Antstore | Krabbelvieh als Haustiere

Martin Sebesta has a hobby that some may call unusual: He has several ant colonies in his apartment. “Even when I was a kid I was profoundly fascinated by ants” says Sebesta, “their social lives or the way they build their nests – captivating!” While some people can hardly imagine anything worse than having ants all over their apartment and would rather call an exterminator than room with a bunch of insects, Sebesta sells ant types from all over the world in his shop. “In the late 90's I had an ant website and there were so many requests about colonies”, says Sebesta, explaining his development from a man with a quirky hobby to a man with an ant retail.

The demand grew steadily across Europe and Sebesta soon went into business for himself in 2000 – with Europe's first ant shop. He reduced his collection from exotic ants that he found in Australia and South America to deliveries from local ant collectors. “Exotic ants are too hard to breed. For one thing, they need considerably more space than a terrarium or formicarium can hold.”

A formicarium is a terrarium customized especially for ants. It's usually built out of two slides of glass that are filled with soil, allowing a view into the anthill interior with its branched out paths and caves. Ants need to be fed, too – leaves, fruit or other natural products will do here.

Still – ants aren't tameable. Sebesta talks about ants and their social lives at schools: “Kids are sensitized towards ants so they don't try to trample on them or destroy ant hills in the woods.”

And you can't just go and take home a colony that you find somewhere in a forest – the local red wood ant is an endangered species in Germany. Antsy beginners should go for a colony starter set with a queen and 20-30 ants instead.

(simb)