New Solenopsis xyloni colony

klawfran3 · Oct 6, 2015

I just got (a couple weeks ago) a new colony of Solenopsis xyloni, the southern fire ant. These guys are the nice and friendly natives, and aren't the nasty and invasive imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta). The colony has about 500 workers and a tube full of brood, and I'll see if I can get a picture of the queen. They're super easy and fun to care for, and I just used them as a demonstration for public education at a local animal rescue along with many of my spiders, roaches, and other animals. Anyone else here on the forum into ant keeping?

pyro fiend · Oct 6, 2015

i dont personalty keep ants.. iv thought about it a time or two.. but they sound like alot more work .. but i bet they are super interesting.. tho not the craziest invert iv seen [one board i used to visit had a few keepers who kept moths as pets and another one kept wasp o.0]

blacksheep998 · Oct 6, 2015

I remember as a kid I found a fledgling ant colony in a flowerpot. There was a queen, 2-3 workers and a handful of larva. I set them up in an old ant farm and they lived in there for a couple weeks, then suddenly all died for no reason that 12 year old me could determine.

And moths aren't that unusual. I've talked to a couple people who keep some of the giant silk moth species like Atlas, Luna, and Cecropia. You just have to remember that you're really keeping caterpillars, since they spend the vast majority of their lives like that.

With the Lunas and Cecropias, they'd keep them a day or two until they laid some eggs, then release them since those species are native here in the US. I've only ever heard of one person keeping Atlas moths, and they don't release them. Though considering that two of the caterpillar's favorite foods are privet and Ailanthus altissima (both highly invasive) it might not be too bad if they did, lol.

klawfran3 · Oct 6, 2015

pyro fiend said:
i dont personalty keep ants.. iv thought about it a time or two.. but they sound like alot more work .. but i bet they are super interesting.. tho not the craziest invert iv seen [one board i used to visit had a few keepers who kept moths as pets and another one kept wasp o.0]

I used to breed Luna moths for a while until I decided it wasn't worth the hassle... fresh leaves every day from a tree a mile away. PITA to walk that far.
Ants are surprisingly not that hard to keep. There are a few instruments you can get that basically do all the work for you. You can get automatic waterers, formicaria (ant nests) that stay hydrated and good for weeks, and food that's premade for them. They are definitely more work than a tarantula but are still really easy. Some species (like Acromyrmex versicolor) are a lot of work but look absolutely awesome.

blacksheep998 said:
I remember as a kid I found a fledgling ant colony in a flowerpot. There was a queen, 2-3 workers and a handful of larva. I set them up in an old ant farm and they lived in there for a couple weeks, then suddenly all died for no reason that 12 year old me could determine.

And moths aren't that unusual. I've talked to a couple people who keep some of the giant silk moth species like Atlas, Luna, and Cecropia. You just have to remember that you're really keeping caterpillars, since they spend the vast majority of their lives like that.

With the Lunas and Cecropias, they'd keep them a day or two until they laid some eggs, then release them since those species are native here in the US. I've only ever heard of one person keeping Atlas moths, and they don't release them. Though considering that two of the caterpillar's favorite foods are privet and Ailanthus altissima (both highly invasive) it might not be too bad if they did, lol.

They probably needed a lot more humidity, or they were a species that needed specific requirements (needed wood to live in or something like that). But then ants do also just die randomly for no reason too, it happens quite often.
Moths are pretty cool pets but too much work. More work than my DOG when I kept lunas.

New Solenopsis xyloni colony

klawfran3

Arachnolord

pyro fiend

Arachnoprince

blacksheep998

Arachnosquire

klawfran3

Arachnolord