10 replies to this topic

[Gregory2455]

On 7/21/2015 I arrived in the desert nearly in the dark. I quickly set up my black light and went off to dig up queens. Everything else from the trip was caught from the ground, but when I got back to check on my black light, a surprise was waiting for me. Easily over 1,000 Crematogaster sp. males, and over 100 Crematogaster sp. queens, along with many many other insects were all sitting on the black light! There were so many males, they were trying to mate with the beetles and katydids that decided to land on the cloth as well. Of course, when the light started attracting nocturnal Myrmecocystus and Camponotus workers, many of the males became easy prey. I took all of the queens and eventually shook the males and other insects off the cloth when it was time to go.

 

I did not have enough test tubes on site for all of the queens I caught that night! After thinking for a few minutes I thought the best idea to save test tubes was condense all 100+ Crematogaster queens into just a few test tubes until I got home. This turned out to be a good call, as a little later I did end up finding a lot more Myrmecocystus mexicanus and Pogonomyrmex rugosus queens. Sadly, even though the queens cooperated with each other, there was an issue. As they were all stressed from being captured, they were all releasing their toxic fluids from their gasters in defense. They ended up gassing themselves, and over 20 queens died.

 

I had to open up two more shelves just for Crematogaster queens. Other than the seven test tubes under the Dorymyrmex insanus labels, all of the test tubes on these two shelves are Crematogaster sp. queens. There are also a couple more in a hotter room of the house. After the deaths my spicy Crematogaster juice gas, I was left with 80 queens.

 

Anyway, a little less than a week after most of them laid eggs, some were getting larvae. To my pleasant surprise, (and horror) it seems anywhere from 90-99% of these are fertile.

 

Now, a few days ago, this was confirmed after most of their oldest larvae pupated.

 

As of now I am planning on selling 70-90% of all of these colonies. If you are interested in buying some, please visit and read this thread.

Edited by Gregory2455, February 20 2019 - 9:41 PM.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 9/11/2015

Oops, I forgot to update this journal when I posted this video.

 

 

 

Update: 9/22/2015

All of the fifty or so colonies I have left have 10-20 workers now, and are growing very fast. I am trying to sell them as fast as possible but I am not able to nearly as fast as I am hoping. I am giving away extra colonies with every purchase now.

[dspdrew]

You collected way too many. It's hard not to put a queen in a container when you see it.

[Gregory2455]

It really is hard to not pick up every queen! This weekend was the first time I did not take a wandering dealate but that was because it was D.insanus in Arizona and I had no containers to put her in anyway.

[dspdrew]

Haha, I stopped picking those up a long time ago.

[Gregory2455]

Update: 4/10/2016

So I was keeping all but one of these colonies in a box in a drawer separate from all my other colonies because I had no room left in my ant cabinet and feeding/checking on them weekly. Well last week I checked on the ones in the box and every single one was dead and covered in some strange white/gray mold. I do believe that is what killed them because there is just no other way all of them could have died in such quick succession of each other. So, I only have one colony of these now, which is the one I was keeping with all my other ants.

[dspdrew]

It's always hard to tell whether or not mold killed the ants. I notice as soon as any of my colonies die, they're usually covered in mold a day later. I don't think it's the mold that killed them either, but I don't know for sure.

[Gregory2455]

It's always hard to tell whether or not mold killed the ants. I notice as soon as any of my colonies die, they're usually covered in mold a day later. I don't think it's the mold that killed them either, but I don't know for sure.

As I have said in chat it had to have been a pathogen of some sort.

[Foogoo]

How's your colony doing? The two I still have from you (gave the others to a friend) are doing well, I'm surprised how polymophic they are, though it's only in obvious in one of the two colonies. 

[Gregory2455]

The last one died in the summer heat. I really only have ants like Pogonomyrmex, Myrmecocystus and Nylanderia left- stuff that were able to make it through the heatwave that turned my room into an oven in July.

[Mdrogun]

The last one died in the summer heat. I really only have ants like Pogonomyrmex, Myrmecocystus and Nylanderia left- stuff that were able to make it through the heatwave that turned my room into an oven in July.

Sometimes I feel like if you catch more than 5 queens of a single species you have a lower chance of getting a sucessful colony. Out of my nearly 70 Solenopsis molesta queens 30 or more were infertile, another 20 or more drowned, my colony with largest amount of queens lost all their brood and refuses to lay. I got one successful colony with 4 queens but I sent that to a friend before my queens lost their brood. I think I just have bad luck.

Edited by Mdrogun, October 1 2016 - 11:10 AM.