i love ants

[Renagade]

ants are my favorite animal. i have kept them and rate them as an awesome critter to observe.a small 'farm' only last a month or two, and collecting them was easier when i was ten but looking at these pics i got off the net you can see why i like them so much.
the first one is the ducatti of all ants and the second is a honda goldwing.... feel free to add.

 

[Chris89]

I don't like ants lol, they're always biting me :S haha

 

[noni]

cool they are trippy looking close up! nice one renegade

 

[hornet]

i love ants, make good lizard food lol

 

[Auzlizardking]

You can get help for that you know

 

[notechistiger]

Lol, Auslizardking.

 

[mebebrian]

Yeah dude, your wierd!
Cool pics though

 

[arbok]

got any pics of queen ants... always wondered wat they look like... and google hasnt worked so far.

 

[Miss_Croft]

Renagade - Do you keep ants?
If so how many colonies do you have?
Can you describe how you keep your ants?
What types of ants do you keep?
What is your favorite type of ant?

I think one of easiest ants to keep would be the Camponotus genius.

 

[redbellybite]

each 2 there own I suppose.........to me they stink and they bite.........and they get into every nook and cranny i dont like them would love to get a lil devil in here to take over the plague of black ants that seem to like my bathroom as a place to live

 

[FNQ_Snake]

I took this pic about 11 years ago (before the boom in digital cameras). I used 18 extension tubes, a 5 minute exposre with a 35mm lens and the camera was a Nikon FM2. It was a common black house ant found in Sydney.

 

[Miss_Croft]

FNQ_Snake - that is a great photo.

RBB - You would know this - but not all ants sting and most types do not inhabit houses. Ants can be used to reduce indects in gardens - many types are good pest hunters...

 

[redbellybite]

i do understand croft that ants are apart of the eco sytem and over all they play a major part in the nature of things and yes i am aware not all sting but all bite and some species feel right at home in my house i wont use pesticides because of the threat it has on other animals including my own domestic pets i was just having a gripe about ants i hate roaches too but like i said i dont kill them with chemicals the GTF'S do a great job to get rid of roaches but the ants seem to have free run .........if anyone has a non chemical way of getting rid of these little beasties from my house i would be interested in knowing this ...........thanks

 

[Earthling]

I repect ants too!
Ive got two good size colonies of meat ants on the property. Ive just cut up a load of ironbark with the usual mass of termites scurrying around chomping away with wild abandon and once split and loaded in the shed in came the meat ants, to clean up the discarded massacred and homeless wandering termites. They were going for it saturday arvie and all day yesterday and Im sure they will be hoarding a few more before dusk today. Good 'ol natures clean up crew.
How come Queensland meat ants dont bite like WA meat ants? Im guessing a different breed but they look very similiar.

 

[slim6y]

Ants can go both ways Miss Croft - in Australia (especially the far north) we have an array of wonderful ants including Green Tree Ants. Now green tree ants aren't your usual sugar frolickers - nope, these fellows will attack and kill birds (including our beautiful sunbirds) if they do so feel like it.

I used to let their colonies to themselves. But when they started running the roost (my house in Smithfield) I began cutting their nests from the trees into open rubbish bins. I never once got stung... However, they're incredibly vicious predators.

They did keep the cockroach (the American cockroach) population down (thankfully). And apparently they taste just like peppermint when you eat their behinds.

I do have some great pictures of the green ants - but they're not available from my laptop at the moment

I might upload a couple later (actually I think there's some on here - will check soon).

The other issue I have with ants are... They can 'actively farm mealy bug and aphids to the point that plants can be killed! They're the only other creature known that actively farm other animals. Now these ants will protect their flock of mealy bugs so viciously. The only way to effectively destroy the mealy bug is with insecticide as biocontrol methods are useless with the ants being so vicious!

So I do have a lot of respect for these animals, from the intricately weaved nests of the green tree ant to the farmer black ants.

And lets not forget the humble termite - afterall, it's just an ant!

Found the picture:

 

[Earthling]

And apparently they taste just like peppermint when you eat their behinds.

Howdy Slim. Dont know about just like peppermint, but they did have a bit of a zap to their taste if I remember correctly...wasnt too bad at all, well worth a try of some good aussie bush tucker.

 

[redbellybite]

i have eaten them slimey when i was up at Jelatten they taste more like lemon/lime but bite like a bugger i have even had green ant tea its very refreshing and you put a heap of green ants into hot water shake well and strain the ants off place in fridge drink cold bloody beautiful..................

 

[slim6y]

Howdy Slim. Dont know about just like peppermint, but they did have a bit of a zap to their taste if I remember correctly...wasnt too bad at all, well worth a try of some good aussie bush tucker.

You're welcome to come round and feast on them all you like I hear they make a decent tea if you cook the whole nest up in boiling water.

I recall a tour guide suggested they (Aboriginal tribes) used to use them as 'breath fresheners'.

Maybe we can cook them up with some witchety grubs


*** Edit ***

Sorry RBB didn't see you had already written about the tea - so you can come over with Earthling if you want - we can have a real Aussie cook up

 

[Tatelina]

Nerd!

Why do small ant farms only last a month or so? Surely you can sustain it for longer?

 

[caustichumor]

The Green Tree Ants are amazing predators, they compete with the AHG for moths around here, They will sometimes swarm outside my kitchen window at night, and drag off any insects that are attracted to the light. They also got into my cricket and woodie containers and killed the lot.... for that reason I keep my mouse colonies screened in insect mesh.
I think ants are amazing insects as long as they stay out of my house.....