Post Ay0OGdlNJNSFDMR19c by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #Ay0NisiVCwX5kLzfay by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-09-08T18:47:41Z
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Interesting to think of the ant black market (nb not the same as the "black ant market") as a sign of the times.https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/09/04/federal-staffing-cuts-are-fueling-the-illegal-ant-trade
(DIR) Post #Ay0NuDSsPKkBHT5cLA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-08T18:56:38Z
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@theantlady I'm not thrilled to hear about a boom in illicit ants, but at the same time, it would take a lot of mistakes for this to be a vector for invasive species. *points finger at the plant trade*For pet ants to go rouge you'd need someone to release alates or whole colonies. This happens with frogs, snakes and similar pets. But I think the bigger issue is the collecting and poor documentation.
(DIR) Post #Ay0O6CosdEp2ks6BI8 by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-09-08T18:58:47Z
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@futurebird Agreed, the "invasive species" aspect of that article is way overblown.What do you mean by the bigger issue being the collecting and poor documentation?
(DIR) Post #Ay0OGdlNJNSFDMR19c by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-08T19:00:41Z
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@theantlady I worry about people tramping off into fragile habitats and digging up more "popular" species. Capturing a few queen when they are flying probably isn't a big problem but some of these sellers will dig up living colonies. It *is* possible to get permits and, in the US we have many native ants worth keeping.
(DIR) Post #Ay0OcYisjPxDxAiiRc by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-09-08T19:04:38Z
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@futurebird I can appreciate those concerns! I haven't poked around at all to see whether the ants offered for sale tend to be colonies or queens.The ease of getting permits can vary a lot (I say as someone keeping out-of-state ants who maintains USDA permits to transport and house - NOT easy.).I personally think most ant fanciers should just focus their first efforts on locally-available species, and enjoy the process of finding them as much as keeping them.
(DIR) Post #Ay0OqrMYE48Dom5uHg by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-09-08T19:05:55Z
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@futurebird One of the other kind of weird ant production items out there has been nest casts - mostly of fire ants, mostly displayed upside-down, badly poured. Different from the casts Tschinkel and colleagues make for research and museum purposes.
(DIR) Post #Ay0OqsLsY3BisymssK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-08T19:07:11Z
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@theantlady Yeah. I don't really get the attraction for those. It's a bit hard to get worked up when it's fire ants... but they just make me sad.
(DIR) Post #Ayc0ePGKoNlZwafp56 by utopiarte@tupambae.org
2025-09-08T23:56:30Z
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@futurebirdmyrmepropagandist wrote:I worry about people tramping off into fragile habitats and digging up more "popular" species.#bookmark@remindme in 2 weeks@theantlady
(DIR) Post #Ayc0eQXk39HhurpEqu by utopiarte@tupambae.org
2025-09-23T00:29:51Z
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thx @remindme, we really need to get at least a snippet of that recent taken video at @tierranietos out there, even more having two antlady accounts like @futurebird and @theantlady right here.What about some dirty quick snippet Mr. editor in chief @jesuisatire?We already got some input update on #doDo's list today by @bitpickup:general doDo's list wrote: publications..insects and arachnids* domestic
(DIR) Post #Ayc0eRNqvOy6WUCr4q by jesuisatire@social.tchncs.de
2025-09-23T01:06:45Z
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@utopiarte You mean the furious #ants close up when @bitpickup moved a decades old red eucalyptus tree trunk that apparently will never rot to get to the place were to load the firewood so he could do some #aRockyRescueRequest #workOut?Here you go ..#fediAnts #mastodAnts @futurebird @tierranietos @theantlady
(DIR) Post #Ayupbi6IuLJc0ajSRk by tierranietos@mastodon.uy
2025-09-26T20:36:02Z
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Dishartening to see that you didn't get any reaction at all on this one @jesuisatire 😔 @bitpickup @futurebird @theantlady
(DIR) Post #AyupbjJoNbiLmm3l8i by jesuisatire@social.tchncs.de
2025-09-26T22:32:51Z
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Never mind @tierranietos. The #mastodonFedi is a never ending stream of forgetting what was, just to see what's next.As is, we do have in this string a nice hook for that incident of disturbing an ant nest and bitPick's reaction is most likely the best reaction you can have in situations like these. There is a lot more material of this event, yet the vid's are to big to upload them here and worthy of preserving in a better linkable way. Some peertube profile should take care of this. Or maybe we should go for an #ants or #insects html page, worpress blog entry or #permaCulture forum article?🤔 @bitpickup@futurebird @theantlady
(DIR) Post #AyupbkKCddcauHFaO8 by bitpickup@tupambae.com
2025-09-27T22:38:47Z
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jesui wrote:As is, we do have in this string a nice hook for that incident of disturbing an ant net and bitPick's reaction is most likely the best reaction you can have in situations like these. There is a lot of more material of this event, yet the vid's are to big to upload them here and worthy of preserving in a better linkable way. Some peertube profile should take care of this ..Just uploaded the inicial scene @jesuisatire!👍tube.undernet.uy/w/i32cCBfkGho…@futurebird @theantlady @tierranietos
(DIR) Post #AyupblFHDRH7lHxALg by jesuisatire@social.tchncs.de
2025-09-29T00:25:36Z
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#ants #howTo #nature #preservation > Dishartening to see that you didn't get any reaction ..Actually @tierranietos, @futurebird reshared the inicial scene part 1, posted by @bitpickup into this stream here!😊 Here is the end of that days take, Part 3, just uploaded it to #peerTube:https://tube.undernet.uy/w/p24HL4wpvfoFwNtEE72p4F@theantlady
(DIR) Post #AyupbmHnLYsqzO8gue by bitpickup@tupambae.com
2025-10-01T05:39:02Z
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Found the original video of the nest incident, so here two screenshots that indicate the total time the camera was filming the reaction of the colony on the disturbance which was about 10 minutes.@jesuisatire @futurebird @tierranietos @theantlady
(DIR) Post #AyupbmoPOIyIcXOjkO by bitpickup@tupambae.com
2025-10-02T18:26:16Z
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@tierranietosJust checked yesterday on the trunk, here an update with some pictures.Video is still in the making.tupambae.com/display/ccf09959-…@jesuisatire @futurebird @theantlady
(DIR) Post #AyupbnOvCYB8RmTtey by bitpickup@troet.cafe
2025-10-02T23:50:22Z
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Just uploaded the video compilation of checking out the ant nest trunk a month after stumbeling over it.Edit:Some input on this by the specialists could be interesting.https://tube.undernet.uy/w/hctQxjtXavWqqD38hxVMY2@jesuisatire @futurebird @tierranietos @theantlady
(DIR) Post #Ayupbnyj3QooEpEUT2 by jesuisatire@social.tchncs.de
2025-10-06T00:11:08Z
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Hi @futurebird and @theantlady, some specific question on this ant nest in a trunk:What would be the expectation of the behavior of this tribe. Are they known to move their nest if they get disturbed every once in a while?Are they able to split up into several tribes?If the location changes and can't harbor anymore the original size of the tribe, how do they react?If the nest gets exposed to water when it rains, do they move?What would be the best way to incentivize them to move the colony?@tierranietos @bitpickup
(DIR) Post #Ayupbot5fruB3dbVK4 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-06T00:29:31Z
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@jesuisatire @theantlady @tierranietos @bitpickup Without getting a closer photo to tell the species these are tentative answers. My guess is these are carpenter ants (genus Camponotus) because they live in a log and seem rather large. But they could also be field ants (genus Formica)Most ants can and will move if their nest is no longer working. (except maybe leafcutters?)"splitting up" isn't very common. Are they just in the one log? Or in many logs?Fine to just move the whole log.
(DIR) Post #AyupfaaOmxzZrQesfw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-06T00:31:34Z
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@jesuisatire @theantlady @tierranietos @bitpickup Ants don't like to move but they will. If these are carpenters they may have many nests, but only one will contain the queen. If these are Formica there are a few possibilities one queen, many queens it's more complex. But I think they are carpenters. It looks like you have a big log pile... the main nest may be in there. They don't really harm a log pile much. Why do they need to move?
(DIR) Post #AyuukLsDPuiPRu5AJ6 by tierranietos@mastodon.uy
2025-10-06T01:28:24Z
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@futurebird > Why do they need to move?To begin with it's a general question to learn and understand, as this is a public follow up thread with the idea to preserve it over time, who knows to whom, when or where that info can be useful.We love the ornamental and even historic aspects of these trunks, as well as the #education'al aspects of them.As you can see in the following picture, on the right alongside the tree, we simple use them placed up side down as they are, displaying their beauty to the eyes the beholder.Actually in the case of this trunk, the initial intention was to load it right away onto the @bitpickup and transport it to the terrace of #laCasona, most likely for one of the corners, but the presence of the nest changed that, or at least the timetable for moving it.Than there is always the investigating factor, like to say, to what extent can we use this event, this situation to document, find out and learn something while we are at it.Specifying the species itself, would and should be most likely the next step. At a first glance it's save to state that this is the biggest kind of #ant we have seen over here #RioDeLaPlata, #Uruguay, #CerroLargo, a region of rocky hill's. Their color is kinda dark red, perhaps kinda brownisch red.What details would you need to identify the species?https://tupambae.com/photo/405436999168b5e337e61cd634901585-0.webp@theantlady @jesuisatire
(DIR) Post #Ayuv70RXGDCTe1PCHg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-06T01:32:31Z
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@tierranietos @bitpickup @theantlady @jesuisatire Uruguay! Well that makes it more complex you have a lot of interesting large black ants and they come from a variety of genera that vary much more than in a temperate zone. Do these ants sting?
(DIR) Post #AyuvdVBwTR0MHAbhEO by bitpickup@troet.cafe
2025-10-06T01:38:24Z
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@futurebird > Do these ants sting?There you go @jesuisatire, please visite the trunk, prepare a close up and put your finger in the nest to see if they sting or only will bite you!@tierranietos @theantlady
(DIR) Post #AyuvsjOJxhoaeveuaO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-06T01:41:10Z
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@bitpickup @jesuisatire @tierranietos @theantlady If they are panther ants maybe don't do this? :]
(DIR) Post #Ayv2Gc5XMi00gUdzVY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-06T02:52:42Z
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@ironcladlou @bitpickup @jesuisatire @tierranietos @theantlady They are so cute, but these *are* girls who will defend themselves if needed.