Over the past years, we have designed and perfected our own special light trap. This is used during the alate flying season to capture new queens of those species that fly around dusk or later. In nature, many of these queens would be taken by predators such as bats, geckos, frogs, and other ants, and we are in this case utilizing stock that is usually lost before they can find somewhere to found a colony. Although many of these queens are offered for sale individually, some are purposely kept back and allowed to raise new colonies which are then sold at a later date.

     We also use excess queens of some species like seeds to produce future colonies. This is done by placing fertilized queens in prepared chambers under stones/inside wooden logs etc. helping them avoid most of their natural predators and giving them a higher chance of survival and starting colonies. Foundation places are carefully marked and revisited a few months later when many of the queens will have succeeded in raising young colonies. We can then harvest these ‘assisted natural colonies’ as required. This has proven quite successful with ground-nesting genera such as Carebara, Solenopsis, and some Camponotus.

 

     Some young/mature colonies are specifically collected from cultivated farmlands. Here mature colonies are frequently poisoned by the farmers as they are considered pests that hinder work on the land or affect the crops grown by damaging the plants. Species such as Carebara diversa and Solenopsis geminata frequent this open exposed type of habitat. The farmers frequently spray the nests of these species with insecticide as the ants have a painful sting/bite and attack them when they are working on their fields. In collecting colonies from these areas, we are in effect saving the colonies from a slow painful death.

 

     We are also continually on the lookout for forest clearance projects/new building sites etc. and ask for permission to collect from these sites before the groundwork commences. Collecting from these areas saves the colonies that would otherwise be destroyed once the building/landscaping work commences.

 

     We also maintain several ‘cultivated mother colonies’ of certain species in our garden and on our own farmland. These are protected against predators and regularly fed to encourage them to increase in size. Species such as Anoplolepis gracilipes and Paratrechina longicornis which both produce large multi queen super colonies are maintained this way. These colonies then produce yearly crops of alates which we can collect, and we can also remove ‘parts’ of the colony at regular intervals.

 

     In some cases, we will collect colonies from certain wild localities - but are very careful on how this is done with the aim of not upsetting the natural balance.

     For example, we have only found Diacamma violaceum in one particular secluded forest that is owned and protected by the monks of a nearby temple. This species does not have nuptial flights as such and propagates itself by division. This is a very slow method of propagation and over-collection could quickly cause the natural population to collapse.

     To provide a continual supply of new colonies we have assessed the total number of colonies inhabiting the forest, and allowing for maintaining the wild population have worked out we can only harvest between 10 - 15 colonies a year. This amount allows the natural population to maintain its numbers and will allow us to continue harvesting colonies for many more years.

     While we are collecting this species, we purposely leave the larger colonies which are near the time of division, give additional food to, and remove potential threats to the existing wild colonies. Where colonies have been removed from the wild and we have had to dig them out, the area is always returned to its original state before we move on, with all holes filled in and vegetation replaced.

     It is in our best interests to maintain the wild colonies, to provide a continual source of stock. If we depleted these colonies by short-term destructive overcollection we would have difficulty in locating colonies that we could sell in the future.

 

     Our ultimate aim regards collection is to be able to offer for sale many different species, which we have managed to source from stock that otherwise would have been lost to natural predators or environmental dangers. And to collect from areas which we have 'managed' and where the removal will have minimum impact on the population of existing colonies, and not affect the balance of the ecosystem.

     Hence, in purchasing from us you are also in effect supporting the conservation of exotic species.

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