Leafcutter colony free in NY City?

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kalimant	Leafcutter colony free in NY City?		Lead	[-]
TAFMF Addict Posts: 2102 06/03/2006 2:55 PM Leaf-Cutter	I went to NY City today, and wanted to visit the leafcutter colony (Atta cephalotes) in the Central Park Zoo. Late last year, I noticed that the colony was gone, and assumed that it had perished. However, when I asked a staff (security) about it today, he said they had escaped (!) He might have been pulling my leg, but I found the concept of an escaped leafcutter ant colony in NY City to be really cool!
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kalimant	Pics	#1	[url]	[-]
TAFMF Addict Posts: 2102 08/30/1936 12:49 PM Leaf-Cutter	For the new one to this board, here's some pics of that colony: www.blueboard.com/leafcut..._10_11.htm
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MrILoveTheAnts	Re: Pics	#2	[url]	[-]
TAFMF Addict Posts: 3133 06/03/2006 7:16 PM	Letting a colony of Atta escape; do you think this will effect future colonies they intend on keeping if they're even allowed.
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kalimant	Joke?	#3	[url]	[-]
TAFMF Addict Posts: 2102 06/03/2006 7:43 PM Leaf-Cutter	The guy was almost surely putting me on....and i didn't have time to dilly dally and talk about it since it started to rain.... Escaping ants from the zoo would surely be big news, right? ;-) Nevertheless, i'll see about contacting the zoo and asking whether the colony did indeed perish... i remember another "zoo" near here also has a colony...
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chazzbo77	Re: Joke?	#4	[url]	[-]
Henchant Posts: 1355 06/03/2006 9:24 PM Henchant	Kalimant, nice pics, all added to the Database. chazzbo77
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kalimant	Coverup?	#5	[url]	[-]
TAFMF Addict Posts: 2102 06/05/2006 9:57 AM Leaf-Cutter	I've talked on a phone to a contact person at the organization that owns the zoo...she says she'll check and get back to me about it later this week...i kept wondering how hard would it be to find out as the leafcutter exhibit is one of the top things they announce in their website and press clippings.....I smell a cover-up ;-) I emailed after and mentioned: "and have heard rumors the ants have escaped (because of ant sightings in Central Park? LOL) ;-)" If the ants did escape, that'll get them really scared! LOL.
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Ant Catcher11	Re: Coverup?	#6	[url]	[-]
Loyal Worker Ant Posts: 865 06/05/2006 11:15 AM Loyal Worker Ant	Wouldnit there be dead bodies in there if they died? Hopefully if they did get out the US won't let them get another colony. Shame on them. I am a wereant! hahahahaha! http://monstersgame.co.uk/?ac=vid&vid=11075177
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MrILoveTheAnts	Re: Coverup?	#7	[url]	[-]
TAFMF Addict Posts: 3133 06/05/2006 11:21 AM	Exactly how does a 25mm queen escape with over a million ants anyhow? Did they leave the front door open?
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chazzbo77	Re: Coverup?	#8	[url]	[-]
Henchant Posts: 1355 06/05/2006 12:14 PM Henchant	*Quote:* Exactly how does a 25mm queen escape with over a million ants anyhow? Did they leave the front door open? Exactly. chazzbo77
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kalimant	Escaping	#9	[url]	[-]
TAFMF Addict Posts: 2102 06/05/2006 12:21 PM Leaf-Cutter	"Exactly how does a 25mm queen escape with over a million ants anyhow? Did they leave the front door open?" I doubt that colony had a million workers...and leafcutter emigrations typically take a couple days at least, so the most likely explanation is that the colony queen died. Although some captive colonies can last years and years, I've heard of some museums/zoos were the turnover is less than half-a-decade. Still, it's cool to think about a colony escaping and living in the park....
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chazzbo77	Re: Escaping	#10	[url]	[-]
Henchant Posts: 1355 06/05/2006 2:03 PM Henchant	kalimant said: *Quote:* Still, it's cool to think about a colony escaping and living in the park.... Yes it is, and that's why I'm rooting for that. I hope they escaped, but stay in the park. chazzbo77
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kalimant	Update	#11	[url]	[-]
TAFMF Addict Posts: 2102 06/05/2006 2:17 PM Leaf-Cutter	I got a quick email back after that email i sent ;-) The person said the exhibit is temporarily closed because they are designing a new exhibit. They don't know when it's going to be finished though... I dunno....I looked up all the news items in their site and on the web and found no mention of this. There is also no mention of this on the zoo itself when i went there late last year. I still think the colony died :-(
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bounty80	Re: Update	#12	[url]	[-]
Loyal Worker Ant Posts: 591 08/30/1957 11:49 AM Strong Worker Ant	I don't think you'd want to make that public.
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Swamp Ant	Re: Leafcutter colony free in NY City?	#13	[url]	[-]
Callow Ant Posts: 14 06/06/2006 2:33 PM	Even if they did get out they wouldn't make through New York's winter.
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Reacker	Re: Leafcutter colony free in NY City?	#14	[url]	[-]
Henchant Posts: 1380 06/06/2006 2:36 PM Henchant	In that case, where is the colony while they are messing with the exibit? Insert Signature Here
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AntJulie	Leafcutters in northern U.S. cities	#15	[url]	[-]
Loyal Worker Ant Posts: 567 06/08/2006 6:04 PM Doc.	There used to be a nice Atta colony at the Boston Museum of Science. The AntUncle and I used to visit it every time we went to the museum. On one visit we noticed that it had "sprung a leak"; there were ants crawling all over the outside! We pointed this out to one of the museum docents; the next time we visited, a few months later, the enclosure had been caulked. They had that colony for quite a few years, but eventually the queen died, the colony fizzled out, and they never replaced it. At least they didn't have one the last time we visited, back in 2003. Pity; it was a lot of fun to watch. -- AJ
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kalimant	Hidden	#16	[url]	[-]
TAFMF Addict Posts: 2102 06/08/2006 6:44 PM Leaf-Cutter	"where is the colony while they are messing with the exibit?" Some museums/zoos have non-displayed nests...i'm assuming, if the colony is not dead, that the ants are in one of these.
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Leafcutter colony free in NY City?

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