Recent talk of a formicarium, and what it means! (Ant-keeping!)

Science
#1

Hey there, makers, members, and aliens in disguise! A few of you have seen me around the Space over the last month or so, and many of you have turned to calling me ‘Ant-Man’ for my ‘prototype formicariums’ I’ve been 3D printing, cutting, etc.

Even more recently, talk hit the forums about a formicarium project in the science Committee! Well, here it is!
Thanks to Eric, Chad, and all the other awesome people in the Science Committee, the Space will have it’s very own colony!

I’ve been ant-keeping for a few years, on-and-off, but I’m going Thorax-to-the-wall with this new project! Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be going through the finishing steps to get some young colonies up to the space! We’ll be monitoring behavior, food consumption, and everything else you could possibly imagine with these ants! There might even be some play, researching deep inside ant genetics and seeing what we find!

Whether you have a simple appreciation for the ants, or a deep invested interest in their ways, I implore you guys to come to the class on Friday, November 4th. (Approval pending!) We aim to be setting up a few small cameras to watch the ants up close, which will be streamed the the whole space to watch at any time!

If you think you have some advice, information, questions, comments, concerns, etc, let me know!

Also! I figured I’d share some pictures of the ants I’ve been nursing for a while now!

This young colony is about two months old. The first workers started moving around about two weeks ago, and as you can see, they’ve established a graveyard/bathroom on the dry side of the test tube! (Left-hand side).

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This colony is much younger, at about five weeks old. The first workers just started moving around last week, and you can see on the left, one pupa is getting its color and will soon be walking!

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This queen is one that I just caught about a week ago. She only accepted the test tube as her nest a few days ago, and it was just this morning that I found her first eggs.

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Unfortunately, all of these pictures were taken with my phone camera in somewhat questionable lighting, so you can’t see the color of the ants. However! I can tell you that all of them are Solenopsis Invicta, AKA: The Red Imported Fire Ant.

Don’t be alarmed! By the time their formicariums are finished, they won’t be able to escape, and if they do, they won’t go far at all.

Next spring, I’m hoping to catch some different Queens, such as a queen Leaf-Cutter Ant, or better, Black Crazy Ant!

Thanks for reading!

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#2

The pesimist in me doubts both of those statements.

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#3

Don’t let it! The way the formicarium is designed, a ‘lip’ will be near the top, covered in either Fluonn, or a mix of vaseline and rubbing alcohol. Their housing will be modular, so that any disconnected pipes/tunnels won’t have escapees, and if all else fails, I’ll have a ring of vinegar around the formicarium itself. The ants won’t walk across it.

Both the sealant on the ‘lip’, and the ring of vinegar, will be re-applied every two weeks. Way more than necessary, but it’s to keep people in the space comfortable. Not to mention that it will be a closed-lid enclosure, with only a small hatch to throw in worms/roaches/feeder insects, which I breed at home for my reptiles.

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#4
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#5

Worst.
Delivery.
Ever.
(Like every Jeff Goldblume delivery)
That carried so much more weight in the book.

I’m going to start using formicarium to describe the pop-up mounds that keep…popping up in my yard…

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#6

same here… we do have a “coffee bar” now and those girls love their sweets.

#7

don’t take any of that as non support just more in light hearted jest since I already researched a little into how to set these up last month for fun. Hopefully the video streaming system will help alleviate other members concerns.

#8

“The pesimist in me doubts both of those statements.”

Don’t worry… we plan to spread the attractant pheromones on the chairs in the electronics lab so we’ll know where to find them in the event they evolve camouflage, crossbreed with the spider from Arachnophobia, and develop sophisticated sonic pulse messaging networks. Pleasant dreams Walter :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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#9

Awesome post man! Thanks sharing for this info and the pics with the rest of the space. I’m looking forward to seeing some leafcutter ants in action and want to know about this Black Crazy Ant now. Camera and Pi on the way!

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#10

#11

It could happen… it could happen… the ants taking over DMS that is

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#12

Makes sence, the digital internet took over our lives so what’s to stop the FormicidNet

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#13

Interesting… interesting! Another behavior we can monitor and experiment around with by say limiting the amount and number of pathways… just for starters. Pheromone trails could be monitored, automated, and quantified with a Raman for sure… (maybe not the one we’re starting out building). Do you know if there other computer algos related to swarm behavior we can investigate, replicate or mimic in ants? Now that vintage computers are coming to DMS, how about an ant one?

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#14

That’s a lot of fancy words in a fancy order that I can only piece together partially in my illness. I -can- tell you though, that numerous pathways won’t bother the ants a bit. If you had a maze, with the ants on one end and food at the other, they’d chart the whole thing out, then lay a pheromone trail that leads to the correct path. After just a bit of trial and error, they’ll move exclusively on that line.

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#15

Not sure about any swarm algorithm but it would be very meta and impressive for them to do Conway’s game of life

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#16

There’s always the ant colony optimization algorithm

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#17

I, for one, am stupidly excited about this. Hit me up if y’all need any help with construction or whatever. I fucking love ants.

#18

Haha, yes! That’s the excitement I love! :smiley:

#19

Hells yea, dude… 12345