Ants

[Dorkhedeos]

ants are starting to come into my house. its like getting free fish food i just put a small paper cup outside with a pinch of sugar in it, and its filled with ants the next day.

 

[SirMinion]

Ants eggs & larvae are excellent food for pretty much all fish but be careful using adult insects.

Ants exhude formic acid as a form of defence and although most fish will be happy to eat the ants, not all fish can deal with the acid and may become ill.

Try poking some ants with a peice of litmus paper and watch it turn red!

 

[Teelie]

You also don't know if they've picked up any kind of chemicals on their trek around the kitchen.

 

[Bowman]

Ants eggs & larvae are excellent food for pretty much all fish but be careful using adult insects.

Any good ideas on how to separate the eggs from the ants ? !

I can collect lots of ants plus eggs from my garden. It is easy to separate them from the soil/compost by scooping them (the 'nest') onto a sheet of plastic and leaving them uncovered in the light or sunlight but with an upturned lid of somesort providing shade close-by. The ants soon move all the eggs and themselves under the shade leaving the soil behind.
But it is then very tedious to pick off the ants from the heap of eggs !
I tried dumping them in a bowl of water, theory being that the ants would save themselves by swimming away and up the sides of the bowl, but the crafty wee things can swim with an egg and all the eggs got moved back out of the water and back to the ants+eggs heap in the shade !!

Any good ideas would be most welcome, thanks.
As Dorkhedeos says, free fish food; gotta be good

 

[kha]

Ants eggs & larvae are excellent food for pretty much all fish but be careful using adult insects.

Any good ideas on how to separate the eggs from the ants ? !

I can collect lots of ants plus eggs from my garden. It is easy to separate them from the soil/compost by scooping them (the 'nest') onto a sheet of plastic and leaving them uncovered in the light or sunlight but with an upturned lid of somesort providing shade close-by. The ants soon move all the eggs and themselves under the shade leaving the soil behind.
But it is then very tedious to pick off the ants from the heap of eggs !
I tried dumping them in a bowl of water, theory being that the ants would save themselves by swimming away and up the sides of the bowl, but the crafty wee things can swim with an egg and all the eggs got moved back out of the water and back to the ants+eggs heap in the shade !!

Any good ideas would be most welcome, thanks.
As Dorkhedeos says, free fish food; gotta be good

maybe erm try blowing the ants away? lol
or smashing some ants or get some plate poor the ants on it and get a drop of water and suger and put it on one side of the plate so it runs to it leaving the eggs undefended or try talking to them nicely you can talk to plants so try ants

 

[Bowman]

Any good ideas on how to separate the eggs from the ants ? !

maybe erm try blowing the ants away? lol
or smashing some ants or get some plate poor the ants on it and get a drop of water and suger and put it on one side of the plate so it runs to it leaving the eggs undefended or try talking to them nicely you can talk to plants so try ants

hey, good ideas, thanks !
yeh, already tried blowing ( I garden, I save seed, familiar with winnowing the chaff from the seed !) blew the eggs away as well as the ants !! Perhaps I need to perfect my technique

I like the idea of the sugar, I'll try that come the spring ( frozen tundra aka England here, unlike the tropical Dorkhedeos-lands of California ! )

I dont usually talk to my plants( nor my ants) but I knows a man who does, I'll talk to The Prince meanwhile

But thanks for your thoughts though.
There must be an answer, cos ants eggs used to be sold in commercial quantities ,,,

 

[fishfishfish]

put the ants in a bowl of water and use a pipet or small turkey baster thing.try sucking em up.ants cant hold for too long

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Ants eggs & larvae are excellent food for pretty much all fish but be careful using adult insects.

Ants exhude formic acid as a form of defence and although most fish will be happy to eat the ants, not all fish can deal with the acid and may become ill.

Try poking some ants with a peice of litmus paper and watch it turn red!

never knew that, but how am i going to get baby ants? shaboobalabooby