Formicarium
Encyclopedia
A formicarium or ant farm is a vivarium
Vivarium
A vivarium is a usually enclosed area for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research...
which is designed primarily for the study of ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
colonies
Ant colony
An ant colony is an underground lair where ants live, eat and mate. Colonies consist of a series of underground chambers, connected to each other and the surface of the earth by small tunnels. There are rooms for nurseries, food storage, and mating...
and how ants behave
Behavior
Behavior or behaviour refers to the actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with its environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment...
. Those who study ant behavior are known as myrmecologists.
History
A formicarium is usually an ant colonyAnt colony
An ant colony is an underground lair where ants live, eat and mate. Colonies consist of a series of underground chambers, connected to each other and the surface of the earth by small tunnels. There are rooms for nurseries, food storage, and mating...
enclosed by a transparent box made of glass or plastic. The first commercially-sold formicarium was introduced around 1929 and patented in 1931 by Frank Austin, an inventor and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the Thayer School of Engineering
Thayer School of Engineering
Thayer School of Engineering is a graduate school at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States, whose faculty also double as the undergraduate Department of Engineering Sciences. The school was established in 1867 with funds from Brig. Gen...
at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. Austin included painted or wooden scenes of palaces, farms, and other settings above the ground level, for a whimsical look.
Formicariums and ant farms are usually made thin enough so the tunnels and cavities made by the ants can be seen and for their behavior to be studied. They can be filled with soil, loam, sand, vermiculite
Vermiculite
Vermiculite is a natural mineral that expands with the application of heat. The expansion process is called exfoliation and it is routinely accomplished in purpose-designed commercial furnaces. Vermiculite is formed by weathering or hydrothermal alteration of biotite or phlogopite...
, other mineral fragments, or sawdust. Newer formicariums may be filled with semi-transparent gel (pictured above), which provides nutrition, moisture and a medium for the ants to nest
Nest
A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...
but does not supply a source of protein which is essential for the queen and larvae.
Other types of formicariums are those made with plaster, ytong (autoclaved aerated concrete or AAC), or simply with no medium. Plaster nests can be made by placing modeling clay on a glass panel in the form of tunnels and chambers. The plaster is poured onto the mold and when it has dried the clay is removed and the remaining structure can be used for housing ants. The ants in this type of formicarium are very easily seen. Mediumless formicariums can be in any container, with the ants staying in moist test tubes or other small containers. This also allows for better visibility, but can be less interesting because no digging takes place.
Whether ants dig or not (e.g. tree ants) a formicarium can be designed so that it is free-standing, and not enclosed or lidded like a vivarium. A free-standing design does not require high walls and a lid, but rather relies on barriers to secure the ants within their habitat; barriers include those listed below, and may include a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
of vegetable oil.
Another way of preventing the ants from escaping is to place the entire formicarium in a shallow container of water, creating a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
.
For the first 3 days, a formicarium owner has to let the ants get used to their new environment. This can be done by putting a black towel over the formicarium. However, some formicarium owners shake their formicarium every few days so the tunnels cave in. This practice allows owners to reset the formicarium and observe their ants dig tunnels all over again. This practice, however, is done at the owner's risk, as it may compromise the safety of the ants.
Popular culture
The fact that the term "ant farm" is covered by a trademark received notoriety when Scott AdamsScott Adams
Scott Raymond Adams is the American creator of the Dilbert comic strip and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, business, and general speculation....
, the creator of the Dilbert
Dilbert
Dilbert is an American comic strip written and drawn by Scott Adams. First published on April 16, 1989, Dilbert is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office featuring the engineer Dilbert as the title character...
comic strip, used the phrase in one of his comic strips. Upon using the term "ant farm", Adams subsequently received threatening letters from Uncle Milton industries' attorneys, demanding a retraction for the unauthorized use of the phrase "ant farm" in his comic strip.
In reaction to the legal threat, Adams satirized the incident in a later comic strip. In that strip, Dilbert asked for a substitute for the trademarked phrase "ant farm", looking for another word for "a habitat for worthless and disgusting little creatures." To which the character Dogbert
Dogbert
Dogbert is Dilbert's anthropomorphic pet talking dog from the Dilbert comic strip. According to creator Scott Adams, the character is being based on, if not a member of, the beagle breed.-Characterization:...
replied "Law school."