Hello everybody, I hope you are all doing well despite the current situation we all currently find ourselves in. Well, it’s officially Spring in my eyes. Yes, I know the official date this year was 20 March, however, for me, it’s not officially Spring until the wild ants in my garden are awake and foraging. Yesterday I threw […]
It’s Officially Spring! – Colonies Update – 7 April 2020 Read More »
Ant larvae being attended to. Life in the brood chamber of my Lasius umbratus colony. Outside temperature: 6*C / Ant Room Temperature: 8.6*C Lasius umbratus Things are still very slow in this colony, despite being the most active colony of the three. I do see more of these ants out foraging and feeding than the
Ant Larvae in brood chamber – Colony Update Read More »
When most people think about army ants, they probably see in their mind’s eye, long columns of ferocious ants, swarming over any poor creature that has had the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or you may picture a large curtain of ants hanging from a dead branch in the jungle.
Army Ants – Nomads of the Ant World Read More »
My ant colonies updates. As is usual; at this time of year, there is very little to update on. Myrmica rubra Despite the fact that it’s winter, and the rubras are not foraging, and have not been outside of their nest much this winter, they are still fairly active inside the nest. I have created a
Ant Colonies Updates – 27 Jan 20 Read More »
All ant colonies have at least one egg-laying queen. She is an essential member of the family. Without her there would be no colony. Some species of ant have only one queen in each nest. Others may have several, even numbering in the hundreds. Colonies/species that have only one queen are known as monogynous. Those
Polygyny In Ant Colonies Read More »
Ants in winter. It’s the middle of winter, and there has been very little activity outside of the ant nests. However, the ants of all three species remain fairly active inside their nests. This is not unusual. Even in the wild, hibernating ants can still be fairly active during the winter months. Especially on the milder days. Myrmica
Ant Colony Updates – 17 Jan 20 – Ants in Winter. Read More »
Happy New Year 2020 to all my readers/visitors/supporters. Thank you so much for your continued support on my website. My ants have celebrated the New Year – by staying in their hibernation beds, except, that is, for the Lasius umbratus. They have remained fairly active so far this winter, though in greatly decreased numbers. The Lasius niger and
Happy New Year 2020 Read More »
In this article, I discuss the evolution of ants. I answer the question of the origin of ants, their ancestors, and the evolutionary steps that occurred to bring us the ants we know today. The Origin of Ants Where, evolutionary speaking, did ants come from? Did they evolve from a common insect ancestor? Did they start
The Origin of Ants Read More »
This is the first of my weekly articles about ants. The topics will be wide-ranging and, hopefully, interesting to the reader. I aim to upload one article each Friday, though this article is one day early, as I had some free time today. Today’s topic is on the relationships of ants with other organisms. I
The Relationships of Ants with other Organisms Read More »
Currently, my 11-year-old Lasius umbratus colony nest in two nesting boxes linked together by a short length of plastic tubing. The colony used to be quite a bit more populous than it is now. It is possible that the queen is ageing and, therefore, unable to produce as many eggs as she once was. Alternatively, she just did
Moving Ants into a New Home Read More »