Leaf cutter ant feeding during winter and leaf treatment

[Ieatflys]

Hello all. I apologize if this has been asked or discussed before . However I havent had any luck finding much infor on this... how do you all feed your lca during the winter. Where I live we get snow and all the leaved sie back except for cedar trees wich i can get my hands on occassionally... I have been told theyll take grapes bannana leaves orange peels and what not.. what else is sonthing you can get for a hungry growing colony that is readily available and also readily accepted?

Also. How do you all treat your leaves befor feeding them to your lca's assuming there not treated with pestacides? Do you wash them freeze them?

And lastly... is it possible to collect a bunch of leaves during the summer and put them into a deep freezer then offer them to the colonies over the winter as you need them? Or will the leaves not stay good long enough?

Thank you all very much for your suggestions and help it is much appreciated.

[Andyj]

I plan on using evergreen shrubs such as Ligustrum ( Privet ) and Vinca ( periwinkle ) also Apple, nuts such as Almonds and as someone suggested to me frozen then thawed out brussel sprouts providing of course sprouts are accepted. I must admit i haven't washed any food plants but are collected from sources i'm sure are not sprayed, i have previously learn't that lesson the hard way. I also plan on drying rose petals for the winter, this can easily be done in a micro wave and stored in dry glass bottles, well it's an idea. I have dried them but not given to my ants yet. This could be a useful winter food source if enough petals are collected.

[Bitterlime]

I think if you freeze some leaves then that will prevent them from rotting for a while!

[Ieatflys]

Thanks for the suggestions you guys im going ti freeze some and see how long they will last befor they go bad so i know befor winter comes. As for other ever greens i know perrywinckle grows here i had forgotten about it i suppose it will work as well. I am unsure if they will accept dried leaves that would be interesting to try... thsnk you all for the pointers... and as for washing them. I was hoping it eould rid the keaves of any other hitch hikers that could be on them. Maybe i should wash them and then freeze them to make sure any hitchikers are dead!!

[Andyj]

There doesn't seem to be a mention of parasitic mites on the forum but caution should be taken against them so washing is a must. I will have a word with myself.

[Atta solider]

I've washed my leafs due what happened before there video in hear food planets I feed mine carbbage and you see what happens since then I wash all leafs and dry them but that's just me

[Acromyrmexbob]

Ive heard of a few institutes who freeze their leaves to last all through the winter. Never heard of this as an anti mite measure. As far as spraying is concerned, I have never washed leaves because common sense says which are sprayed and which arent. All bought flowers and house plants are sprayed, likely any public park locations might be sprayed, neighbours can be asked, any natural locations are unlikely to be sprayed.
Winter feeds, sprouts are great, apple, orange peel, sultanas, grapes, cabbage, brocolli, try everything, its generally turns out not to be a problem once you get into it.

[Ieatflys]

Fantastic. I think i may go the deep freezer route once the colony gets big enough to need it..

I can see it now friends come over ask where the frozen stuff is at opens the deep freezer and its full of leaves.

Friend: Uhhh. Whats this?

Me: oh its for my ants no biggy haha

[Vendayn]

If you guys in Europe have a harder time feeding Leaf cutter ants in Winter.

My Acromyrmex versicolor LOVE quinoa seeds. At least here in the US, asian markets sell a pound of it for only a few dollars (USD). Maybe it is harder to get in Europe, because quinoa is generally a South American plant (that is where it originated anyway).

I fed my Acromyrmex a bunch of quinoa, and they were swarming out by the dozens (the colony has over 150 workers) to get the seeds. I never seen them swarm for any food I put in there, so they really love it.

[Deansie26]

My wife likes that so I'll be trying it today! Will let you know if they take it Vendayn! Interesting.