Bundle Offer – Lasius niger

Bundle Offer – ANTCUBE Starter Set S – 20×20 Combi, Lasius niger 11-25, Cricket Jam, breakout protection frame, honeydew honey 10ml refill, 1x grid insert 50mm

Only while stocks last.

Bundle offer including one ant colony Lasius niger (queen + 11-25 workers), one starter set Combi S with breakout protection frame and grid insert 50mm, one jar of our special Cricket Jam (moist protein) and one honeydew honey refill 10ml.

Lasius niger or also called “black way ant” is one of the most popular species to start keeping ants. It belongs to 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 to collect their 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 about the end of October and the end of March at 5-8 degrees. In the formicarium you can simply put the whole formicarium in a cool room or (if formicarium with removable nest insert available) put the nest insert for example in the refrigerator. However, care should be taken 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 life span of the colony or slow down the development of the brood. During hibernation the animals do not need to be fed or if necessary very little. However, humidity should be checked regularly and watch for mold!

Contents:
1x Lasius niger (queen + 11-25 workers)
1x ant arena frame 20×20
1x grid insert 50 mm stainless steel
1x Cricket Jam 25g
1x Honeydew Honey 10ml refill pack
1x ANTCUBE – Arena 20x20x20 – Combi S
1x Ant arena cover 20×20
4x fixation point for arena cover
2x Formicarium plug for 27mm hole
1x Formicarium plug for 50mm hole
1x substrate – sand-loam beige – 1000g
1x drinker 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 oil 10ml
1x foam wiper 150x18x2,5mm

Description:
This Starter Set – Combi is suitable for most species of ants nesting in the ground.
The set is very compact and the included accessories are reduced to the most important.
Therefore, it is an inexpensive set made of high quality materials, which is ideal for starting to keep ants.
The included substrate sand – clay beige is well accepted by most burrowing ant species.
Optionally, however, other soil substrates or nest inserts can be placed in the nest area of the arena.
Under the suggestions (see below) you can find further useful accessories.

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

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

Notice:
When using our nest inserts, please note that they are 8mm narrower, as they were originally designed to fit our narrower ant farms as well as arena inserts! Here the space in between would have to be filled with filler material such as plaster or clay.

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

Instructions:

– 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 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 included crickets (Acheta domesticus) have been gently cooked to ensure that nutritional value, flavor and aroma are preserved. In addition, the chitinous shell of the insects is softened in this way, making it easier to digest. The compounds of the collagenous 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 (primordial ants) such as Harpegnathos or Odontomachus).

Other advantages:
Guaranteed free of mites
Portionable and dilutable with water
Sterilized and vacuumized
Without additives
Crickets from sustainable pure organic breeding, fed with organic waste

Notice:
Once opened, keeps for about four days in the refrigerator. Longer shelf life if frozen.
Attention: Portion first, then freeze.