New colonies of Atta and Acromyrmex. Need advices

Let everyone see the story of your colony(ies) over time. Pictures, developments, success and failures, what works / what doesn't, and your plans for expansion as time goes by!
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Selwo
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New colonies of Atta and Acromyrmex. Need advices

Post by Selwo » Mon Apr 11, 2016 2:40 pm

Hi everyone from Spain! I work in an animal park and we´ve just received (two weeks ago) 4 colonies of ants. We have 3 of Acromyrmex octospinosus and 1 of Atta cephalotes. The man who brought them was very kind and gave us some advices and suggestions. He also told us about this forum.
We have the colonies in "boxes" (50cm x 40cm approximately) with soil (3cm thick). We were recommended to have them without light the first 3 weeks.
Temperature: Around 24-25ºC
Humidity: Around 90%

We have offered a lot of different types of leaves and fruits with relative success. Only cabbage, chard, orange peel, grape and rose have had some acceptance.

We are worried about one colony of Acromyrmex, in the other 2 the fungus grows. Could you please give us any suggesttions? Which plants/fruits works with your colonies? What about water with sugar?

And in the case of Atta they´ve buried the fungus completely...is it normal?

Thanks!

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Deansie26
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Re: New colonies of Atta and Acromyrmex. Need advices

Post by Deansie26 » Mon Apr 11, 2016 3:39 pm

Hello and welcome! Really great you have joined up to the forum.
Are all the Acromyrmex colonies housed in exactly the same way?
Is the Colony that you are worried about adding to the fungus?
Do you have any photos?
It's very normal for Atta to enclose the fungus.
I believe one of your Acromyrmex colonies was actually one that that I grew on, Andrew later let me swap it for an Atta, quite a nice detail for myself :D

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Deansie26
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Re: New colonies of Atta and Acromyrmex. Need advices

Post by Deansie26 » Tue May 10, 2016 11:03 pm

I've made pictures of the 3 colonies. The first one is an Acromyrmex colony that seems to go really good. They prefer rose leaves more than everything. One question…they are growing so fast so we´ll need to move to another box bigger. Would it be a problem to do this? Which is the better way to do this?

The second one is also of Acromyrmex. Although we can see new crests in the fungus, in this case they have a slower growth rate and they don´t cut the same amount of leaves as the other does. We received both colonies of Acromyrmex with the same size and now we can see clearly the different size between them.

The third one is the Atta colony. There´s a visible part of fungus and we suppose there´s more underground. There´s a hole close to the fungus (you can see in the photo) and we see ants going through it. The problem is that we can´t see the size of the fungus is underground and if it´s growing or not. They cut less amount but a little of some different types of leaves (Acromyrmex almost only rose).

Do you see something we can change? Maybe the amount of leaves we put? Or maybe don´t offer many different types of leaves at the same time?

Thank you very much for your help.

Best regards.

Nacho

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Deansie26
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Re: New colonies of Atta and Acromyrmex. Need advices

Post by Deansie26 » Tue May 10, 2016 11:05 pm

Posted for Nacho.

I've made pictures of the 3 colonies. The first one is an Acromyrmex colony that seems to go really good. They prefer rose leaves more than everything. One question…they are growing so fast so we´ll need to move to another box bigger. Would it be a problem to do this? Which is the better way to do this?

The second one is also of Acromyrmex. Although we can see new crests in the fungus, in this case they have a slower growth rate and they don´t cut the same amount of leaves as the other does. We received both colonies of Acromyrmex with the same size and now we can see clearly the different size between them.

The third one is the Atta colony. There´s a visible part of fungus and we suppose there´s more underground. There´s a hole close to the fungus (you can see in the photo) and we see ants going through it. The problem is that we can´t see the size of the fungus is underground and if it´s growing or not. They cut less amount but a little of some different types of leaves (Acromyrmex almost only rose).

Do you see something we can change? Maybe the amount of leaves we put? Or maybe don´t offer many different types of leaves at the same time?

Thank you very much for your help.

Best regards.

Nacho
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Acromyrmexbob
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Re: New colonies of Atta and Acromyrmex. Need advices

Post by Acromyrmexbob » Tue May 10, 2016 11:17 pm

Deansie26 wrote:Posted for Nacho.

I've made pictures of the 3 colonies. The first one is an Acromyrmex colony that seems to go really good. They prefer rose leaves more than everything. One question…they are growing so fast so we´ll need to move to another box bigger. Would it be a problem to do this? Which is the better way to do this?
Lots of the plants I saw around your zoo were too tough for the ants but there are plenty of suitable leaves including the hibiscus. Although I would say that few plants beat rose leaves for the ants and Hibiscus is more of an Atta love than Acromyrmex. The best way to move them and keep the fungus the correct way up is to quickly lift it from one box to the othe and then leave the old box nearby so all the ants move. Use your hands or, if you are concerned about this, a large spoon.
Deansie26 wrote:Posted for Nacho.

The second one is also of Acromyrmex. Although we can see new crests in the fungus, in this case they have a slower growth rate and they don´t cut the same amount of leaves as the other does. We received both colonies of Acromyrmex with the same size and now we can see clearly the different size between them.
Not really a cause for worry. Many colonies develop at different rates. The key is that this colony is cuttng and adding to the fungus. I would be interested to know if there is any difference in the humidity measured in both fungus gardens, right on the garden itself.
Deansie26 wrote:Posted for Nacho.

The third one is the Atta colony. There´s a visible part of fungus and we suppose there´s more underground. There´s a hole close to the fungus (you can see in the photo) and we see ants going through it. The problem is that we can´t see the size of the fungus is underground and if it´s growing or not. They cut less amount but a little of some different types of leaves (Acromyrmex almost only rose).
Yes, again, if they are cutting then they are adding to the fungus. With Atta the key is very high humidity. Also Atta will appreciate a variety of leaves, as you say. This colony was previously bigger and then declined. The queen is there but may not be in perfect health. I think if your temperature is correct and you measure the humidity in the Atta tank to be high (90% plus) then keep doing what you are doing and monitor them. If you see any further decline then we can start to look more closely at these ants.
Deansie26 wrote:Posted for Nacho.

Do you see something we can change? Maybe the amount of leaves we put? Or maybe don´t offer many different types of leaves at the same time?

Thank you very much for your help.

Best regards.

Nacho
I wonder if the soil you have there is wet enough. Also you should almost touch the fungus with the leaves, especially in the colonies you are worried about. Other than that please keep in touch with us on the forum and update as often as you can so we can monitor the progress and look at any problems. I dont think you have very much to worry about to be honest, Nacho.

Selwo
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Re: New colonies of Atta and Acromyrmex. Need advices

Post by Selwo » Wed May 11, 2016 3:37 pm

Thank you very much for your advices!

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Deansie26
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Re: New colonies of Atta and Acromyrmex. Need advices

Post by Deansie26 » Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:59 pm

Hi Nacho! how are your colonies doing? Hopefully they have made some good progress by now.

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