# sugar ants................



## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

i really dont know what to call them other than that. they are about 1/4 the size of melanogaster and light brown. anyways i found a colony here at work which was a bit confusing since its winter but for the heck of it i askes my coworkers not to poison them so i could try feeding them to my frogs. so i rigged up a collection trap with paper towels soaked in sugar water sitting in a plastic container with an enterance hole in the side, the ants can come and go but there is normally a fair number always in the container. sure enough i can collect about a hundred ants a day. my Mantellas love them as do my Suri cobalt tincs which surprised me as they are so small.


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Ghost ants, I find colonies of them when its warm out.

Also a month or so back i did similar. I got an old salt shaker, and would bait it for some ants, and pheidole(big headed) ants would fill it up, and id feed it to my frogs. They loved it!but my family didnt...


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

At this time of year in the North, I would suspect that what you are finding are Pharoh Ants (Monomorium pharaonis). Becareful with what you bring home as this species is known for budding off colonies to be closer to food sources and once established are terrible to eradicate. This species will raid ff cultures and is usually small enough to get by the foam plugs. 

At work, this species is occasionally taken for a little while by some darts when they invade the cages but after a short period, they begin to ignore them. 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I forgot to add that this species can carry a large number of bacteria that are pathnogenic to people. 

Ed


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## Guest (Dec 25, 2005)

I collected some of these too at work, and I fed them to my Melanophryniscus stelzneri toads, to their delight. They werent big enough to bite me, at least not hard enough to hurt me. They were trying to get into where I kept the crickets whom I fed fish flakes to. Now I can find them in another part of my lab where I keep the orchids. They seem to be climbing all over the orchid. I hope its not a bad thing.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If they are Pharoh ants then thier jaws are too weak to hurt people. 

It depends on what you mean by a bad thing..... If you do not mind ants living in all kinds of things such as eletrical recepticles, phones, computers and all various plants, cages and raiding your ff and other insect cultures, attacking anything edible you put down........ then it could be a good thing. 
The worst thing about this species is that they do not stay localized, they rapidly bud colonies or even move colonies to be closer to food sources. 

Ed


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## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

my understanding of ants is that only a queen can reproduce, correct? so my taking workers home isnt going to cause any problems other than the occational escapee


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

That is correct only queens can really continue the colony (but in some species workers do lay eggs that hatch). But you could be at risk of a queen if they move one into or near your collection container. 
As a further item this species often has multiple queen colonies that bud off new colonies on a regular basis. If you are not treating the ants then then at some point they will probably stow away in something that you are taking home ( backpacks, books (under dust jackets or in loose spines), lunch containers, boxes (they will actually set-up the colony in the corregation of the cardboard or under a folded down leaf) are all items I have found new colonies........ 
A budded colony can move into its new location in less than an a hour as the colony can be very small. 

Ed


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## rattler_mt (Apr 15, 2005)

thanks for the info Ed. ill keep a look out. being that its winter here its hard for me to pass up an additional food item for the frogs. i dont have alot of room to raise 5 or 6 different feeder insects.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I understand the goal, but we have this species as a pest at work and it gets into almost anything. When this species moves into the frog tanks, they become satiated on it and then refuse to eat it. 

Ed


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## Guest (Dec 27, 2005)

I've only fed 5 or so at a time, thats all I could collect, and only a few times a month. So thats probably why they dont get bored with it.

I hope these ants to kill the orchids under my care. They are not my orchids. The orchid they like smells like chocolate.


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