Hello!

[Matthew]

Hi everyone,
My name is Matthew (24) I'm currently serving in the military so there's not much point in telling you where I'm living, as I'll probally be moving bases next week lugging my ants around with me.

Really enjoying reading all the content on this forum. It's helped me a great deal so far.

Current colonys:
Reticulitermes grassei (termite colony 200-300)
Camponotus friedae (100ish)
Atta cephalotes (mini scotch egg not quite a golf ball)


Matthew

[Deansie26]

Hey Matthew! Great you eventually managed to join lol. Get some photos of your colony up, won't be a scotch egg for long

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[Andyj]

Good morning Mathew, welcome aboard.

[RichardP]

Hi Matthew

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[Acromyrmexbob]

Matthew, nice one! Wont be long before your Atta colonies produce soldiers! (Ta daa!)
Interested in your termite colony. I sometimes bring Ball Termites from central America back. I would bring more but they are rubbish so noone wants them as a display, so difficult to see anything. Anyway, love to see some pictures of your setup, and what are your plans for the development of the Atta, how big are you able to cope with and still have it mobile. In your setting, maybe an Acromyrmex would be better for manageability long term.

[Matthew]

Thanks for the welcome guys,
The colony currently has one soldier at the moment but its not full sized I'd say a quarter size, still quite impressive though. I'll get some pictures of the colony tonight, there's not a great deal of work going on but I guess that's due to the small size of the colony as they seem to only process leaves periodically.

The setup at the moment is very basic. Two pods one with a plaster base, heated by a mat which is controlled by a thermostat.

Your right about the termites though Andrew they are mega boring, I've had mine for months and all they do is slowly tunnel through wet toilet roll. The only exciting thing about them is that some of the workers suddenly metamorphose into soldiers or queens think I've got around 9 queens now from 1 initially.

[Acromyrmexbob]

The original reason I brought Ball Termites back was because I thought (still do) they would make a fantastic soft bodied food for all small amphibs etc. Also they would be self replenishing and would represent a highly nutritious source of live food. But people baulked at the initial cost and stuck with their fruit flies.
Anyway, nice to meet a fellow Termite enthusiast. I have some contacts of other, equally as sad individuals who are interested in termites, infact I think one of our members is a certified termite freak! I'll have a hunt and put you two together!

[Britishants.com]

Welcome