THE FORMICARIUM A New Ant Home!       A couple years ago I told my neighbor, Ray, that I wanted a more "adult" ant display. He said he could make one if it was made out of wood. Another friend, the guy that provides internet service to both Ray and me, was drafted to produce a design based on what I wanted it to look like. Here is what they came up with:

     I call it a "Formicarium" because I think it is the Latin word for ant habitat. Maybe not Latin, but along the same lines as Aquarium or terrarium. I still find myself calling them ant farms, even though that is the brand name of the original home ant observatory. You can still buy a classic ant farm on the internet from Uncle Milton. I thought Milton was about to sue me or something. I got an e-mail from his lawyer, which I gave to my lawyer. As far as I know, all I have to do is note that the very term "ant farm" is a registered mark. So I had my friend add the notice at the bottom of the page and the R to the title. I added the link to Uncle Milton's web.

      So many folks have asked about my formicarium that my friend, Ray, has started making them for sale. I'm Ray now sells them on his Formicarium web site.  I'm glad I got mine as a gift!  I see that Ray is having a Christmas Special.  It would have to be for someone who has everything or anyone who had an ant farm as a kid.  One of you told me he gave one to his retired but very active Dad.  Apparently the old golfer liked the idea of having a sort of easy-care pet that looked good in his house and he didn't have to take to Florida with him every winter!

      My old ants have been replaced with a new batch. Some neighborhood kids have been trying to dig up a nice queen this fall before the ground freezes. They haven't brought me any queens yet. Just lots of ants.

      My  CRICKET FARM  is still going strong. Check out my cricket farm page  and see pictures of my ranch. I have added a Text-to-Cricket Synthesizer which you can use to translate words and phrases into spoken cricket. Let the kids try it out!  

      I'm really surprised to see how many ant and other insect pet sites there are on the Internet. Work has taken up so much time there hasn't been much left for web surfing. Getting a newer computer a few moths ago helped get me back in front of the monitor.  I'll update my links as I find ones I like. I guess I don't have as much time on my hands as some ant enthusiasts!

      Here's a link to an ant site that is really informative and interesting called Myrm's Ant Nest.

      Steve's Ant Farm has been around forever. I guess I lost track of this internet original.  I got inspiration from this site.

      Another cool link, not like most ant farm web sites (or any other web sites) calls itself a "personal Web site with ants in mind".

      Send mail! My new address is: sda@hpwsys.com. 

• e-mail: SDA

      Come back soon, this page is always changing!  (albeit slowly)