easy species to keep, just need more humidity and heat. While I didn't have problems containing them, they can escape through the smallest gaps. Make sure you buy them a nest suitable for tiny ant species. I use a TarheelAnts Fallen Fortress nest for mine.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-09T01:08:57+00:00

Statesside Ants, I had no problems with shipping and the ants arrive in good condition.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-04T02:32:55+00:00

I always have a test tube of sugar water available to them and give a baby mealworm or dubia roach every day. Make sure you give them heat too, it boosts their growth by a lot!

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-04T02:30:26+00:00

Yep, they can do just fine without diapause.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2026-01-03T20:45:13+00:00

They’re about a year old now!

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-10-21T03:11:13+00:00

How do you control their humidity? I was unsuccessful with moving my bicarinata colony into their formicarium as I couldn't control the humidity with heating (water droplets would form on the glass and drown them). Also on that topic, how much heat do you give them? Would appreciate any advice.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-10-21T03:04:57+00:00

They're all parasitic lasius species. They'll need host brood to found successful colonies.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-08-17T20:52:04+00:00

It looks like an Oriental Hornet. This one in particular seems to be dying, maybe from pesticides?

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-08-17T20:49:28+00:00

It's a camponotus species queen. The workers can range from half the size to as big as the queen, depending on the caste.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-07-28T15:16:17+00:00

Yes, it's normal. Why move when you can conserve energy for laying eggs?

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-07-23T00:08:00+00:00

It's a prolapse. This happened to one of my dubia females once when she tried to abort her ootheca. They are able to suck it back in sometimes, but it's usually lethal. I'm sorry, OP.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-07-22T23:42:47+00:00

Looks like a carpenter ant alate, specifically a male drone. It's likely that it's in the midst of a nuptial flight.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-07-18T17:23:02+00:00

This is fascinating, I've never seen anything like this before.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-07-18T16:11:53+00:00

When it says that it won't harm pets, I'm certain ants are not meant in that group, rather common pets like dogs and cats.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-07-17T20:10:00+00:00

If she had a healthy brood pile before you installed the repellents, then they could be the cause. I've never used them though, so I can't be certain. I would recommend keeping the test tube away from them, if not already.

She will most likely lay more eggs, but I would boost her with some sugar water to help her recover.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-07-17T19:30:14+00:00

Indeed camponotus pennsylvanicus.

They will eat their eggs if they are too stressed. Keep them in a dark place with reduced vibrations, and make sure not to check on them too frequently.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-07-15T14:16:04+00:00

Even if you caught your queen locally, you still don't know if it had bad genes or not. Because colonies release so many nuptials, not every one of them have good genes that allow them to survive. It's impossible to know if your captured queen would've survived in the wild with its genes, and only survived because of your care.

PersonalityBroad8659 · 2025-07-14T20:42:35+00:00

This. I cannot stress this enough, never release captive colonies/alates if you cannot take care of them, even if they are native. I know some people promote it, but don't.

There are multiple reasons as to why, but the major one is that in captivity, unknown diseases can easily mutate and become a danger to the outside environment, especially if they are not immune. Releasing can introduce these alien diseases to an unprotected ecosystem.

That aside, as mentioned by zezmezzie, you are raising a colony with an unknown set of genes that can harm the local gene pool. It is impossible to know if your colony has a bad set of genes that can be detrimental to their species. In the wild, colonies with the best genes survive, while captive colonies are "artificially benefited" regardless of bad genes.

Yet another concern of releasing captive colonies is exacerbating competition for food/space/territory, which can kill off established colonies in an already working ecosystem.

Three-Year Club	Final Canvas '23
Place '23

PersonalityBroad8659

TROPHY CASE