How to catch ants

[Big Al]

Need to catch some ants to feed some Antlions.

is how? The ants are about 50 feet away, but they are not cooperating:)

Next problem. After I catch them how do I get them to drop into the pit? If I cool them down will they get slow? Like put them in a cooler for a while.

Al Before you ask, I'm sane:)

[DAC]

Antlions.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antlion> Problem is how? The ants are about 50 feet away, but they are not

Use an uncle? ;-)

[deke]

My memory fails when I try to recite the poem that I heard a million times in my youth.

Doodlebug, Doodlebug..... and the rest I forget.

[Lar]

On a sheet of paper placed near the nest place a small dab of peanut butter and another one of jelly. If the ants are attracted to it after a while pick up the paper and funnel the ants on the paper into a jar. Or drive to local pet store and buy the small sized crickets.

Lar

[Big Al]

Thanks for a real reply. I'll try it today. I tried cookie crumbs but the birds eat it.

Al

[Roger Shoaf]

This reminds me of a story.

Seeing ants in his kitchen and deciding that he could just vacuum the little pests away, he sucked them up, but while he was doing this he realized that the once he had them all sucked up they were still going to be alive, so he decided on the expedient method of gassing the little buggers. He opened the gas valve on the stove and sucked some gas into the nozzle.

Boom.

The vacuum cleaner exploded when the gas hit motor.

The worst part was that the ants survived the explosion.

[Bob]

If fire ants will do, then it's easy.

1. Go out and find an ant hill (Not hard to do if you are in TX)
2. Disturb it a little with a stick - doesn't much. The ants rush to the top.
3. pick them up with a small shovel even a hand trowel. Pour them, dirt and all in a fruit jar - keep the lid on the jar.
4. Use a strainer (tea strainer comes to mind), pour an amount of dirt - ant combination into the strainer. Shake quickly to remove the dirt. Then pour the ants into a clean fruit jar (put the lid on).
5. Repeat steps as needed.

Bob-tx

[Steve B]

Take soda pop bottles. Glass ones. Bury at a 45 degree angle with just the lip sticking up. Put cherry Kool Aid in there about a quarter full. Ants go in to drink, but can't get out.

Dump bottle and repeat as often as needed.

Steve

[Oren]

Can't you build an Ant Farm? I mean raise and harvest them in a colony?

-- Oren

"I don't have anything against work. I just figure, why deprive somebody who really loves it."

[Oren]

I was about to tell you until I forgot. As kid in South Florida; a "doodlebug" lived in a sand mound, resembling an ant mound. It was cool and shady places, like under a house.

Tickle the center hole in the mound with a twig and he would go deeper and dig down a bit throwing the sand back out of the hole. The way to catch him was to take a breath and blow the sand from the center hole and expose the bug.

Looks very much like the larva in the link above.

Was it "I'll huff and puff and blow your house down" (close to the piggy thing).

-- Oren

"I don't have anything against work. I just figure, why deprive somebody who really loves it."

[Steve B]

I apologize for answering earlier, and not completely reading the whole post.

I'd put out some baits for the ants, and put them among the ant lion holes. Ants seem to go crazy for chocolate squares, someone else might suggest something better. Once they start going through there, the lions are going to get some of them. I'd put the baits in the middle of the ant lion field. Maybe use only one bait.

Steve

[Big Al]

Tried peanut butter, then jelly. Jelly drew the most. They are very small ants. I'm moving the bait closer to the Antlions:)

Al