Ant Care 

You can give them 2–3 small pieces of food once a week. Some ant species can be picky, so it’s good to rotate different foods to see what they prefer.

SPRING WATER or FILTER WATER (Which is great but highly recommend spring water) ONLY, do not give them tap water!  It is an important part of keeping the ants healthy. Make sure they always have a small source of fresh water. You can add two to three tiny droplets of spring water in the outworld every couple of days. Another option is to use a test tube filled with spring water and plug the end with a cotton ball, or you can use the gravity water feeder that comes with your outworld made by Mrs. Queen Ant (Cover the drill hole with your thumb as you fill it, screw the lid on tight, flip it, and set it in the outworld, a small initial leak is okay) so the ants can drink safely whenever they need to. This keeps the water clean and lasts much longer than droplets. so the ants can drink safely whenever they need to.   Fruit:You can give the ants tiny pieces of fruit as a treat. Fruit has natural juices, so it gives the ants a little extra energy and moisture, but it does not replace their main water source. Always keep fresh water available in the outworld, and offer fruit only in very small pieces so it doesn’t mold.

Finding the Queen Ant and Collecting a Colony Finding  A Queen Ant and her colony can be exciting, but it must be done carefully so you don’t harm the ants or damage their nest. Below are the exact materials and steps I use when collecting queens and colonies.  Materials You’ll Need:  • Jar with a lid  • Option A: A thin ring of Vaseline or butter around the inside top edge (to prevent escapes)  • Option B: A jar with a lid that has a small hole for a funnel tube (cover the hole with cotton for airflow)  • Spoon or small stick (for ants to climb onto)  • Shovel or small digging tool  • Test tube setup for queen or queen + colony     Finding an Ant Colony  Ants live in many different types of soil, so your approach depends on the species and the ground. During Nuptial Flight Season In late spring or early summer, on warm days after rain, young queens walk on the ground looking for a place to start a colony. If you see a queen ant walking alone with no workers, you may have found a newly mated queen.   Finding Established Colonies  Different species require different methods:  Fire Ants  • Look for large mound hills • Be careful, they sting  • Safest method: let them climb onto a stick or spoon and gently shake them into the jar Sugar Ants, Orange Sugar Ants, and Other Small Species  • Look for small soil mounds or tiny holes  • If you can’t find the nest, follow a worker ant back to its colony  Leafcutter Ants  • Their nests have a hillside mound   • After rain, they sometimes move brood closer to the surface.  Carpenter Ants  • Live in rotting wood  • If the wood is soft, you can gently open it • If they live inside a healthy tree, the queen may be harder to reach.   Catching a Queen Ant  A queen ant is:  • Larger than the workers  • Has a bigger, bulkier thorax (where wings were attached)  • May still have wings or show wing scars  • Often a different shade (darker or brighter)  • Has a larger round abdomen (gaster)   VERY IMPORTANT:If you collect a queen from an established colony, you must collect some of her workers too. A queen without workers cannot survive if she is already a colony queen.    Never Mix Ants Do not mix:  • Two different species  • Two different colonies of the same species They will fight. Example: I have two different colonies of the same species of Trachymyrmex septentrionalis. I keep them in two separate ant farms because they will fight. They are very territorial and protective of their colonies.

If you catch a young queen after a nuptial flight:  1. Fill a test tube halfway with spring water. Test tube size I used  (16mm x 100m or 18mm x 150m) Plastic.2. Insert a tight cotton ball to hold the water in place  3. Gently guide the queen into the tube  4. Add a cotton plug at the end for ventilation  5. Keep her in a dark, quiet place, cover with red cellophane.  6. Check occasionally for eggs and brood. Once she has 25–30 workers, you can move the colony into your outworld with ant farm.

What to Feed Your Queen Ant in a Test TubeAfter a young queen ant is mated, what she needs depends on what species she is. Some queens do not need food at all during founding, while others must eat to survive and raise their first brood.  There are three types of founding queens: Claustral, Semi-Claustral, and Socially Parasitic.   1. Claustral Queens - Claustral queens seal themselves inside a chamber and raise their first brood without any food. They use the energy stored in their bodies to feed their eggs and larvae. No food is needed until her first workers arrive.  2. Semi-Claustral Queens - Semi-Claustral queens must eat during founding.  They stay in their chamber sometimes, but they also leave to hunt for food while raising their first brood. They may need tiny amounts of: Insect pieces, Sugar water, Fruit juice, Protein sources. These queens cannot survive without food during founding.   3. Socially Parasitic Queens - These queens cannot found alone. They must enter a host colony, replace the queen, and use the host workers to raise their brood.

Do not mix two different species or two different colonies of the same species together, they will fight. You will need to collect ants from the same location ant bed you found them at. Example: I have two different colonies of the same species of trachymrymex septentrionalis I kept them in two separate ant farm so they are not together, because I know they will fight.They are very territorial and protected of their colonies.