Volume 41, Number 1, January 1995:
Collection and Maintenance of Ants
and
Studying Ants: A Beginning
by Mark B. DuBois

Text-only version

ISSUE HOME PAGE

ABOUT THIS ISSUE
- about KSN
- about the author

IN THIS ISSUE
- introduction
- collection
- maintenance, observation ant farm
- maintenance, classroom use
- project observations
- literature cited
- books for children on ants

Studying Ants: A Beginning
by Mark B. DuBois
- males, queens and worker ants
- establishing a colony
- caring for young
- growth of an ant colony
- ant senses
- gardening ants
- harvester ants
- parasitic ants
- acrobat ants
- army ants
- questions, activities and investigations with ants
- further reading

SLIDESHOW
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Collection and Maintenance of Ants to Use for Teaching
by Roger D. Akre, Laurel D. Hansen, and Elizabeth A. Myhre

and

Studying Ants: A Beginning
by Mark B. DuBois

COLLECTION

Formica neoclara or F. podzolica colonies can be located by searching creek bottoms from early spring until snowfall. The typical small earth mounds (37-20 cm tall) of colonies are readily visible. However, some colonies are considerably larger (Figure 1). The ants can be collected at any time, but the best time to collect colonies is when they first emerge from diapause in the spring (April-May), and the workers are very active. Use a shovel to excavate a colony and soil into a heavy (6-8 mil) plastic bag. The bag is then tied for transport to the classroom where the bag is emptied into a clear plastic storage box. A lid (screened or otherwise vented) is then placed on the box. In two-three days the ants will have many tunnels established in the soil in the box, and then you can begin to manipulate the ants. If you want to extract the ants from the soil, drip water slowly into the box (the water level should not exceed a rise of 1.5 cm per hour so the ants will have time to move), and the ants will move upward as the water level rises. Eventually most of the ants will be on the soil surface where they can be vacuumed (Figures 4-5). These ants can then be placed back into a container with several sheets of heavy paper for cover. Add a water source (cotton swab in a small plastic dish) and food (insects and/or honey). These ants are very easy to see and manipulate. If workers or queens are needed for specific experiments or observations, these are easily collected with a vacuum into a small container (Figure 5).

Figure 4. Bon-Aire "Super Vac" canister. A. Motor housing and filter. B. 4.5 liter tank. C. Cord with cigarette lighter plub and battery clamps. D. Vacuum hose.

Figure 5. Basic design of Black & Decker Carvac Plus Model 9511 with an end apparatus. A. Vacuum. B. Crevice tool (OD/ID). D. Tygon tubing (15.5 mm ID). Small piece of Tygon tubing for support. Carvac Plus Model 9511 with an end. C. Round, acrylic tube (15.9 x 12.7 mm) E. Screening. F. Specimen jar (118 ml). G. (both sides of lid).