The saddest thing about this time of year is the lack of ants.
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The saddest thing about this time of year is the lack of ants.
I have my pet colony, (carpenters) and the ants at the museum. (honeypots and leafcutters) ... but I never see any ants in the park, or on the sidewalk or trees.
It's so lonely.
Have you wondered where all the ants go?
In winter ants like my carpenters enter "diapause" which is similar to hibernation in mammals. They prepare their bodies for cold and move slowly. Deep in the earth and in the trees they rest in a big pile.
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My pet ants aren't very cold (though I do put them in a cooler place for winter) Diapause isn't as extreme as hibernation. An ant may have a small snack or groom her sisters. But mostly they rest.
Starting in the warm days of March they will wake up and begin a big push to increase their numbers for Spring.
@futurebird just curious, is it possible to safely keep a colony with the seasons artificially offset, through heatlamps and AC? not saying that one should or advocating, just wondering if it is even feasible for an individual without harming them
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@futurebird How cold can they tolerate?
Depends on the species. But some Carpenter ants can tolerate freezing temperatures.
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@futurebird just curious, is it possible to safely keep a colony with the seasons artificially offset, through heatlamps and AC? not saying that one should or advocating, just wondering if it is even feasible for an individual without harming them
It depends on the species. Ants aren't harmed much by staying active in winter if they are used to being more seasonal, the issue is the queen my die younger since she never takes a break from laying eggs. (though tropical species don't take such breaks)
Carpenter ants are very hearty and just making things more cool and feeding them less is good enough.
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Depends on the species. But some Carpenter ants can tolerate freezing temperatures.
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@futurebird I know we have pavement ants in Toronto, and it regularly stays below freezing for days. Do they simply dig down far enough to be insulated?
Mostly they do go deep, but they are also somewhat cold tolerant. But if there are very cold winters it will take longer for the ants to get their numbers back up again.
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The saddest thing about this time of year is the lack of ants.
I have my pet colony, (carpenters) and the ants at the museum. (honeypots and leafcutters) ... but I never see any ants in the park, or on the sidewalk or trees.
It's so lonely.
Have you wondered where all the ants go?
In winter ants like my carpenters enter "diapause" which is similar to hibernation in mammals. They prepare their bodies for cold and move slowly. Deep in the earth and in the trees they rest in a big pile.
I wonder if there have ever been migrating army ants?
Ants that don't build a nest and live in the south in the winter then make their way north as the weather warms eating everything in their path?
Maybe army ants just can't make enough progress in a day to get that far.
... but what if they brought back their wings?
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I wonder if there have ever been migrating army ants?
Ants that don't build a nest and live in the south in the winter then make their way north as the weather warms eating everything in their path?
Maybe army ants just can't make enough progress in a day to get that far.
... but what if they brought back their wings?
@futurebird This seems like a horror movie concept.
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@futurebird This seems like a horror movie concept.
People are ALWAYS saying that to me.
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I wonder if there have ever been migrating army ants?
Ants that don't build a nest and live in the south in the winter then make their way north as the weather warms eating everything in their path?
Maybe army ants just can't make enough progress in a day to get that far.
... but what if they brought back their wings?
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@futurebird But why would they need to migrate?
Once they reach the warm region around the equator, there would no longer be a need to keep migrating.
Well army ants need to keep moving since they eat all of the insects in one area so they need to leave and hunt somewhere else for a bit so they don't destroy the ecosystem.
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I wonder if there have ever been migrating army ants?
Ants that don't build a nest and live in the south in the winter then make their way north as the weather warms eating everything in their path?
Maybe army ants just can't make enough progress in a day to get that far.
... but what if they brought back their wings?
@futurebird SPACE FORCE ANTS
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@futurebird SPACE FORCE ANTS
I have those in my book.
