You have always been curious about the ants around your house. you, busy improving their anthill or even making highways to a food source, then you came across a video on social networks showing that we can raise ants at home while you was not not aware that it was possible.

So it's decided, you're going to start breeding ants, but where to start?

Find a queen ant

First, you'll need to find a queen so she can start a colony. You can buy one, or a foundation (a start of a colony), online on sites like Fourmis Shop, but you can also find one yourself by simply walking around your home. Ants swarm, or nuptial flights, take place from June to September. This is the period when they reproduce. Winged ants, both male and female, take to the skies to reproduce in the air when weather conditions are right. This is usually before or after a downpour or when the weather is stormy.

Once fertilized, the future queen will land on the ground, tear off her wings, which are no longer of any use to her, and look for a place to hide to found her colony. It is at this point that it is possible to recover her to raise her at home. Simply look at the ground for a large ant running around looking for a place to hide.

Install your queen ant

Once the queen has been found, it will be necessary to place her in a suitable location for the founding of her colony. The great classic of myrmecology (ant breeding) is the test tube that is filled halfway with water. Then a piece of cotton is placed inside to separate this water reserve from the ants' living space. Place the queen inside and close the test tube with another piece of cotton to allow air to pass through.

At Fourmis Shop, we have developed a foundation module that advantageously replaces this classic test tube. It allows for better visibility (in a test tube, ants tend to hide in the cotton), it is cleaner (the cotton in the test tube blackens quickly) and above all it is compatible with all the other modules in the range . This then allows modules to be added as the colony evolves.

The foundation phase

After placing the queen either in a test tube or in a foundation module , comes the phase where you have to be patient. Indeed, as long as there are no workers, you have nothing to do. The queen has made reserves before swarming, and for most species, does not need to be fed before the arrival of her first little workers. You should even refrain from disturbing her too much and not look at her every day. This is a period during which the queen needs calm and not to be stressed. The ideal is to put her in a quiet place and not look at her more than once a week.

The queen will lay eggs, and the eggs will hatch into larvae, which will transform into nymphs (in a cocoon or not, depending on the species). Eventually, workers will emerge from these nymphs. This process takes approximately 6 to 8 weeks, depending on the species and temperature.

The arrival of the first workers in the ant colony

With the arrival of the workers, it will be necessary to start feeding this little world. To make feeding easier, it is recommended to add a hunting area . There is one already present in the Fourmis Shop foundation kit . To prevent the ants from escaping through the hunting area, which can remain open, it is necessary to apply anti-escape material to the walls or peripheral ceiling of the area.

For most species, a sweet liquid will work perfectly for this stage. A simple mixture of water and sugar can be sufficient. It provides the ants with the energy they need to carry out their various tasks. They will then need to be provided with insects so that they can provide a protein supply to the larvae, which need it for development.

For species of the genus Messor, it's a little different. Since these species are granivorous, they need to be provided with seeds, small at first. Dandelion seeds, which are easily found around the home, are very popular.

Further development

These are the first steps in myrmecology. Afterward, the queen will continue to lay eggs and the colony will grow, offering ever more exciting behaviors to observe. It will then be time to offer the colony new Ant Shop modules so that it can continue to grow as best it can.