Practical tube nests for transportation and mailing of live ant colonies

Insectes Sociaux, Paris
9 Masson, Paris, 1988
1988, Volume 35, n ~ 2, pp. 206-208
Brief communication
Communication br~ve
PRACTICAL TUBE NESTS FOR TRANSPORTATION
AND MAILING OF LIVE ANT COLONIES
A. B U S C H I N G E R
a n d J. H E I N Z E
Institut fiir Zoologie, Fachbereich Biologic, Technische
Hochschule Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstr. 3, D-6100 Darmstadt, FRG
Re~u le 1"~ fdvrier 1988
Accept6 le 27 mars 1988
SUMMARY
A cheap, light and stable system for temporary housing and mailing live ant
colonies, or other small insects, is described (fig. 1). Only two sizes of transparent and
flexible PVC-tube, PVC-stoppers and a piece of copper gauze are needed to make the
system. The insects are aspirated into the tubes.
RESUME
Un syst~me pratique pour transporter et exp6dier des colonies de fourmis vivantes
On d~crit un syst~me ~conomique, l~ger et stable pour h~berger temporairement
et pour exp6dier des colonies de fourmis vivantes, ou d'autres petits insectes (fig. 1).
Seulement deux types de tubes transparents et flexibles de PVC, des bouchons de PVC
et un morceau de gaze d,e cuivre sont n6cessaires pour faire le syst~me. Les insectes
sont aspir6s dans les tubes.
M y r m e c o l o g i s t s a r e o f t e n c o n f r o n t e d w i t h t h e p r o b l e m of c a r r y i n g live
s a m p l e s o r c o m p l e t e c o l o n i e s of a n t s w i t h t h e m f o r s e v e r a l d a y s o r w e e k s ,
d u r i n g f i e l d w o r k , o r to m a i l s u c h m a t e r i a l . D i f f i c u l t i e s a r i s e w h e n trav e l l i n g b y p l a n e , w e r e w e i g h t a n d v o l u m e of b a g g a g e a r e r e s t r i c t e d , w h e n
h i g h n u m b e r s of h e a v y o r l a r g e c o n t a i n e r s w i t h live i n s e c t s h a v e to b e
c a r r i e d . S m a l l glass t u b e s m a y b r e a k , o r t h e y a r e too t i g h t l y c l o s e d so
t h a t t h e i n s e c t s a s p h y x i a t e a f t e r s o m e h o u r s o r days.
W e h a v e d e v e l o p e d a s y s t e m of t r a n s p a r e n t , flexible P V C - t u b e s w h i c h
p r o v e d v e r y effective a n d p r a c t i c a l , a n d w h i c h is s u i t e d to o v e r c o m e m o s t
of t h e p r o b l e m s m e n t i o n e d .
ANT COLONIES
207
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A
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V
_ m [m , . b
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<
60-100 mm
"'dO rnrn"
Fig. 1. - - PVC-tube system for t r a n s p o r t a t i o n a n d mailing live ant colonies.
B e l o w : " Container " w i t h s t o p p e r (left end) a n d small tube w i t h copper gauze
i n s e r t e d into the right end.
A b o v e : Aspirating the ants into the "' c o n t a i n e r " t h r o u g h a piece of the smaller
tube i n s e r t e d into the " stopper e n d ", a n d a piece of the w i d e r tube slipped over
the "' gauze-end " of the container.
Fig. 1. - - Syst~me en tubes de PVC p o u r t r a n s p o r t e r et exp6dier des colonies de fourmis
vivantes.
E n h a s : ,~ Container ~, avec b o u c h o n (bout gauche) et tube 6troit avec gaze de
cuivre mis dans le b o u t droit.
E n h a u t : Les fourmis sont aspir6es d a n s le c o n t a i n e r p a r u n e piece du tube
6troit mis dans les ,~ b o u t b. b o u c h o n ,~, e t u n e piece du tube large pouss6e s u r le
,, b o u t h gaze ,, du container.
Figure 1 s h o w s t h e c o m p l e t e s y s t e m . I t c o n s i s t s o f t w o s i z e s o f P V C tubes the smaller of which fits tightly into the wider one. A piece of the
w i d e t u b e ( " c o n t a i n e r ") h o u s e s t h e a n t s ( o r o t h e r s m a l l i n s e c t s ) . O n e o f
its ends is closed vdth a PVC-stopper, in the other end a short piece of the
smaller tube is inserted.
I t s i n n e r e n d is c o v e r e d b y a p i e c e o f c o p p e r
g a u z e , t h e m a r g i n o f w h i c h is b e n t o v e r t h e s m a l l e r t u b e a n d s q u e e z e d
b e t w e e n t h e w a l l s w h e n t h e s m a l l e r t u b e is i n s e r t e d i n t o t h e c o n t a i n e r ( I t
is helpful first to push the gauze a little into the opening of the wide tube,
208
A. B U S C H I N G E R and J. H E I N Z E
with the aid of a pencil etc., a n d t h e n to i n s e r t the small tube). The c o p p e r
gauze w i t h a m e s h w i d t h of 0.2 to 0.5 m m is c o m m e r c i a l l y available.
Gauzes of o t h e r r e s i s t a n t m a t e r i a l s a r e equally suited.
Filling the ants into the c o n t a i n e r s r e q u i r e s only two longer pieces of
the t w o sizes of tubes (ca 30-50 cm). The s m a l l e r one, a f t e r r e m o v i n g the
stopper, is i n s e r t e d into the o p e n end of the container, the w i d e r t u b e is
slipped o v e r the small piece of t u b e in the ' ' gauze-end ". The ants can n o w
be a s p i r a t e d into the c o n t a i n e r (fig. 1). K e e p i n g the c o n t a i n e r u p r i g h t and
t a p p i n g its wall shakes the ants d o w n t o w a r d s the gauze, the small t u b e is
r e m o v e d a n d the s t o p p e r is replaced.
I n d r y conditions a n u m b e r of these containers m a y be w r a p p e d into a
thick layer of h u m i d p a p e r or tissue (e.g., a towel), which t h e n m a y be sealed
in a plastic bag etc., to p r e v e n t desiccation: The p a p e r or tissue contains sufficient h y m i d i t y a n d air f o r days or even week.
We h a v e u s e d this s y s t e m m a i n l y f o r t r a n s p o r t a t i o n of l e p t o t h o r a c i n e
ants the colonies of which have a v o l u m e of usually less t h a n 5 cc, including
b r o o d a n d s o m e soil, w o o d dust, a n d o t h e r m a t e r i a l f r o m the nesting sites.
The colonies have survived three-weeks-collecting trips in N o r t h Africa and
in Canada, a n d the travelling b a c k to G e r m a n y . As food s o m e small insect
pieces or filter p a p e r s o a k e d w i t h h o n e y w e r e applied a b o u t once a w e e k in
the " stopper-end " of the container.