For people who are collecting masses of ants, they usually dig under a nest, and pile the dirt onto a sheet and collect the ants that run from it. I've done it and it worked pretty well, but in the end I found it not worth it. The ants so easily escape. I also laid out chips for those blacktop-sidewalk little ants and knocked them into a container, which worked well (but again not worth it). I really use termites in place of ants. Termites are not as easy to stumble upon and can't be collected right outside your house (or at least hopefully )

I usually just go to an area where there is fallen, hard wood (that is soft from termites and weather) and split it open in places and knock in termites. Then I sift them through a screen to collect the wood I knocked into the container as well; I then keep them in deli cups (a couple hundred per cup; you always end up collecting more than you think) with wet, dark construction paper fit to the jar. They are so easy to use in a bowl, but without a bowl they often burrow into the ground...like in my vivarium...eh. Try termites if you can get them.

-Sean

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• a fish and some ants - spyderx05, Mon Aug 22 23:20:48 2005
• RE: a fish and some ants - sutorherp1, Tue Aug 23 11:59:56 2005
• RE: a fish and some ants - slaytonp, Tue Aug 23 22:14:23 2005
• RE: a fish and some ants - sutorherp1, Tue Aug 23 23:23:26 2005
• RE: ants in the pants - slaytonp, Wed Aug 24 19:51:15 2005
• RE: a fish and some ants - pastorjosh, Wed Aug 24 07:12:36 2005
• RE: a fish and some ants - spyderx05, Wed Aug 24 14:55:51 2005
• RE: a fish and some ants - slaytonp, Wed Aug 24 20:10:27 2005