Ant farm with ants. How to make an ant farm with your own hands? Domestic insects and arachnids

Cats, dogs and hamsters are great, but many people have such pets. What if you want something unusual, interesting and not too expensive? You can make yourself or your child a wonderful gift - an ant farm. The originality of this gift lies, first of all, in the fact that it is quite easy to make it with your own hands.

Preparatory stage

To make an ant farm with your own hands, you need to do a little preparation. To start it is worth deciding on the capacity in which we will settle the restless family. An excellent ant farm is obtained from a flat aquarium, but this requires additional costs. Craftsmen can make a plexiglass container by bonding it with silicone glue. In this case, the design will turn out exactly the form that suits you the most.

The simplest version of an ant farm will be obtained from two containers for bulk products of different sizes. These can be jars or boxes of transparent material without pattern and damage, one of which fits freely inside the other. Both jars must have tight lids. You will populate the ant colony in the space between the two banks so that it is convenient to observe her life.

Soil or base for an anthill

The choice of filler for an ant farm depends on where you are going to get its inhabitants:

Be sure to take into account that the mixture of soil and sand should not only be well loosened, but also moistened. However, do not overdo it, if you make the mixture too wet, then the ants will simply drown in it.

Do not fill the container all the way to the top with the mud mixture. Leave a few centimeters of free space. And do not tamp the mixture, but just shake it slightly so that the inhabitants can easily make their own moves.

How to collect ants

The easiest way is to find ants in the yard. There is nothing complicated in this, especially if you connect a restless child to the process. Small anthills are very common, to find them, it is enough to follow where the small workers so purposefully drag their finds.

To collect an ant, take gloves, a scoop and a jar with a tight lid. In the lid, you can make several holes for air access with a thin needle., but they must be so small that insects cannot crawl out. You can drop honey or jam on the bottom, then the ants will gather around the sweets and will not try to get out. Carefully dig up a few anthill inhabitants and place them in a jar. Try to find the mother. It is much larger than the rest of the ants. 30 - 40 inhabitants are enough for your farm.

To populate a farm created with your own hands, you need to consider the following nuances:

Only working insects can be collected on the surface of the anthill. They are unable to reproduce. To watch the ants lay their eggs and care for them, it is imperative to get the queen queen. Alas, but for this you have to dig an anthill deep enough.
Ant farm, inhabited only by worker ants, will exist for no more than four weeks. This is their natural lifespan.
In the forest anthills you can find more large species insects than in urban areas. They are easier to look after.

How to care for an ant farm

It is not enough to make a house for an ant family. In order to observe how ants live for a long time, you need to properly care for the farm:

Understand how making an ant farm yourself is not at all difficult. If you involved children in this process, then watching the little inhabitants will be even more interesting. The main thing is to act carefully so that the ants live where it is convenient for you, and not where they want.

An ant farm, or as it is also called, formicarium, is an anthill under glass, a space where one or more colonies of insects live. The owner gets the opportunity to observe life different types ants, as if under a microscope: how they make a tunnel, collect food, grow larvae. Workers, soldiers, uterus - it's literally a whole city under the control of one person! In everyday life, formicaria are unpretentious, they don’t walk ants at 5 in the morning, they don’t bathe, they don’t take them for vaccinations.

What is an ant farm

Formicaria come from the 19th century. At first they were used exclusively for scientific research. A surge in popularity among naturalists led to the commercialization of the project. Since 1929, formicaria began to be made for sale, and in 1931, the inventor Frank Austin patented his design. The world's most famous formicaria is created by the Ant Farm brand, sending ants by mail, AntKing and AntPlanet.

The ant farm is a home anthill for a child. It will be interesting for him to have a whole "kingdom" in his administration. Observing unique processes, he will be closer to nature, will learn to be responsible for those whom he has tamed. Adults also like it: in the office it entertains visitors and inspires employees, at home it helps to relax, clear thoughts and recharge with energy. In stores, there are small models that are convenient to put on the table, and large ones, like aquariums.

Formicary for ants

The farm looks like a neat aquarium or showcase with filler inside. There are simple and complex systems, where lighting, an acceptable level of humidity, and temperature are automatically maintained. Designer farms are very popular. They have unusual shape, bright colors, arena connection function (spaces where insects walk and hunt), backlight. Size - from small to large: there are desktop, for the living room or office. As a filler, gel, gypsum, a mixture of soil and sand are used.

Soil-sand

Popular specimens have the form of a display, a cube or a double-walled cylinder (the so-called Cubus, Colosseum models). The containers are filled with multi-colored sand, in which the ant family develops and builds passages. It is expensive, but the kit immediately comes with sand, insect food and other useful things. The soil and sand farm is very visual and exciting.

Gel anthill

A gel-filled farm looks like an aquarium, but is not filled with water, but with a transparent gel. blue color. It is non-toxic, safe for insects, and at the same time serves as a living environment and food. The ant gel farm is airtight, convenient. It does not require care, once every 5-7 days the lid must be opened for a couple of minutes to ventilate, and remove dead insects that have already outlived their lives.

with gypsum filler

The gypsum ant farm is not so spectacular, but the insects are comfortable there, and the price is affordable. Gypsum - practical, available material. This is the most common type of formicarium. Among the models there are both compact, for the desktop, and large. The surface of the plaster is often brightly colored, which makes the anthill a stylish and unusual addition to any interior.

How to choose an ant farm with ants

Among domestic buyers, artificial ant farms are only becoming popular, but in the West they have been selling well for a long time. It is convenient to order a farm in the online store, where there are models of all types, designs and sizes. Sellers offer to visit the showroom and choose a product there or place a purchase remotely with delivery. Among the assortment of an ordinary pet store, especially in the outback, it is usually impossible to buy a formicarium with ants.

Formicaria price

In Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities of Russia, a popular ant farm from Antking or Antplanet can be bought separately or together with an ant family, food, and accessories. The average price is 3-6 thousand rubles, models self made, with additional modules are more expensive. You can save a lot by using promotions, discounts, sales, gift coupons.

How much does an ant farm cost in Moscow - an overview of online stores:

How to make an ant farm with your own hands

An anthill at home can be created even from improvised means. For the price, it will be cheap, but in appearance it will turn out to be no worse than the store. You can save on everything - containers, mixtures, ants. Get a farm with ants original form different from typical mass production models. Alternatively, you can buy a ready-made form, fill it yourself with a mixture and insects.

What you need for a home anthill

An ant farm at home is made from two jars with wide necks, a flat bottom, and tight lids. One should freely enter the other so that there is a gap between the walls and necks. Even for the ant house, a soil-sand mixture is bought (or a special gel, which is sold in the same place as the formicaria), a family of ants.

Where to get ants

There are two ways to provide formicaria with hardworking residents:

Buy ants for an ant farm at a pet store (where ant farms are sold). This is convenient, since you can immediately buy ants with a queen plus special soil for them. The disadvantages are obvious - the rise in price, the risk of damaging its inhabitants during shipment.
Find near the house or in the forest. In the second case, you need to take the ground nearby so that the insects do not experience stress. In order for the colony to multiply, dig out the uterus, that is, destroy the nest. Catching ants - only with gloves, in order to avoid bites.

Farm device

Preparation of an ant house - two cans that were placed one inside the other. It is important to close the inner lid tightly. A mixture of soil and sand is poured into the opening between them (proportion 2 to 1). The farm is ready. It remains to create a recess with a stick and launch 20-25 ants so that they start digging tunnels. The structure is tightly closed with a lid with small holes so that air enters. You can’t use cloth or paper for this, the ants will gnaw through them and run away.

A true colony is a self-regulating system. How to care for the inhabitants of the farm, tells the instructions for the ant farm with a photo, as well as the video below. In order for insects to live long and comfortably, it is important to observe simple rules:

feed with sweet formulations or special food;
moisten the soil - it’s enough to put a piece on the lid once a week wet cotton;
make sure that the temperature in the room is not lower than +15 degrees;
close the jar from sunlight (ants live in the dark);
remove dead individuals with a cotton swab or disc.

What can not be done with the farm:

Close the jar tightly - the insects will suffocate. Make holes only small so that the pets do not run away.
Leave the farm in the cold - the ants will hibernate. They also do not tolerate extreme heat, so it is better to keep the jar away from direct rays of light.
Shake, drop the container - insects are under severe stress.
Pouring water - the ants will die. Forgetting to moisturize is also impossible, this leads to the death of the colony.

Ant feeding

The best food for ants is honey, sugar syrup, jam or pieces of sweet fruit, you can prepare a glucose solution. It is allowed to feed insects, if they are definitely not poisonous. Food intake - no more than 1 time in several days, the amount of food is small, otherwise the entire colony will stop developing. If the filler is gel, there is no need to worry about the feed at all. For a small family, gel reserves are enough to eat for 3-6 months, then they buy more.

Video

When it comes to ants, it is a small black insect that sometimes flies and loves sugar. But this is only a superficial idea of these amazing living creatures.

The article will not talk about a couple of annoying insects, but about creating a full-fledged do-it-yourself formicarium.

Ant species are different. But no matter what species is chosen for breeding, the same rules for creating a cozy anthill apply to everyone. Where to start?

Read also:

How to make a formicarium for ants?

As you can see from the photo, this is a special aquarium, an ant farm. They are different sizes, formats, with different content. Can be used as soil sand. From it, ants will build nests, create transitions and an arena.

Perfect fit finely sifted natural sand. You should stop using garden soil, as it contains various bacteria and chemicals. It is permissible to use plaster. It is poured into a special mold, forming passages and minks. After hardening, the formicarium will be ready.

The third option is to use special gel. Insects will use the gel both for construction and as food.

Features of keeping domestic ants

An important component happy life ants is moisture. Its level varies from 80 to 90 percent.

The lack of moisture is equivalent to the death of the entire anthill. With an excess of moisture, fungus and mold can appear, which is also fatal. If perspiration appears on the walls of the formicaria, this is a sure sign that it is necessary to stop moisturizing for a while.

The required level of humidity is found out in a practical way.

For drinking you can put a small saucer or a tin bottle cap in the anthill. Ants will use this water to moisten their homes and build new passages. It is important to remember that only filtered water can be given to ants.

In the vast majority of cases, suitable for ants room temperature, order 25 degrees Celsius. If the room is cool, then this will slow down the development of the ant farm. In such cases, it is advisable to use special lamps or heating pads. A terrarium thermometer will help you keep track of the correct temperature level.

Read also:

Ants feel best when moderate lighting. It is desirable to darken not only the chambers, but the entire formicarium.

Insects will get used to open lighting, and quickly enough, but for a comfortable life it is better to leave them in the shade. Particularly harmful effect sunlight exerts on the larvae. Adults are also not recommended to be exposed to ultraviolet radiation for a long time.

If for some reason the owner needs formicarium lighting at home, experts recommend using moonlight lamp. Such a lamp will be able to warm the ants in a cool room and will not cause them stress.

What to feed the ants?

Contrary to popular belief, sugar is not the best food for ants. protein source worms and cockroaches can act. To provide carbohydrates, honey water is made by diluting 1:1. It is important to remember that such water can ferment quite quickly, and this is harmful to insects. As solid food suitable for ants: pieces of vegetables and fruits, bread crumbs, dead insects and mixtures for parrots.

Like many living things, ants fall into hibernation. Insects become inactive, refuse proteins, rarely leave their nests. For this period, you should change the approach to caring for formicarium with your own hands. The temperature must be maintained between 0 and 10 degrees Celsius. An aquarium can, for example, be put in a refrigerator.

Periodically, but not so often, you need to moisten the soil. Hibernation lasts 1-2 months. After this period, you need to bring the formicarium back into heat and gradually warm it up to the usual temperature. The warming process can take up to 7 days.

Here's how to make a do-it-yourself ant farm. At proper care, the owner can get a very interesting and developed ant world. It is interesting to watch him, he is interesting for both children and adults.

If you have ever looked at an anthill and imagined what is happening inside, creating your own ant farm will satisfy your curiosity and provide an incomparable experience in studying the life of ants. Having launched ants on your farm, you will witness how tunnels and paths are being built, and how important these little creatures begin to scurry back and forth, as if they are doing some kind of task. Read step 1 and you will learn how to build an ant farm using simple materials at hand.

Steps

Part 1

Preparation of materials and search for ants

Take two jars with lids. You will need a large jar and a smaller jar that will fit inside. Earth and ants will be located in the space between a large and a small jar. A small jar is needed in order to leave space in the middle. So the ant colony can build tunnels and lay eggs at the top edge, and the whole process will be clearly visible. If you skip this step, the ants, following their natural instinct, will burrow deep into the middle of the jar.

Airtight containers of different sizes are perfect for the project. Thus you will have more options when choosing a farm size.
Banks must be free of cracks, drawings, etc. A simple, clean jar is best for ant observation.
If you want a flat ant farm, go to your local pet store and buy a narrow aquarium. You can also order a farm aquarium online.

Prepare a mixture of soil and sand. Ants need to live in a humid environment that will allow them to dig and dig tunnels. If you want to collect the ants in your yard or nearby area, it's best to use the same soil so they can live in their natural habitat. Dig enough earth to fill the space in the bank. Use a fork or your own fingers to loosen the soil. Now mix 2 parts earth with 1 part sand. If the ground is initially sandy, less sand should be added.
- If you want to find ants far from home, the ground will not work. You can buy sand and fertilized soil from the gardening department and mix them.
- If you are ordering specialty ants from the farm, they should come with the correct habitat mix.
- Your mixture should be moist but not wet through. If it is too dry, the ants will dry out, and if it is too damp, they will drown.
Find an anthill. There are many types of ants, but basically they all live in the ground. Look for an anthill in your yard. You will recognize it as a volcano-shaped bump, with a tiny hole at the top.
- You can also follow the ants to find an anthill. If you see a bunch of ants, follow them.
- Explore the anthill and make sure you are not dealing with biting ants. If you don't want to risk, order ants online.
Gather the ants. Once you have found the ant colony, bring a jar with holes punched on top (not the jar you need for a farm) and a large spoon, place the ants in the jar. 20-25 ants is enough to get you started. Here's what to remember:
- Ants may not breed until you place an ant queen on the farm. She is the one who lays all the eggs. A bunch of worker ants on the surface is most likely barren. Therefore, if you want to see the process of laying eggs, you need a queen. In this case, you will most likely have to destroy the natural colony.
- If you are determined to study the reproductive cycle, it is better to order ants along with a queen from a specialized farm. So, you do not have to dig deep in the anthill in search of the right ant.
- If you set up a farm without a queen, the ants will most likely die in 3-4 weeks, which is their natural life span.

Part 2

Farm building

Part 3

Farm care

Feed the ants and keep the soil moist. Throw pieces of fruit, a few drops of honey or jam into the jar every few days - ants love sugar! Do not overdo it. Ants usually get the moisture they need from their food, but if you see the soil getting dry, moisten a piece of cotton wool and place the jars on top for a few days.
- Don't give ants meat or any other cooked food! Otherwise, your farm will attract other insects.
- Do not pour water into the jar. If it gets too damp, the ants can drown.
Close the jar if you are not watching ants. Ants dig tunnels at night, in the dark. To recreate a natural habitat, cover the jar with a black scarf or cardboard. If you forget to do this, the ants will be under constant stress and lose activity. In addition, they tend to be most time in the center of the jar, not near the glass.

Don't shake the jar. Ants are fragile creatures, and rough handling can cause them to die from tunnel collapse. Handle the ant farm with care.

Keep the farm in a warm room. Put it in a room with a constant temperature. Do not put the jar under direct Sun rays, the glass of the jar may heat up and the ants will burn.

When you get the ants, distract them with sugar and water to take the aggression off while you're looking for the queen. Do not overdo it!
Red ants are usually very aggressive, while black ants are generally more passive.
For more effect, you can also plant grass seeds on top. Water the grass carefully so as not to drown the ants.
Do not knock over the jar in the house!
A toilet paper tube makes an excellent tube.
If you're away for a long time, it might be a good idea to leave someone to watch over the ants so they don't die of desiccation or starvation.
Don't touch the queen, otherwise the rest of the ants will bite you.
Ants need the same care as cats or dogs. Pay attention to them!

Warnings

You can feed dead insects to the ant if you are sure they are not poisonous.
Never mix two colonies with each other, they can start fighting to the death. Therefore, if you catch ants yourself, make sure that they are from the same anthill.
Do not cover the farm, the ants may suffocate. If you must cover them, use toilet paper, wrap it with an elastic band at the neck of the jar and make holes with a pin or earring.
Beware of bites. If you can use gloves, great! Use an anti-bite cream to treat bites. Ask a pharmacist for help.
All ants bite, some less than others. If you keep red ants, remember that they bite and can sting badly. Be careful. Use gloves.
Avoid ant species that are aggressive towards humans and whose bites can be painful or dangerous.