Troubles with Atta Cephalotes
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 2:30 pm
Hello. As I explained in my presentation topic, a friend gave me a colony of Atta Cephalotes. I spend some time studying it and I built was I imagined as a perfect starting place. I did my best and still, I missed something.
Here are the descriptions and the questions:
1) Before the stable environment
• I got the colony with a queen, 3 leaf cutter, a dozen gardener and I think 4 ants that shred the leaves for the gardener (yes, with no fungus because the conditions were bad on his setup and it died)
• I added 1cm² of fungus from Antstore.de, which they all ate (...)
• I gave organic apple for them to feed, which was appreciated
2) After the stable environment
• The environment is composed of :
o a big plastic box cleaned with organic white vinegar and well ventilated afterwards
o a sole of Gedeo plaster (with resin, used for all my anthills for years) at the bottom (it went 1hour in the oven at 90°C beforehand) to absorbed the water excess
o 1cm of "granules beige" from antstore (it was boiled several minutes beforehand) to increase the surface of evaporation, thus achieving a very good moisture content
o a circular glass plate at the center, on top of the gravel (it also went on the oven)
o the colony disposed on the glass plate
o a plastic dome with an opening of 2cm diameter on top of the glass plate (vinegar as well)
o A device to display humidity and temperature inside the big plastic box
o littles holes on the big plastic box (lid, sides)
o blackberry leaves, rose leaves, raspberry leaves on the gravel
• I added 3 piece of 1cm² of fungus from Antstore (expensive so I took 3 vials...)
• I noticed the glass plate was a problem because the water from the humidity would condensate and slip on it. The ants were not happy with that so I created a PLA flat disc filled with plaster.
• Since the installation (2 weeks), absolutely nothing happened... Even the cut leaves are still intact, green stiff as I have just cut them. The fungus is not growing, not shrinking. The ants are not touching the leaves. No mold, no deaths, no eggs. The humidity is 99%, temperature 25°C, stable.
• I give a very thin slice of organic apple regularly
• The fungus was eventually covered with mold (white with filament) and rejected
• The biggest ants and some of the tiny one died suddenly
• The queen made eggs
3) Questions & remarks
• What is wrong with the installation?
• Could the light be a factor for this regression? I read the fungus does not like UV and I put it on the corner of the room, but it is not fully protected from light.
• Would you have any piece of advice for me?
• Would someone have any fungus to give/sell/whatever?
• What could I give to them in order to provide proteins?
Thanks a lot for the time you took reading me, I am quite worried the queen would be dead soon…
And have a nice day
Here are the descriptions and the questions:
1) Before the stable environment
• I got the colony with a queen, 3 leaf cutter, a dozen gardener and I think 4 ants that shred the leaves for the gardener (yes, with no fungus because the conditions were bad on his setup and it died)
• I added 1cm² of fungus from Antstore.de, which they all ate (...)
• I gave organic apple for them to feed, which was appreciated
2) After the stable environment
• The environment is composed of :
o a big plastic box cleaned with organic white vinegar and well ventilated afterwards
o a sole of Gedeo plaster (with resin, used for all my anthills for years) at the bottom (it went 1hour in the oven at 90°C beforehand) to absorbed the water excess
o 1cm of "granules beige" from antstore (it was boiled several minutes beforehand) to increase the surface of evaporation, thus achieving a very good moisture content
o a circular glass plate at the center, on top of the gravel (it also went on the oven)
o the colony disposed on the glass plate
o a plastic dome with an opening of 2cm diameter on top of the glass plate (vinegar as well)
o A device to display humidity and temperature inside the big plastic box
o littles holes on the big plastic box (lid, sides)
o blackberry leaves, rose leaves, raspberry leaves on the gravel
• I added 3 piece of 1cm² of fungus from Antstore (expensive so I took 3 vials...)
• I noticed the glass plate was a problem because the water from the humidity would condensate and slip on it. The ants were not happy with that so I created a PLA flat disc filled with plaster.
• Since the installation (2 weeks), absolutely nothing happened... Even the cut leaves are still intact, green stiff as I have just cut them. The fungus is not growing, not shrinking. The ants are not touching the leaves. No mold, no deaths, no eggs. The humidity is 99%, temperature 25°C, stable.
• I give a very thin slice of organic apple regularly
• The fungus was eventually covered with mold (white with filament) and rejected
• The biggest ants and some of the tiny one died suddenly
• The queen made eggs
3) Questions & remarks
• What is wrong with the installation?
• Could the light be a factor for this regression? I read the fungus does not like UV and I put it on the corner of the room, but it is not fully protected from light.
• Would you have any piece of advice for me?
• Would someone have any fungus to give/sell/whatever?
• What could I give to them in order to provide proteins?
Thanks a lot for the time you took reading me, I am quite worried the queen would be dead soon…
And have a nice day