Bundle Offer – Lasius niger

Bundle offer including a Lasius niger ant colony (queen + 11-25 workers + brood), a starter set Combi S with escape protection frame, grid insert 50mm, formicarium base – 20x20cm, clear drinking trough 20ml – sponge, a jar of our special Cricket Jam (moist protein) and a honeydew mix refill pack 10ml.

Only while stocks last.

Everything you need for a Lasius niger ant colony
This bundle contains everything you need to successfully get a Lasius niger colony through the first few months. It is flexibly expandable and explicitly suitable for beginners in ant keeping.

Ant species Lasius niger Lasius niger, also known as the “black trail ant”, is one of the most popular species for beginners in ant keeping. It is one of the small to medium-sized ants and is very frugal. It is widespread throughout Europe, but can also be found in Asia, Africa and North America.

Food for Lasius niger
In the wild, Lasius niger often keeps aphids in order to collect the honeydew produced from plant sap. In doing so, they protect them and even transport them to young shoots.
In the formicarium, you can simply place a few infested twigs (e.g. roses, elderberries, currants) in a vase and watch the animals milking them. In the formicarium it is best to give honey solution and protein food (either live small insects or dried protein food).

Hibernation in Lasius niger
Lasius niger hibernates between around the end of October and the end of March at 5-8 degrees. In the formicarium, you can simply place the entire formicarium in a cool room or (if the formicarium has a removable nest insert) place the nest insert in the refrigerator, for example. However, care should be taken to ensure that the ants are not exposed to temperatures below 0 degrees, as they are never as well protected from the cold in the formicarium as they are in the wild. There are also reports from keepers who keep Lasius niger without hibernation. However, this can lead to a shortened lifespan of the colony or slow down the development of the brood. During hibernation, the animals do not need to be fed or fed very little if necessary. However, you should check the humidity regularly and look out for mold!

Contents:
1x Lasius niger (queen + 11-25 workers + brood)
1x ant arena frame 20×20
1x grid insert 50 mm stainless steel
1x Cricket Jam 25g
1x honeydew honey 10ml refill pack
1x Formicarium base – 20x20cm
1x clear drinking trough 20ml – sponge

1x ANTCUBE – Arena 20x20x20 – Combi S
1x ant arena cover 20×20
4x fixing point for arena cover

2x Formicarium plugs for 27mm hole
1x formicarium plug for 50mm hole
1x substrate – sand-clay beige – 1000g

1x Drinking trough 2ml – 360 degrees
1x bowl clear 1×20 – sponge
1x Hand magnifier – 2x – 30mm
1x Tweezers plastic transparent
1x plastic pipette 3ml
1x Ant escape protection oil 10ml
1x foam wiper 150x18x2,5mm

Description:
This Starter Set – Combi is suitable for most ant species that nest in the ground.
The set is very compact and the accessories included have been reduced to the essentials.
It is therefore an inexpensive set made from high-quality materials, which is ideal for getting started with ant keeping.
The included substrate sand – clay beige is well accepted by most earth nest digging ant species.

However, other soil substrates or nesting inserts can also be placed in the nest area of the arena.
Further useful accessories can be found under the suggestions (see below).

Recommendation: We recommend a substrate layer of 2 mm in height so that the animals cannot dig into the arena and instead use the farm provided for this purpose. We also recommend that the nesting material in the farm (sand/clay, Digfix, etc.) is slightly pricked in one place to make it easier for the animals to dig.

Important: Please moisten the substrate before use so that the mixture can bind together and develop a firm hold in the ant farm. In addition, a dry and dusty substrate can lead to the ants’ airways being blocked and, in the worst case, the animals suffocating.

Note:
When using our nest inserts, please note that these are 8 mm narrower, as they were originally designed to fit our narrower ant farms and arena inserts! In this case, the space in between would have to be filled with filling material such as plaster or clay.

Notes on production
Glass is cut to size according to DIN 1249 with a tolerance of +/- 1mm. Additional escape protection is essential for extremely small ant species.

Instructions: (Version 2023, the updated version for 2024 will be available by 04/2024 at the latest)

– DE Gebrauchsanweisung Starter Set Combi (PDF 7,98 MB)

– EN Instructions for use – Starter Set Combi (PDF 7,94 MB)

– ES Manual de instrucciones – Set de inicio Combi (PDF 7,94 MB)

– FR Manuel d’instruction – Kit de démarrage Combi (PDF 7,95 MB)

Notes on the Cricket Jam:
Our Cricket Jam is an easy way to provide your ants with freshly preserved protein food without having to feed live insects. The contained crickets (Acheta domesticus) have been gently cooked to ensure that nutritional values, taste and aroma are preserved. In addition, the chitinous shell of the insects is softened in this way so that it can be digested more easily. The bonds of the collagen proteins are broken down so that the ants can utilize them better. Canned Acheta domesticus has the same nutritional value as live crickets, but is easier to digest.

The Cricket Jam is not suitable for hunting ant species that require live food. (e.g. ponerines (great ants) such as Harpegnathos or Odontomachus)

Further advantages:
Guaranteed mite-free
Can be portioned and diluted with water
Sterilized and vacuum-packed
Without additives
Crickets from sustainable, purely organic breeding, fed with organic waste

Note:
Can be kept in the fridge for about four days after opening. Longer shelf life if frozen.
Attention: First portion, then freeze.

Note on honeydew:
Content: 10 ml
This is a natural product that we have refined after extensive tests in our laboratory and developed into a food that is very well accepted by ants. The reason for this is that unprocessed honeydew honey in its concentrated original form is not well accepted by ants and their metabolism.
Our honeydew was collected in the unpolluted wild mountain forests of Bulgaria. Honeydew is only produced for a very limited time, about two months in summer. It is therefore very rare. Due to the specific soil characteristics of the forests and the climate, essential nutrients are stored in the leaves of the trees, which are absorbed by the aphids. This is what makes this honeydew mix so desirable for ants.

Application:
Amount of food should be consumed within about 3 days.

Description:
Honeydew, unlike flower honey, is obtained from secretions of insects that suck on plants, such as aphids. Honeydew is a popular food source for many insects such as ants, bees and bumblebees. Bees and bumblebees lick it from the leaves or needles of various trees. Ants such as Lasius niger literally keep the aphids. They even defend them against predators and carry them to fresh shoots.

Honeydew is particularly popular with ants because of its somewhat different components. The main sugars in honeydew are sucrose and fructose, but smaller amounts of maltose, trehalose, melezitose, raffinose and other oligosaccharides are also found. In addition to sugar and water, honeydew also contains essential amino acids, minerals, trace elements, adenosines, phosphates and other ingredients such as vitamins.

Use:
For honey-eating ant species (Meliphagidae)
This is a supplementary feed
It can be offered to the animals as supplied. As the sugar concentration is reduced by the humidity and a fermentation process begins, the food should be replaced every 3 days. Clean the feeding bowl/tube thoroughly before reuse.
Once opened, the pack should be kept tightly closed until the expiry date.

Nutritional information per 100 g:
approx. 2.7 % fats
of which saturated approx. 0.45 %
approx. 95 % carbohydrates
of which sugar approx. 71
approx. 2.85% protein
Minerals (potassium, calcium, copper, iron, sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and other trace elements) Amino acids (proline, leucine, phenylalanine, alanine, histidine, isoleucine, glutamic acid, arginine, aspartic acid, etc.) Organic acids Enzymes (enzymes)Flavorings Inhibins (antibacterial substances) Flowers Pollen

Storage:
To ensure the quality of the feed, the feed should be stored in a dark and dry place.

Note:
Supplementary feed for honey-eating ants.
Please refer to the package insert for composition, analytical ingredients, best-before date and batch number.

Information hotline +49 30 76687051

Responsible veterinary and food inspectorate:
Steglitz Veterinary Office
Königin-Luise-Str. 92
14195 Berlin