Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
  • Cool Links
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Newsletter signup
Ants New Jersey
  • When you decide to keep ants as pets
Menu

Winter Ants Feeding

by NJ Ant FanPosted on July 10, 2023July 10, 2023
Winter ant nanitic eating honey
One of the nanitics eating honey for the first time.
Winter ant nanitics eating honey
Both of the nanitics eating.
Winter ant trophallaxis
Trophallaxis between a honey-laden nanitic and a starving queen.

One day, after giving my winter ant nanitics several days to harden, I decided to give them their first meal. This was a drop of honey, which they fully consumed. A few days after the honey, I gave the colony their first protein taste, aka a nice hunk of mealworm. This warranted a cute reaction from the ants, as one of the nanitics began to feast fairly quickly. After a while, the ant returned to her queens, bringing home some much-needed mealworm. Eventually, the ants decided that the most efficient method for processing the mealworm was to drag it so it was next to the queens, which meant that the nanitics wouldn’t need to run to and from the mealworm, saving some energy. Today, the colony is doing well, with a good amount of brood while waiting for the next five workers to eclose.

Winter ant nanitic eating mealworm,
A nanitic gorging on a mealworm piece.
Winter ant nanitic with mealworm
The same nanitic preparing to return to the nest pile, her gaster stuffed with mealworm.
Posted in Colony, Feeding

Post navigation

Winter Ant Colony!
Camponotus Colony – Nine workers

Related Post

  • A young winter ant colony with nanitic repletes Winter Ant Colony – More workers, some Repletes, and more eggs?
  • Tetramorium immigrans colony Tetramorium immigrans Colony – More workers & brood
  • Camponotus queen with colony Camponotus Colony – Nine workers
  • A pair of winter ant queens with their first nanitics Winter Ant Colony!
  • Tetramorium immigrants ant colony with nanitics and brood. Pavement ant colony – 20 workers
  • Two dead Formica ant workers that were over a year old when they died. Quarantined Formica – Two dead nanitics
Ants New Jersey Copyright © 2025 • Theme by OpenSumo