Voeding
Mieren hebben 3 voedingsstoffen nodig zover bekend:
De werksters eten bijna exclusief suiker; het broed wordt bijna exclusief proteïne gevoerd.
Water
Water spreekt voor zich, maar er zijn verschillende manieren van het aanbieden van drinkwater. Aangezien mieren zo klein zijn en de kans op ongelukken hoog ligt bij open water, suggereer ik water alleen aan te bieden via een medium; wat, spons, gaas, enzovoorts.
Uitvoermogelijkheden;
- Reageerbuis met wat
Drinkfontein met wat
Petrischaal met wat
Petrischaal met gaas
Reageerbuis met water is zover de populairste methode die ik voorbij zie komen. Waarschijnlijk vanwege het makkelijk verschonen van een reageerbuis en vanwege de reageerbuis als standaard incubatiekamer.
Ik bied zelf een drinkfontein met wat aan. Nadeel hiervan is dit dat een hoog object is en daarmee een mogelijk ontsnappingsmedium in een open outworld. Voordeel hiervan is de stabiliteit; een reageerbuis heeft mogelijk tot rollen en daarmee verpletteren van mieren. De drinkfontein heeft een voet.
Een petrischaal met wat en/of gaas zag ik voor het eerst voorbij komen bij
TarheelAnts, en later ook bij een formicarum van een lid op dit forum. Verondersteld dat dit net als een reageerbuis makkelijk te verschonen is, maar net zoals de drinkfontein geen verpletteringsrisico met zich meeneemt, is een petrischaal het beste van beide werelden.
Ik heb informatie over hoeveel ml een kolonie van welke grootte drinkt noch heb ik informatie over hoe vaak je het beste het water kan verschonen. De mieren minimaal storen komt hen ten goede, dus ik suggereer niet te vaak de waterbron af te nemen. Ik vond dit antwoord op een vraag over hoe lang ongekoeld water nog gedronken kan worden;
If the water bottle has been opened for 2 days or less, does not look cloudy and does not taste too weird, it is safe to drink.
Ik concludeer na aanleiding van deze quote om maximaal om de dag het water te verversen.
Suiker
Suiker kun je aanbieden in de vorm van;
- Suikerwater (vloeibaar in aard)
Honingwater (vloeibaar in aard)
Vruchtensap (vloeibaar in aard)
Suikerkorrels (vast in aard)
Honingdruppels (vast in aard)
Siroop (vast in aard)
Fruit (vast in aard)
Honingdauw (bijzonder in aard)
Honingdauwsurrogaat (bijzonder in aard)
Suikerwater
Verreweg de meest gebruikelijke manier van het aanbieden van suiker.
Suikerwater maak je door 7 delen water met 1 deel suiker op te lossen. Varianten op deze ratio bestaan, maar eigenlijk maakt het vrij weinig uit wat de exacte ratio is zolang je maar rond dit getal zit. Je kan de suiker oplossen in onverwarmd water. Sommigen kiezen ervoor om het te verwarmen in heet water. Wederom maakt dit niet zoveel uit. Heet water heeft een groter vermogen dan koud water om suiker op te nemen. Honingwater is gelijk in bereiding aan suikerwater.
Suikerwater kun je aanbieden op dezelfde manier als je, je mieren hun water aanbiedt. Ook dit water zou ik maximaal om de dag verversen.
Honingwater
Honing schijnt minder snel te schimmelen dan suiker, stelt AntsCanada;
Sugar water works, too, but in sooth, honey simply has a lot more nutritional stuff in it for the ants, and doesn't make things as moldy as easily (honey contains naturally occurring peroxides which possess anti-bacterial properties). Try feeding your ants pure honey, no water added. It's what I do, and no ant of mine has refused it.
Vruchtensap
In vruchtensap zit ontzettend veel suiker, waardoor het geschikt is om aan te bieden aan je mieren. Aan deze methode kleeft een groot nadeel; ongekoelde vruchtensap is ontzettend bederfelijk. Je kan dit niet uren aan één aanbieden aan je mieren zoals je dat zou kunnen met suikerwater. Als je dit wilt geven, geef ze dan een kleine drup als traktatie.
Suikerkorrels
Er is wat verwarring over of mieren wel of geen vaste suikerkorrels eten, van wat ik vond is het onderstaande;
Vraag van een user op reddit;
Yesterday, I was sitting on the side of a hill, enjoying a beer with a friend as we looked out across the rooftops of the city, chatting and enjoying the sun. After a while I looked down through the long grass to inspect the curiously well shaped mound that was currently serving as my arm rest. On this inspection I discovered that it was actually an ants nest and there were a lot of irate golden ants swarming around trying desperately to remove my elbow from atop their home. I obliged.
In my youth, years ago, I spent some time in the Caribbean. The family I was staying with showed me a trick whereby a sugar cube placed on the sink in the toilet would, within a couple of hours, summon a long line of very stoic, very industrious ants who would, granule by granule, disassemble and carry the sugar cube back to their nest.
Combining these two events in my life together, I have decided that I would like to apologise to the ants whose nest I misused by virtue of delivering a gift. My thought was that a sugar cube might be appropriate restitution.
But my questions are:
Does raw sugar suit all species of ant or is it a species specific interest (these yellow brown ants were in South West UK, if that helps at all). How common is simple sugar ingestion in ants? I am aware that some ants prefer to farm fungus for instance.
Do ants have an analogue to the storing of energy in the long term and the short term that we see in humans; glucose vs lipids/carbohydrate?
Also, much like ducks eating white bread, which, while filling them up, I believe actually provides them with very limited nutritional value, is sugar to ants something similar, in that the ants enjoy it, but it actually serves no useful purpose and will only end up, say, "rotting their mandibles"?
(Edit: by raw, I really mean pure, or easily accessible, as opposed to sugar found in, say, cake)
Een quote die ik vond in de comment section van de bovenstaande vraag:
Minor correction: You are talking about repletes(ants that store food) they aren't really using a special caste, in most cases they are simply young ants that eventually transition to foraging.
There are two different types of replete behavior/physiology: some species store the food as sugar (ie "honey pot ants" Myrmecocystus spp. and a few others) and some store food as fat ("false honey pot ants" Prenolepis imparis is the one I know about but there may be others).
My understanding is that the "honey pot ants" basically just store the liquid sugar(s) in their abdomen while the adiporepletes in species like Prenolepis consume sugar (or whatever) and convert and store the energy as fat in their abdomen. I can't find any references and my ant books are not available right now, but I am pretty sure that is how it all works.
Also for insects when we talk about the adult stage, usually sugar is the only thing they need to keep operating. Egg producing female adults and larvae need a more well rounded diet, but workers can roll with just sugar. That being said not all ant species consume sugar/honeydew, some are strictly predators, fungus eaters or seed eaters.
EDIT: Ants probably do not care about "raw" sugar vs refined; would be an interesting study though but chemically I am not sure there is a major difference between the two?? Also FYI the best ant bait for collecting ants is cookie crumbs. They have sugar, fat, complex carbs. I know collectors that swear by crushed pecan sandies.
Honingdruppels
Geef nooit teveel, aangezien de mieren vast kunnen komen te zitten en sterven in de honing. Gebruik een tandenstoker om een kleine druppel honing te geven waarin ze niet vast kunnen komen te zitten.
Een gebruiker op het antforum.yuku zei het volgende over vaste honing;
Yep I've been giving my ants pure honey since they take no interest in the diluted solutions at all. The honey gets all dry and hard after a while but they still seem to like it. Because they seem to eat solid honey I was wondering if they would also take solid sugar. I've never heard of anyone feeding their ants solid sugar though.
Een andere gebruiker op het antforum.yuku zei het volgende over vaste honing;
You may be thinking “why do I need to know how to feed my ants? Lol” but there can be problems if you’re just dropping drops of honey and what not into the test tube. Sometimes ants can get stuck and drown in those drops, or they’ll walk through them and make a huge mess which can mold. I find it’s significantly easier to dip the cotton plug slightly into your liquid foods and pop it back in. Or cut a Q-tip in half, dip one side of the cotton end into the liquid, and put it in. Lock it in place using the cotton plug dry side against the wall. With these two methods it’s very easy to clean their mess and prevents drowning. I have a picture for this here. My other method is to take the cotton plugging the entrance, twist a small bit of it into a point, and dip that into the liquid food. It creates a small feeding nipple preventing messes and drowning. Simply tear off the nipple later when she's eaten her fill.
Siroop
In plaats van honing kun je ook siroop (esdoorn enzovoorts) geven.
Een gebruiker op het antforum.yuku zei het volgende over zijn/haar methode;
Usually a dab of honey, maple syrup, or sugar-water will suffice. I like to mix whey protein shake powder in with my maple syrup/water mix and all of my queens and colonies simply love the stuff. It’s a great source for protein, but do note that you likely won’t see any increase in numbers or size of nanitic workers when feeding a queen.
Fruit
Zover ik weet eten mieren alleen zachte of sappige delen van hun prooi, aangezien ik gelezen heb dat je insecten die je aanbied met een hard exoskelet doormidden moet snijden voor de mieren. Ik gok dat je om dezelfde reden alleen zacht of sappig fruit moet aanbieden. Pas wel op voor schimmel; verwijder het fruit geruim op tijd om verrotting te voorkomen.
Honingdauw
Honingdauw is een heldere nectar-achtige vloeistof die wordt afgegeven door veel soorten blad- en schildluizen, witte vliegen en de schimmel moederkoorn. Deze zuigen plantensappen op maar verbruiken niet alle suikers waarna deze in vloeibare vorm worden afgegeven. Sommige soorten mieren leven in symbiose met luizen. De mieren beschermen de luis tegen vijanden als lieveheersbeestjes en zuigen het voedselrijke goedje op als tegenprestatie. Sommige soorten brengen de luizen zelfs ondergronds om ze daar in kamertjes te houden als echte 'veehouders'.
Lasius niger is één van die soorten mieren. Ik vind het idee van een module aansluiten op een outworld waarin de mieren zelf hun bladluizen kunnen beheren intrigerend. De uitvoering zou alleen moeilijkheden opleveren; de planten waarvan de luizen het sap opzuigen, hebben wortels in modder. Als er geen manier is om die modder af te schermen van de mieren, maar toch de plant vrij laten groeien, is dit een nog onopgeloste innovatie. Als je de modder onafgedekt zou houden, zouden de mieren zich naar de modder verhuizen.
Aangezien ik een formicarium van plexiglas prefereer vanwege zichtbaarheid, is dat in mijn geval ongewenst. Stel je voor dat je een moddernest hebt, dan kun je gerust gebruik maken van planten. De mieren zullen uiteindelijk niet zichtbaar zijn in hun eigen nest, maar je kan dan wel de intrigerende symbiose bekijken. De mieren en luizen zouden uiteindelijk wel de planten ernstig beschadigen, maar dan herplant je gewoon.
Honingdauwsurrogaat
AntFinity heeft een fantastische
uitleg over honingdauw surrogaat. Deze formule levert in 1 methode beide suiker en proteïne.
In the Netherlands, many ant keepers feed their ants something called “honeydew surrogate”. It’s a homemade golden liquid of which the composition is designed to imitate the honeydew secreted by aphids. In nature, honeydew is the main source of nutrients for many ant species. Homemade honeydew surrogate contains sugars, amino acids and vitamins, in concentrations that are almost identical to that of natural honeydew. However, its amino acid content is ten times higher than that of natural honeydew. This is done on purpose, because in nature, ants have to travel much longer distances to gather honeydew than in captivity, using up a significant part of the sugars and therefore concentrating the amino acids in honeydew before reaching their nests.
Ze hebben het volgende recept bijgevoegd;
Ingredients:
- 25 ml of liquid amino acids (also known as BCAA) *
50 ml of maple syrup, honey is fine too
130 grams of glucose (also known as dextrose or grape sugar), table sugar is fine too
480 ml of water
Verkrijgbaarheid van amino acid:
You might wonder where to get liquid amino acids. Liquid amino acids are sold in (online) sport supplement stores. The supplement serves as a quick and easy source of amino acids for bodybuilders. Try to look for liquid amino acids in ampoules, because you will only need one ampoule. They often come in packs of 10, 20 or 30, so although one ampoule isn’t expensive at all, the whole pack will be expensive while you won’t need all ampoules. Try to share the ampoules with other ant keepers and split the costs, or try to get your hands on one ampoule from a bodybuilder or a nearby gym.
Algemene informatie
Ik vond deze quote over een gevarieerd dieet voor mieren op antfarm.yuku:
Ants like a varied diet. If you are only giving them crickets day in and day out you may find that don’t accept them as easily or at all after a while. I would assume this is because, as with all foods, each individual type of arthropod has its own nutritional content and a varied diet gives them more of the nutrients they need. I have long suspected that the lack of alates in captive colonies is due in large part to the lack of variety in their diet. Alate larvae have been studied and have been found to have a different diet than worker larvae. This could be important beyond the problem with alates in captive colonies. While this may or may not be the case, I still strongly urge you to create a varied, balanced diet for your ant colony. Some good sources of sugar are honey, table sugar, potentially fruits (careful of pesticides), and maple syrup. I use a mix of 50/50 water/maple syrup mixed with chocolate flavored whey protein. All of my ants go for the stuff, including my Ponera pennsylvanica. A ten dollar can of protein mix, and a large bottle of generic brand maple syrup can last for a long time. Add a drop or two of liquid multivitamin, or half of a crushed chewable vitamin to balance out the diet. You might also consider adding a small amount of vinegar to prevent mold. Some of my ants are fine with the vinegar mix, others won't touch it. Be careful, though. I'm not sure if vinegar is toxic to some ants or not, so always test it first with your specific species.
Ik vond deze quote over het bevriezen van eten op antfarm.yuku:
As I have said before you will want to freeze any arthropods before feeding your ants, place food into a separate container for easy cleaning and replacement; and use small dishes to serve the food in but there are a few other things you should probably be informed of.
Ik vond deze quote over het bevriezen van eten op antfarm.yuku:
House flies, according to MrMacophyl, a resident myrmecologist here on these forums, are poor nutrition-wise and he stated some of his colonies didn’t last as long as they could/should have due to this. Other people have had no issues with it, and some people have said their ants enjoy blowflies and such. It’s up in the air in my mind, but I tend to prefer spiders and crickets anyway.
Ik vond deze quote over de kleur en aantrekkelijkheid van eten van eten op antfarm.yuku:
There is some evidence to suggest that ants prefer green and yellow as opposed to red, blue, or orange. If possible, using green jell-o as food might just get a greater response than red jell-o or a drop of maple syrup. I like to use green jell-o with a raw egg and a drop or two of liquid multi-vitamin. This all-around tasty and nutritious dessert is great for ants, especially when finding insects is difficult. Otherwise, all of my ants (including my Ponera pennsylvanica) seem to accept a 50/50 mixture of maple syrup or honey with water, and a few scoops of chocolate flavored whey protein powder. Serve it on a piece of cotton to prevent drowning and messes and it makes a great food for both new queens and old colonies.
The color may be due to the fact ants are used to seeing green and yellow in abundance because of plants in the wild, and they know that those are the most likely places to get food.
Ik vond deze quote over gespecialiseerd voedsel op antfarm.yuku:
Some ants have specialized diets and this is part of the reason identifying your ant is so important. Ponera pennsylvanica only eat soft-bodied arthropods in the wild (spiders and termites for instance), Amblyopone pallipes only eats one type of centipede along with their larvae’s hemolymph, and others are seed harvesters. It’s important to know what they eat, how to acquire it, and whether it’s safe or not (some seeds bought in the store can have pesticides or other chemicals on them which could kill your ants).
Ik vond deze quote over giftig het voedsel op antfarm.yuku:
I have not had a colony accept any wasps or bees as food yet, but a few other members of the forum have. I’m sure the ants know what parts are good to eat and which ones aren’t, so don’t be afraid to try.
Ik vond deze quote over het voeden van jonge kolonies op antfarm.yuku:
I find it’s also a good idea, especially with young colonies, to cut up or tear open any insect prey before feeding. It gives the smaller, weaker nanitic workers an easier way inside to the good stuff. This is especially true for harder bodied insects such as beetles. I find ants will completely ignore a beetle unless I cut it in half for them. Trimming off any wings or spindly legs (like those on crane flies) prior to feeding can help prevent a mess in your outworld.
Ik vond deze quote over het onder- en overvoeden van kolonies op antfarm.yuku:
Be advised that it is possible to over- or under-feed your ants. Over-feeding might give them too much food, which they will store, and it may go moldy in the nest. If the ants remove it, great, but sometimes they don’t. Under-feeding isn’t generally a huge problem, but if you are under-feeding you may notice your newest workers being smaller than usual. This is because underfed larvae, just like the queen’s first brood, don’t get enough of the stuff they need to grow to normal size. Some people have considered under-feeding as a means for population control and quickly found that the population continued to grow while the ants just got smaller.
Underfeeding while not usually a fatal error for your ants, can be so if you neglect to feed them at all for a time; but allow me to quell any fears on that. I recently had my transmission in my car die and had to go to my father’s to replace it (not paying 3,000 dollars to have a mechanic do it) and some problems have arisen. I left all of my colonies back home and fed them a bit before I left, but only intended to be gone for a week at most. However, after three weeks without me, my colonies ran out of food, but when I got back, I only had one worker death out of all of my many colonies (14ish) and most of their gasters were still quite distended. Ants are marvelously efficient creatures, so concerning yourself with underfeeding or neglect will likely only cause unnecessary worry.
Voeden van alleen een koningin
Ik vond deze quote over een voeden van een volledig claustrale koningin op antfarm.yuku:
Ultimately, feeding a fully-claustral queen is a personal choice. They don’t require any food for many months because they typically have fat and food stores, and will metabolize their wing muscles for nourishment. If you do decide to feed them, it’s common that they won’t accept protein in the form of insects, but they usually go for sweets. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule; my Aphaenogaster queens ravaged termites I gave them readily, for instance, but this isn’t always or even typically the case. Usually a dab of honey, maple syrup, or sugar-water will suffice. I like to mix whey protein shake powder in with my maple syrup/water mix and all of my queens and colonies simply love the stuff. It’s a great source for protein, but do note that you likely won’t see any increase in numbers or size of nanitic workers when feeding a queen.
Ik vond deze quote over een voeden van een semi claustral koningin op antfarm.yuku:
You can still use a typical test tube setup for them, but instead of sealing it off with cotton, leave it open and place it into a box. Put food into the box, and the queen will find it and take it back to her tube. These queens usually will accept protein, especially when larvae eclose, and in some species, seeds. Giving her some sugar isn’t a bad idea either.
Ik vond deze quote over een voeden van een koningin met nanitics op antfarm.yuku:
When nanitics arrive, it’s likely time to start thinking about food even if your queen is fully-claustral. You likely won’t need to feed them until the nanitic workers begin trying to open the nest and you can tell they are ready to open it if they are tearing at the cotton plug sealing them in. Until then, though, it’s likely not necessary as the queen will feed them from her own reserves. When it’s time, however, have some sugar available, and maybe a small arthropod. Something soft and/or torn open with some needles/pins/tweezers to allow the smaller, weaker ants’ access to the good stuff. I like to give my young colonies pieces of large spiders, or if I can find any, whole small spiders with a tear in the body. Tearing off the meaty, metathoracic legs of a cricket and tearing open the tibia slightly will give them access to the muscle tissue within which is rich in protein. Fruit flies and termites work well, too, and I have never seen a colony refuse termites.
Ik vond deze quote over het bevriezen van eten op antfarm.yuku:
In any case, I should let you know that arthropods can carry mites, diseases, or parasites that can be harmful to your colony. I strongly suggest freezing any food for a few hours at least before feeding. I store my insects in the freezer until it is feeding time. They will last for a long time in there, but like other foods, freezing and thawing repeatedly can cause them to spoil. I have also noted that after spending long periods in there (months) they look fine, but once removed they turn black and usually aren’t accepted. It may be they just happen to not want any insects at the time, but I think it’s more likely that the food spoiled. Some people keep their insects in the freezer for months, though, and experience no issues.
Antwoorden op veel gestelde vragen zijn te vinden in de 
