Why keep one pet when you can keep a whole colony of thousands? Keeping ants is remarkably rewarding and can be a perfect project for you and family. Jungle in the Suburbs has a few species and will be sharing more about them in the future
Though ants may not be the first pet of choice that comes to somebody's mind, many people, myself included, have found them to be fascinating creatures to keep as pets. Their industriousness and hitherto secret way of life can be a source of wonder and entertainment.
So, how exactly does somebody keep ants as pets? Are they dangerous? What do they eat? What sort of home do I need to provide them? How can I stop them escaping? What if the produce flying ants? These are just some of the questions I intend to answer.
One of the first considerations you need to take into account is the age and experience of the person intending on keeping the ants. For example, you don’t want to allow a child to keep stinging ants, at least not until they have had experience in keeping ants.
For those in the UK I would recommend the common black garden ant Lasius niger. These ants are perhaps the best known ants in the UK and are an ideal species to keep as a beginner, or if you want a large active colony.
If you have kept ant before and feel you want something different from Lasius niger, then perhaps something like Myrmica rubra, a red stinging ant may be of interest to you. These ants tend to have smallish colonies but build large tunnels and chambers and can be quite aggressive. The sting isn’t that bad but may be distressing to young children.
Another factor you need to consider is what sort of nest you’ll have to provide your particular species of ant. Ants live in a vast variety of nest types, according to their kind, from simple excavations in soil to a “ball” made up of leaves sewn together by the ants; from rotting wood to “paper” nests. Some ants don’t even create nests but live in a bivouac made up of their own living bodies.
Choose a species that you can afford and have the time, resources and space for. Some ants require specialised environments such as the hot humid climates found in the rain forests, others are not so fussy, and only require room temperature. Again Lasius niger are ideal as you can keep them in a simple tub filled with lightly dampened soil.
If you want to be able to see into their nest then consider a slim style ant farm, glass or plastic, (I prefer the former as glass is clearer than plastic and doesn’t warp - though it can smash!).
Finally you need to consider what your species eat. Some species eat seeds, other insects, whilst others eat fungus grown by themselves from chewed up leaves.
Once again I will champion the cause for good old Lasius niger, which, are, in fact, my favourite species of all. Lasius are ideal for the following reasons:
Very active Harmless (don’t sting!) Eat almost anything Require only simple nests
Identifying the Queen
To make sure you have a queen and not a large worker, look at the shape of the thorax (the middle part of the ant where the legs are); if it is large and just as wide, if not wider than the head, and if the abdomen (the back part of the ant) is large, then it’s a queen. Worker ants’ thoraxes are slimmer than their heads.
Here is a picture, for comparison, of a worker and queen of Formica fusca, a large black ant found in the UK and Europe. Note the difference in size, especially how the thorax of the queen is much large in comparison to her head than that of the worker.
It is very important that you do not simply take one of the winged ants from the main nest as she will not be mated, and therefore will not produce a colony.
It takes about 8-12 weeks for a queen, once she has laid eggs, to produce workers, so a little patience is required here.
Please note that with many ant species, such as Lasius niger, once the queen has made her burrow she will seal herself in and will not emerge ever again. She does not require food at this stage so do not be tempted to open her burrow and out food in. She has enough body reserves in her to sustain herself and her brood. Once her first workers start foraging you can start to feed them. The same situation stands with water; you don’t need to provide your queen with water until her first workers start to forage.
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