20 replies to this topic

[Silq]

Intro: I am totally brand new in the world of ant keeping. I was always interested in ants ever since I was little and have had many pets growing up from piranhas, lizards, cats, dogs, etc. I was thinking of presents for my 6 year old niece and I thought of Sea Monkeys as they were something that I had that fascinated me as a kid. Somehow a vid of youtube transitioned from Sea Monkeys to ants from the AC youtube channel. After a week, I picked up my first colony.

 

7/22/19

Picked up camponotus semitestaceus from a prominent member here who told me about these forums. Received a small starter formicarium with a queen, 4 workers, and 1 dead worker. Looks like there are two larva, I will call this Colony 1 for now. He also gave me a test tube with another queen and 3 workers and 2 eggs, I will call this Colony 2. I mixed some honey with water and gave a drop to Colony 2. A worker immediately drank some then fed the queen. I forget what it is called Tropha-something? The queen went to the source and drank some herself.

 

7/23/19

I was testing out vinyl tubing sizes and I scared Colony 1. I can see the queen running around and the workers moving the larva. I realized it is 4 larva and not 2. The websites nor forums do not talk about whether the measurements for vinyl tubing are inner diameter (ID) or outer diameter (OD). I bought two tubings ⅜ ID and ½ ID because my harvester ant queen is pretty large and I can’t imagine her nor any future majors would be able to pass anything smaller. Although the videos from antscanada show the queens narrowly going through their tubes, most are smaller ants so I figure I should buy larger to be safer but we will see, this is a learning process. I sliced and thawed a frozen strawberry and fed it to both colonies. Neither colony showed interest so I think I should remove it.

 

7/24/19

I browsed around the marketplace and found a large sale of pogonomyrmex californicus. I should be receiving an order by the end of the week. Last night, I went to look for firebrick but all the pottery stores were closed so I found grout as the local home depot. Thinking of building a grout based formicarium. I enjoy these small DIY projects. This morning, I was looking on Thingiverse for 3D printing projects to print ant formicariums. I am going to give that a shot as well since I will be having a lot more colonies soon. I will get photos soon. I bought my wife a Canon DSLR camera with a 55m lens and a 70mm lens so I figure I can get some good close up shots once I figure how to use it.

Edited by Silq, July 24 2019 - 11:51 AM.

[Silq]

7/25/19

Used the 3D printer to print out a small formicarium. Test tube sizes didn’t line up since designer used metric and the US uses imperial. I had to design a simple adapter and I snapped the test tube glass. Luckily, the single escapee returned into the test tube and I notice there are 4 or 5 eggs instead of 2 eggs which meant sometime in the last 3 days, the queen laid a small batch. 

 

7/26/19

Finally my p. Californicus are here. They are quite active compared to the c. semistaceus. I received 23 queens and all of them are trying to rip out the cotton and escape. Kind of crazy because they are making progress so I am actually concerned that they could escape. I am printing out mini formicariums as fast as possible but it might be a while. I got two printed out and they are stacked with the bottom being Colony 2 and the top being one of the newly received californicus. I just ordered a bunch of test tubes so I will be separating them all soon. I mixed honey with water and put it in the small tray and I threw in some wheatgrass seeds because that is the only seeds I had on me. I know they are too big but there are tons of tiny seeds within the test tubes. I finally got pictures from my phone. Here they are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Acutus]

Looks like you're off to a running start! Good luck with everything!

[Silq]

Looks like you're off to a running start! Good luck with everything!

 

Thank you, I have a lot to learn.

 

So I have been trying to read up on P. Californicus and have been getting mixed information. I first heard these queens are pleometrotic so multiple queens will start a colony together then be pushed out or killed once workers spawn which sounds like monogyny. I have spoken to 2 other people who have multiple queens in a large established colony so it sounds like they are polygynous. I am referring to this PSA on terms since this is all new verbiage for me http://www.formicult...y-and-taxonomy/

 

I just got my webcam out that I haven't used in ages, I believe it is a Logitech C920 and recorded a bunch of the queens doing something, I guess eating? A little background, yesterday, I separated majority of the queens to individual test tubes but upon recently hearing from two people that they are polygynous, I decided to connect the test tubes to a larger formicarium I printed. Since I have 23 queens, I figured I would split them into six groups consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 queens. It would be interesting to see if I can learn more about colony development. I used to have red belly piranhas and it was widely observed that shoals (schools) of piranhas are best in odd numbers in captivity. First time messing with the Logitech software so you may notice the colors changing, that was just me tinkering around.

 

Edited by Silq, July 29 2019 - 7:12 PM.

[Silq]

8/02/19 

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

2 or 3 days ago, two queens seemed to have died that were in their own individual test tubes. I had placed 4 queens in 4 test tubes and the rest in groups in other setups. I found 2 of the tubes with a lot of condensation and the queens were upside down not moving so I moved all 4 queens into a formicarium. A few hours later, I found the 2 dead-like queens alive and moving. Last night, I noticed one queen not moving in the 3D printed formicarium. I realized that the queen was stuck in between skinny strings of PLA extrusion which is the plastic material used to print in 3D printers. The strings of PLA were fractions of a millimeter, as thin as spider webs and it looks like the queen got herself entangled and did not survive. I just purchased a cheap USB 'microscope' from Amazon and took a few photos of her. The microscope is just a super macro camera that does not have the ability to manually focus. It is very limited but for how cheap it was, it is fine.

 

This morning I was trying out the new microscope and I spotted eggs! For the first time, they have eggs which took them a whole week. I had placed 9 queens in a test tube formicarium and the majority of the queens just huddled in 1 test tube. I couldn't tell if they had eggs or were chomping down on smashed seeds but now I realized it was both. All the dirt, smashed seeds and commotion made it hard to spot but finally here are some photos.

 

Dead Queen

 

Zoomed in, what is that on the underside of her head?

 

She looks a bit dirty

 

First batch of eggs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camponotus Semitestaceus

Looks like in Colony B, the queen has laid 1 more egg and it is a different color

They are quite skittish

 

You can notice the white eggs with a hint of red in the middle. I had fed them honey-water then red nectar. Recently, I gave them a tiny piece of orange. They are what they eat I guess.

[ponerinecat]

The eggs will all be yellow. The white things are larve, like cattepillars, and are the only stage in development that actually eats, hence the orange. Also, welcom to the hobby!

[Silq]

The eggs will all be yellow. The white things are larve, like cattepillars, and are the only stage in development that actually eats, hence the orange. Also, welcom to the hobby!

Ah gotcha, I did not know that. Good to know they are larvae and growing. I assumed it was just eggs that grew but then again doesn't make sense eggs growing now that I think about it and thank you!

[Straywolf94]

Most pogonomyrmex californicus are monogynous and are sometimes pleometric. Only a few from the SD area have been shown to be polygynous.

Edited by Straywolf94, August 2 2019 - 6:17 PM.

[Silq]

Most pogonomyrmex californicus are monogynous and are sometimes pleometric. Only a few from the SD area have been shown to be polygynous.

I've been following your blog and you had 8 queens in a colony do well and one other person mentioned he had polygynous queens so it sounded like they were but I see some are and some aren't. The seller I believe is in the Temecula area I believe but I don't know exactly where he caught these. I'm hoping these are polygynous or there will be a small war in a few weeks/months.

[Silq]

8/08/19 

I ordered and received two new species in the mail: Veromessor Pergandei & Solenopsis Xyloni on 8/06.

 

 

Solenopsis Xyloni

I got 4 colonies of these and they were a lot smaller than I expected. I knew they were small but didn't realize how small. Good thing is, they have a ton of brood and nanitics already. I'm aware these colonies grow fast due to their size and queen's egg laying abilities. 

 

 

 

 

 

Veromessor Pergandei

So this queen is a beauty

 

 

I saw her munching down on something and it looked like another ant's head but it was just a black seed and the antenna sticking out was her own. I just came home from work a few hours ago and found her upside down dead. RIP Vero, you had a quick journey.

 

The seller was nice enough to offer credit. I was sad at the time and baffled. I grew up with tiny black ants but I think they were pavement ants that I grew up with back in Maryland.

 

 

 

 

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

If you look at my 8/02 post, you see how few eggs they had. This photo was taken a few days ago and they just keep pumping out eggs.

 

 

I have 5 colonies of these guys and I know two of the colonies have produced a lot of eggs. One is in a vertical dirt box setup and they seem to love it as they are pretty hidden and have have dug a complex amount of tunnels but I can't see too much of them, just their legs. They were a colony of 6 and they brought one dead queen up, not sure what happened since you can't see much but the body was intact. 

 

My other colony was plagued with something sticky

 

 

 

As you can see, these two ants are stuck together but luckily my wife has nimble hands and she was able to separate them.

 

 

 

 

Camponotus Semitestaceus

Colony A's queen has laid two eggs and has two nanitics. Colony B has been thriving with multiple eggs, larvae growing fast and 3 nanitics.

 

 

Edited by Silq, August 8 2019 - 10:53 PM.

[Silq]

8/12/19 

I ordered and received two new species in the mail: Crematogaster Sp2 & Tetramorium Immigrans on 8/10. I also met 2 members of this forum at the Pomona (East Los Angeles) Reptile Show. I hung out with OldManTrashCan & Lyaaarone and I picked up some springtails and flightless fruit flies. 

 

 

Crematogaster Sp2

I just got her in, gave her some sugar water and the next day a fruitfly and she devoured it then wrapped her test tube in aluminum foil and placed her in the back of the drawer. She had about 5 eggs and I should see her in about a month.

 

Tetramorium Immigrans

No photos of these guys since they came in a weird situation. Their test tube seemed flooded yet there was no water on the other side of the cotton. I put a new clean test tube with water and put them in a small container so they can move when they want to.

 

Camponotus Semitestaceus

Colony A - Colony A has been plagued with tragedy ever since the beginning. I received them with 4 workers and 1 dead one and possibly body parts of another one. Since then, 1 got smushed in cotton, another got stuck in plastic stringing, and the other drowned in honey recently so we are down to 1 worker. The queen laid about 5 eggs so hopefully a rebound next month. We fed them a fruitfly. 

 

Colony B - This colony started with 3 and have been striving. There is a pupa, few larvae and eggs. They must have killed over 5 fruitflies and started a storage area.

 

Pogonomyrmex Californicus

I was re-doing all the container tops of theirs to install mesh. One queen disappeared out of the 20 so I had to move all my colonies looking for her. She is missing so she is probably good as dead if the cats find her. Since I had to disturb them, I noticed larvae and took a photo. I have put blue painters tape all over their drawers so now no light can enter their space. I do have two colonies on my desk in some experimental vertical setups but the rest in the drawer that is taped away.

 

Vertical setup

 

Egg photo from when the Pogonomyrmex put their eggs against the acrylic wall of the vertical setup

 

Quick snap of some eggs now as larvae.

 

I have sealed the drawer shut that housed the 3 Pogonomyrmex colonies with the most eggs. 

 

Edit: Fixed some sentences that were out of order.

 

 

Edited by Silq, August 13 2019 - 7:32 AM.

[Silq]

8/27/19 

 

 

I went away for work and have been pretty busy lately. I stopped by Lake Tahoe and saw the largest camponotus I have ever seen getting ripped apart by some other ants. It was one of the coolest yet saddest things to see as the rest of the Camponotus's colony was a few meters away.

https://youtu.be/dHjnrZyBZzY

 

I have so many new updates but I am on limited time right now

 

 

Liometopum Occidentale

A member here had to give away his ants so I received a bunch of new queens. This lio had laid so many brood, the pile is larger than she is. 

 

 

I also received Temnothorax, Pheidole, and S. Molesta. I can't even tell what is what. I have a million things going on right now. Here are some photos below. 

 

 

 

 

Veromesser Pergandei

I had previously had one of these queens 2 weeks ago but lasted a day before she was found upside down for unknown reasons. I received another one from the seller. 

 

More updates coming by the end of this week when I have some time.

Edited by Silq, August 28 2019 - 9:27 PM.

[NickAnter]

 

8/27/19 

 

 

I went away for work and have been pretty busy lately. I stopped by Lake Tahoe and saw the largest camponotus I have ever seen getting ripped apart by some other ants. It was one of the coolest yet saddest things to see as the rest of the Camponotus's colony was a few meters away.

https://www.youtube....h?v=dHjnrZyBZzY

 

I have so many new updates but I am on limited time right now

 

 

Liometopum Occidentale

A member here had to give away his ants so I received a bunch of new queens. This lio had laid so many brood, the pile is larger than she is. 

 

 

I also received Temnothorax, Pheidole, and S. Molesta. I can't even tell what is what. I have a million things going on right now. Here are some photos below. 

 

 

 

 

Veromesser Pergandei

I had previously had one of these queens 2 weeks ago but lasted a day before she was found upside down for unknown reasons. I received another one from the seller. 

 

More updates coming by the end of this week when I have some time.

 

The first trio is Temnothorax.  The second test tube of queens is Solenopsis molesta.  The third test tube is Pheidole.

[Silq]

 

 

8/27/19 

 

 

I went away for work and have been pretty busy lately. I stopped by Lake Tahoe and saw the largest camponotus I have ever seen getting ripped apart by some other ants. It was one of the coolest yet saddest things to see as the rest of the Camponotus's colony was a few meters away.

https://www.youtube....h?v=dHjnrZyBZzY

 

I have so many new updates but I am on limited time right now

 

 

More updates coming by the end of this week when I have some time.

 

The first trio is Temnothorax.  The second test tube of queens is Solenopsis molesta.  The third test tube is Pheidole.

 

Didn't realize we were neighbors! I am amazed by people's ability to ID ants. I sometimes take these photos not knowing what I just took a photo of. I was like, am I uploading multiple photos of the same ants. Since the 3 tiny ants I received (Temnothorax, S. Molesta, & Pheidole) all have about 3 queens in each test tube, are they all polygynous? 

[NickAnter]

I am not sure about the polygyny of any of those species.

[ponerinecat]

Those the ants I sent you? They look like they're doing well, the Temnothorax had only eggs when I sent them.

Edited by ponerinecat, August 28 2019 - 3:11 PM.

[Silq]

Those the ants I sent you? They look like they're doing well, the Temnothorax had only eggs when I sent them.

Yes they are. They are all in good shape. I am terrible at identifying, could you identify them by the photos? Also, each test tube has 3 to 4 queens. I am assuming they are polygynous, is that correct?

 

Colony 1.

 

Colony 2.

 

Colony 3.

Edited by Silq, August 28 2019 - 6:25 PM.

[Silq]

8/28/19 

 

 

Camponotus Fragilis

I got this queen last week and she is a beauty. She has a few pupae and eggs. Hopefully by next week she will have her first nanitic.

 

 

Camponotus Semitestaceus

C. Semitestaceus were the first queens/colonies I received when I was getting in this hobby. They are doing very well and one queen has laid may new eggs. The other queen has about 5 pupae ready to pupate any minute but I can't get a good photo of her since the test tube is dirty.

 

 

Camponotus Unidentified

This solo queen I received from Ponerinecat also. It is about the size of a Sansabeanus. It has only 1 larva and no eggs and I was told it has a history of failure. This one has been acting very aggressively like the infertile Sansabeanus I received which unfortunately died of unknown reasons.

 

 

P. Californicus

The first two nanitics have arrived from one colony. They are way ahead of the pack and many are right behind. It was impossible to get a photo of the nanitics as they kept running away. The photos of the orange pupa was the first nanitic. The second one is a cream color.

[ponerinecat]

 

Those the ants I sent you? They look like they're doing well, the Temnothorax had only eggs when I sent them.

Yes they are. They are all in good shape. I am terrible at identifying, could you identify them by the photos? Also, each test tube has 3 to 4 queens. I am assuming they are polygynous, is that correct?

 

Colony 1.

 

Colony 2.

 

Colony 3.

 

The pheidole are all monogynous in the wild, I was surprised the stuck together. You can separate them if any aggression is shown. Solenopsis should be fine, but I had some weird queens who would aggressively chase down others. It should just be a subspecies or behavioral variant, though. Temnothorax should also be fine, and that larvae is pupating, you'll get workers soon. Looking great, wish I could raise them. I don't know species except for the solenopsis being molesta, but the top is Temnothorax, middle pheidole, bottom S. molesta. Do the solenopsis have eggs?

[ponerinecat]

Also, the pheidole don't eat sugary liquids, which includes honey.