[octagons]

If you found this story interesting, you may be interested to know that antkeeping is a rewarding and fairly inexpensive hobby. The Global Ant Nursery (GAN) project run by AntsCanada, a popular YouTube channel, is a great way to obtain new queens responsibly.

Alternatively, it’s fairly easy to find queens on your own. AntsCanada offers a starter guide, and there are many other resources that teach you when and where to find new queens. I keep a few test tubes in my truck year-round, just in case.

Note: I’m not affiliated with AntsCanada in any way.

[ses1984]

AntsCanada is a great gateway into antkeeping but I would beware about the GAN.

I connected with someone listed on the GAN in my state. As I was working out the purchase and delivery, there were a lot of red flags, which I ignored because I trusted AntsCanada. The person said that they already gave away the species I wanted, but maybe I would be interested in other species instead. They pushed a species which isn't really known to native to my area, but he insisted he found them locally. They aggressively tried to upsell me on expensive extra supplies they said were critical to the care of this species. When I got my ants, they were shipped from several states away.

I reported this to AntsCanada. I'm not sure what happened, but I recently tried to get a different queen from GAN and I ended up talking to the same person under a different identity.

I'm sure there are some great people on GAN, just beware.

I ended up getting a queen from Atlantic Ants. It did ship across state lines, but the species is one that's ubiquitous in my region.

[octagons]

I’ve also experienced this using GAN. Be wary and use common sense. I never bothered reporting it but I’d be willing to bet we’re talking about the same person. They listed the same advertisement in basically every state with a different Google Voice number so as to appear local.

I was under the impression that we would be meeting because they were local, which is how GAN is intended to operate.?Instead, they shipped the queen to me without any USDA permits. The queen also died within a few weeks of arriving. They started a web store not longer afterwards.

That said, I’ve had plenty of good experiences with GAN. This was one bad actor out of many good ones.

[throw310822]

So there is someone that is running a shady operation selling ants?

> They started a web store not longer afterwards.

At this point I'm not sure if it's a store online or one that sells spider-related stuff.

[octagons]

The shadiness largely comes from the fact that transporting insects can be a risk to the environment. Permits to ship live ant queens are not hard to obtain, but there are laws that prohibit certain species from being shipped to certain areas.

The permit also covers obligations for the recipient, such as ensuring that no pathogens are left on the packing materials and that you dispose of the insects properly, if necessary.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-III/...

[ses1984]

I’m guessing it started as a hobby for this guy then became a shady business when he realized there are a bunch of easy marks out there in an underserved market.

[_yb2s]

It's truly easy and inexpensive to get into- all I had to do was forget to do the dishes one night!

....my apologies, I don't mean to ridicule your hobby, it's just I couldn't imagine wanting more of them in my house on purpose.