Amped up ant project
Eleven-year-old’s research into industrious insect leads him to start his own colony
After researching neat facts about ants for a school public speaking project, 11-year-old Ethan Jamieson of St. John's, N.L., told his parents he'd like to start his own ant colony.
His father, Cam Jamieson, agreed to buy him the queen ant he'd need to get started on one condition: Ethan was to clean his play area and keep it clean for an entire week. If he did that, Cam said, he would know his son was invested in the project.
“Ethan cleaned up his area much faster than I expected. That's when I realized we were going to be all in with the ants,” Cam said during a phone interview on June 25.
“It took a while to get it all organized. I'm pretty sure when (dad) came home and it was all clean, the day after he said (to clean the area), I think he was really surprised,” Ethan added.
Ethan is heading into Grade 6 at École des Grands-Vents in St. John's.
His mother, Cindy Butt, said when COVID-19 set in, they started home-schooling their son.
What better a subject to expand upon than one already started, she thought.
Ethan amped up his ant project, in both French and English, for when he would head back to class, Cindy said via Facebook messenger.
When back to class never happened, she said, her son continued his research.
However, she said, at this point she had no idea ordering a queen ant and making a nest “in our house!” would come to fruition.
“I didn't believe it was happening until I kept hearing so many facts about ants,” she said.
ANT FACTS
During a phone interview, an enthusiastic Ethan explained some of the facts he's learned about ants.
“Before humans, ants were the most advanced society ... a lot of things that humans think they did first, actually ants did. They built cities, they had wars, they negotiated,” he said.
In his school project, Ethan spoke about several different species of ants including the powerful army ant which “will dismember its adversaries immediately.”
He explained how army ants kills more than 500,000 animals worldwide every day and can easily destroy a wasp nest.
Another interesting type of ant Ethan included in his project is the electric ant, named because it is attracted to electricity and electrical devices.
Then there's the “crazy yellow ant,” Ethan said, which was brought to Australia by boat and has become a pest. The country is now trying to control the yellow ant population, he said.
GETTING STARTED
As his interest in ants continued to grow, Ethan began researching what it would take to start his own ant colony.
“He was on the phone with businesses that sold wood. He needed to build an ant nest and got (the wood) for free,” Cindy said.
His father borrowed a router to carve the wood into a nest.
“Then, only then, did I believe that we would be ordering a queen ant! I do not like red ants crawling on me in my yard and now we're ordering ants,” she said.
Ethan's father ordered him the queen ant online and had it shipped from Ontario to their home in St. John's.
His mother helped get the package delivered in what she referred to as the “COVID stay home situation.”
The queen is currently in a test tube set up, Ethan said, and he is now waiting for her to lay eggs.
“She has water but I don't have to feed her until after she lays eggs ... those eggs become workers then you feed the ants and they make more workers, and more and more,” he said.
Ants need protein, sugar and water, he said.
When he has about 10 workers, he said, he'll move his ants into the nest.
In addition to his online research, Ethan is also reading a detailed book about ants.
“Lots of people think there are only two kinds of ants: black ants and fire ants. But, actually, there are over 16,000 species of ants and more are getting discovered every day,” he said.
How does Ethan's mom feel about her son's new hobby now that she realizes just how invested he is in the project?
“I still don't want ants on me. However, I now know what a queen ant looks like and that she's bigger (than other ants) and you can see the scars where she lost her wings. And that early summer here is mating season when all ants fly into the air and release pheromones to attract ants for a mating frenzy ritual. Ants will be forever here and my little boy is teaching us,” she said.