Colony scent, crickets, and deaths... in Archived Keeping Ants #2 Forum

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Colony scent, crickets, and deaths...

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Heilo	Colony scent, crickets, and deaths...		Lead	[-]
Posts: 83 05/24/2003 2:57 PM	I rescently put a cricket in the ants foraging area with 1 leg cut off so it could'nt jump all over the place. After the ants subdued it completely(20 min. or so), a few of the ants were on their backs convulsing and later died. Also a couple other ants were minorly attacked by nestmates when they returned to recruit help to kill the cricket. Do crickets have some sort of poison defense? and is it risky to let the ants attack it for so long if they obtain a different scent to later be attacked by nestmates? [revised the title] --antdude
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Zanti Agent	Re: Colony Scent	#1	[url]	[-]
TAFAMF Addict Posts: 3369 05/24/2003 4:30 PM Dead Ant Rest in Peace (RIP). http://antfarm.yuku.com/reply/42297/Zanti-Agent-passed-away-on-11292003-508-AM-PST for the details. :(	I don't know about cricket defenses but I would recommed that you kill and maybe chop up larger insect food for your ants. Once I put a big beetle in with my ants and it created quite a disturbance for a while. It got in with the queen and brood before being subdued. Not a good thing to do.
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Merkava128	Re: Colony Scent	#2	[url]	[-]
Henchant Posts: 1281 05/24/2003 5:19 PM	It's not a poison defense, ants get very over-zealous when defending the nest, and I've seen aggression mistakenly directed at nestmates, and occasionally at themselves. (Sometimes a worker will bite its own leg and hold on to the death.) Also, I would never put a live insect in. Crickets may not seem like it, but they are capable of harming ants, they can bite, and kick with their hind legs, which may not seem like much to us, but on that scale, it can kill an ant. I would follow ZA's advice and kill/chop up a cricket, or any insect for that matter before placing it in with them. (I frankly prefer a good stomp, gets it over quick, puts all the 'guts' out where the ants can get to them. Nasty, I know, but it works.)
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Biddybot	Re: Colony Scent	#3	[url]	[-]
Loyal Worker Ant Posts: 651 05/24/2003 7:30 PM	If this was a house cricket, you do NOT want to put a live one in with your ants. Crickets can bite and kick--hard!--and even the mid-sized nymphs have big enough spines on their hind legs to do a real number on any ant I'm currently housing should they connect. Cricket-lover that I am, I'm also wincing at the thought of deliberatly crippling one and tossing it to the ants to be slowly 'subdued'. Why not put it in a glass and into the freezer part of your fridge the night before to humanely kill it, then thaw and chop it up into easily eaten portions the next day? Easier on the cricket. Easier on the ants. (And easier on my queasy stomach. ) PS: I wonder if it's possible that some of your ants that were attacked by their nestmates were injured? A cricket kick could conceivably puncture their exoskeletons without immediately killing them...perhaps such would release odours that antagonize the others???
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Heilo	Re: Colony Scent	#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 83 05/24/2003 8:42 PM	As far as the cricket hurting the ants, they are small crickets from the pet store, much smaller and less armored than the crickets that live in my area. I also removed the rear legs that can kick the ants.I realize freezing the cricket is a better solution but i like to see some action..lol, also i feel it is important for them not to lose their hunting skills. Presenting live food makes it easier to examine their foraging and recruiting techniques as well.I have seen this type of ant take down much stronger enemies outside with ease, but in the foraging area they sort of attack it chaoticly and then some will spread their legs out and have a seizure.(ones that havent been mistakingly attacked by fellow workers). Some seem to recover and others go on to die
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Merkava128	Re: Colony Scent	#5	[url]	[-]
Henchant Posts: 1281 05/24/2003 8:48 PM	Don't underestimate even a pet store crickets' power to cause serious injury. A bite from a cricket that size and at that power is probably proportional to someone taking wirecutters to your wrist/arm, with only a piece of metal between you and the blades. Eventually, something will give, especially if they are snapped shut hard enough. (I've had pet store crickets bite me, and it broke the skin.) It would probably be better for the overall health of the colony if you made sure insect food sources were properly disabled, and if you really want to feed them live food, I would place it away from the nest, as an encounter like that in the nest can cause stress, which is a killer of less hardy species of ants that aren't used to the conditions found in a simulated/human environment.
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Heilo	Re: Colony Scent	#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 83 05/24/2003 8:51 PM	i know for a fact the cricket never bit any of the ants. I watched the entire thing closely. I did not put the cricket in the nest but in the foraging area. I dont think they felt as though it was attacking the nest.
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Merkava128	Re: Colony Scent	#7	[url]	[-]
Henchant Posts: 1281 05/24/2003 8:57 PM	I can't help you then, I don't know what other than injury would cause ants to die so suddenly. Perhaps Mrmacophyl or Dr.Ant can help you out, or one of the other professionals.
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Colony scent, crickets, and deaths...

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