In their natural envionment, ants live in accommodation thats suitable for the size of their population. Ants won't build accomodation that far exceeds their needs and only go to the trouble of adding new rooms when they anticipate a need. This happens in spring when new sexual larva are growing fast.
In captivity if the nest area is too big for your ants to effectively patrol problems with mould and fungus might arise. Also, certain workers called sextants, remove dead and dying insects along with larval feaces and other items that can rot and these might be missed in a big area.
In captive nests where the ants cant get rid of these, they usually transport them as far away from brood and queen that they are permitted. In young nests or nests that only have a few active workers, the sextant types might be absent. Hence the need to be vigil for signs of rot. Most fungal organisms require a fairly high level of moisture to multiply although some types are very hardy and can survive on lower water levels. Types that form spores are extremely resiliant to low water levels and will germinate after long periods of dryness. In effect, its virtually impossible to eradicate fungus etc without spraying the soil with fungicide and killing everything (ants and all) in it.
It is possible to go to extremes and remove all micro-organisms by autoclaving the soil before you use it at 110 degrees celcius and 120 psig for at least one hour, but no-one has these facilities at home. Usually, the,n we try and reduce the risk of contamination by removing all dead insects and rubbish on a regular basis. Allowing a level of ventilation in the nest at times helps and keeping the nest moist but not water logged also reduces the risk.
Tags: Keeping Ants
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