The Ant Project: Day One
May. 3rd, 2007 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eohartmanAbout two weeks ago, I went over to my parents house and I discovered the most wonderful, fascinating toy ever.
An ant farm.
But not just any boring old ant farm! This ant farm was made out of pretty blue gel enclosed in a plastic container, derived from a 2003 NASA space shuttle experiment to study animal life in space and test how ants successfully tunnel in microgravity. The gel, unlike sand, does not collapse on the ants during lift-off and re-entry of the space shuttle. The gel is also a nutritious supplement that the ants can eat. The enclosed habitat is a perfect ant farm. It's also a fascinating thing to watch.
I HAD to have one. That night, I went home and researched these ant farms. There are so many different kinds! The Antquarium, the regular Ant gel farm, the green gel ant farm, the tunnel vision ant farm where you can connect several of them together!. I finally found the perfect ant habitat for me: The AntWorks2 Illuminated! It feeds the ants! It habitats them! And best of all...it GLOWS! I immediately bought it and started biting my fingernails, waiting for it to arrive.
Now, the ant habitat does not come with ants. You have to buy those separately to ensure that they're fresh and alive. After several frantic e-mails to my mom regarding the shipment time of her ants, I ordered my ants before my ant habitat arrived. It was a bold move, I know. What if the ants arrived before the habitat? Where would I put them? How would they survive? But I was willing to take the chance. Approximately 25 Western Harvester ants were mine for only $4.00.
On Monday, my ant farm arrived. Yesterday, my ants arrived in a small plastic tube in a small brown padded envelope. I was ready to begin.
I dumped the ants into the gel and Dustin and I were immediately captivated. After a few minutes of scoping out their new environment, they started digging with their mandibles. And digging. And digging. It was so entrancing that for two hours last night, Dustin and I laid in bed with the ant habitat in front of us, watching them dig, move beads of gel, pass it on to other ants, and eat. Yes, I know this is a sad way to spend a four-year anniversary and as my co-worker Kristin told me today, "Newlyweds should NOT be doing THAT in bed, Elizabeth!", but we just couldn't help it. *grin*
The ants went to work with me today. They'll generally be a "work toy," like the Jimmy Carter head, but since they're so new and fascinating, I'm bringing them home at night right now. At least until Dustin and I get an ant habitat for the apartment.
As we close in on the first 24-hours of the ants being in the ant habitat, I've taken a few pictures. I'm going to try to take pictures of the ant habitat each day, or at least every other day, and post them to show y'all their progress.
These pictures were taken about 3 hours after dumping the ants into their new home:
I have 27 female Harvester ants. I have named them A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z and AA. Unfortunately, P perished today at about 10 a.m. :-(
This is the top of the habitat. You can see how few beads of gel there are on top at this point. That's because they're just getting started!
A close-up of the ants digging away:
Now, this is after exactly 24 hours of being in their new home. Look at the progress they've made!
See all the beads on top? That's the gel that they've taken out of the tunnels they've created.
Close up of the ants digging. You can actually see an ant's mandibles outstretched as she's digging through the gel!
This is a side view of the right side of their habitat. As you can see, they've made a "U" shape in the gel:
My coworkers and I have decided that because of the "U" shape, the U named ant must be their leader.
I'll update again in a day with more pictures! It's so exciting to see where they decide to take their tunnels!
An ant farm.
But not just any boring old ant farm! This ant farm was made out of pretty blue gel enclosed in a plastic container, derived from a 2003 NASA space shuttle experiment to study animal life in space and test how ants successfully tunnel in microgravity. The gel, unlike sand, does not collapse on the ants during lift-off and re-entry of the space shuttle. The gel is also a nutritious supplement that the ants can eat. The enclosed habitat is a perfect ant farm. It's also a fascinating thing to watch.
I HAD to have one. That night, I went home and researched these ant farms. There are so many different kinds! The Antquarium, the regular Ant gel farm, the green gel ant farm, the tunnel vision ant farm where you can connect several of them together!. I finally found the perfect ant habitat for me: The AntWorks2 Illuminated! It feeds the ants! It habitats them! And best of all...it GLOWS! I immediately bought it and started biting my fingernails, waiting for it to arrive.
Now, the ant habitat does not come with ants. You have to buy those separately to ensure that they're fresh and alive. After several frantic e-mails to my mom regarding the shipment time of her ants, I ordered my ants before my ant habitat arrived. It was a bold move, I know. What if the ants arrived before the habitat? Where would I put them? How would they survive? But I was willing to take the chance. Approximately 25 Western Harvester ants were mine for only $4.00.
On Monday, my ant farm arrived. Yesterday, my ants arrived in a small plastic tube in a small brown padded envelope. I was ready to begin.
I dumped the ants into the gel and Dustin and I were immediately captivated. After a few minutes of scoping out their new environment, they started digging with their mandibles. And digging. And digging. It was so entrancing that for two hours last night, Dustin and I laid in bed with the ant habitat in front of us, watching them dig, move beads of gel, pass it on to other ants, and eat. Yes, I know this is a sad way to spend a four-year anniversary and as my co-worker Kristin told me today, "Newlyweds should NOT be doing THAT in bed, Elizabeth!", but we just couldn't help it. *grin*
The ants went to work with me today. They'll generally be a "work toy," like the Jimmy Carter head, but since they're so new and fascinating, I'm bringing them home at night right now. At least until Dustin and I get an ant habitat for the apartment.
As we close in on the first 24-hours of the ants being in the ant habitat, I've taken a few pictures. I'm going to try to take pictures of the ant habitat each day, or at least every other day, and post them to show y'all their progress.
These pictures were taken about 3 hours after dumping the ants into their new home:
I have 27 female Harvester ants. I have named them A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z and AA. Unfortunately, P perished today at about 10 a.m. :-(
This is the top of the habitat. You can see how few beads of gel there are on top at this point. That's because they're just getting started!
A close-up of the ants digging away:
Now, this is after exactly 24 hours of being in their new home. Look at the progress they've made!
See all the beads on top? That's the gel that they've taken out of the tunnels they've created.
Close up of the ants digging. You can actually see an ant's mandibles outstretched as she's digging through the gel!
This is a side view of the right side of their habitat. As you can see, they've made a "U" shape in the gel:
My coworkers and I have decided that because of the "U" shape, the U named ant must be their leader.
I'll update again in a day with more pictures! It's so exciting to see where they decide to take their tunnels!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-05-03 11:39 pm (UTC)American Ants seem bigger than English Ants. Hmmmm...
no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 12:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 12:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 01:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 01:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 12:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 02:53 am (UTC)HOWEVER
those are some bigass ants.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 12:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 03:05 am (UTC)That is SO COOL.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 12:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 12:13 pm (UTC)I need one NOW. My only concern? What happens when they die? You're just stuck looking at dead ants?
no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 03:42 pm (UTC)that is SOOOOO Cool! I can totally understand how it was fascinating to watch. it reminds me of this really really cool fish habitat thing i saw in an airport shop once. i would have bought it, except for the fact it was in an airport, on the wrong end of the trip.
it had little tiny fishes, and bottom feeders, and live plants, and algae, all in a little SEALED container. supposed to be self-sustaining for up to two years if you watch the exterior conditions carefully. like a terrarium for fishes. :D i would like totally love that.
of course, my co-workers would not be so cool about ants. neither would my boss for that matter lol :)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-05 05:59 pm (UTC)That sounds like an awesome fish habitat! I would love to have such a thing. Animals fascinate me so much. :-)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 09:35 pm (UTC)I really wish I had written down the name of the fishy-thing, or the manufacturer, or something... or if I did, I wish I had saved it somewhere I could find! :P
no subject
Date: 2007-05-04 06:55 pm (UTC)That is such an awesome toy!
no subject
Date: 2007-05-05 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 12:04 pm (UTC)