Acromyrmexbob wrote:versicolor are a species I have not kept before. Hoping to remedy that in 2017.
Makes sense that A versicolor would take seeds better that other non desert species. However in the desert you would suppose that they would favour high moisture content forage, given the choice. It is true that the humidity in the nest chamber needs to be as high for versicolor than that of rainforest ants so they generally get around this by digging their burrows very deep. I think the fungus is the same species as all the rest so its requirements are as demanding regarding humidity. I suspect that, because there are no high moisture leaves available in the desert, that the ants have abandoned this means of gathering moisture in favour of relying on moisture from the substrate they are living in and as a result they will take material that is possibly quite low in moisture content. Just a thought.
That is a good point. They probably dig down to the water level, and that is where they mainly nest.
I did also notice my Acromyrmex versicolor don't really take foods that are fresh/moist as much as dry food. Like, I tried a fresh rose petal and they ignored it (mostly, they did chop it up after a while). But, if I put a bunch of dried rose petals in and crush them up, they seem a lot more interested in it. Guess it makes sense, because out in the desert, there wouldn't be much fresh food available. So, they, as you said, must rely on ground moisture.
Or could be every colony is different, not sure. Over on formiculture forums, Drew (who also keeps Acromyrmex, though he lost all his colonies this year) gave his colony fresh food and they took it a lot more than mine do. Not sure why that would be.