1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Really strange -

One of the workers dragged the dead queen from the left side to right of the Atom C interior over a period of an hour.

Then while I wasn't looking, got it outside the nest.
When I finally noticed, he was drgaging her around the radius of the Atom C exterior top, with a few drops, and breaks, but keep going around!
He did stop and went inside, but came back out to the body and resumed....

I saw a video of another colony with a dead queen, on Youtube where they did the same thing to the queen's body.

If the body remains outside, and the worker no longer does this carrying thing, I might feed it to the other Camponotus colony #nowaste    
I wish I knew the cause of death... I mean the workers are fine, so it can't be due the the Atom C smell



---

 

Edited by CoolColJ, March 10 2018 - 5:53 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Well I guess that's it for the Aeneopilosus family.

There are 2 workers and some 10 eggs in a clustered ball, which the smaller of the 2 workers is always looking over.

Which may or may not turn into more workers in the future.

And the current 2 will most likely die in a month or so, but they are still carrying on with their lives without much future purpose

 

So I may "donate" the brood to the Humilior family when they get larger

 

The Humilior ants didn't seem interested in the queen body, so for now I have it in a plastic vial.

Even the wild Pheidole colonies didn't care for it.

 

----

 

On a brighter note -

 

I spotted a 1cm baby cockroach on the toilet wall at work, and I thought "ant food"

I keep 3 plastic vials in my car, just in case, for capturing queens.

So I used one to hold the cockroach, after capturing it with some tissue paper, till I got home.

 

It's a bit injured, so I didn't expect it to move when I put it in front of the Humilior nest, but it did eventually stumble inside.

 

The ants didn't notice it for a while, until it got closer.

Then the workers freaked out, and the queen got aggro'ed, bent her gastor forward under her and sprayed fomic acid, I think

 

Well that hit the cockroach hard, and it stumbled out and landed on it's back, but it's still alive and has upright itself.

I should have video'ed it, brain fart moment.

 

Anyway I don't think these ants will eat it.

The workers are too scared to approach it. they will timidly creep towards it and then jerk back in fear

 

If it was meat ants (Iridomyrmex purpureus), it'd be dead by now....

 

edit - killed the cockroach, and put it back in, the queen still took a few dozen jabs at it, before they decided it was dead enough

The workers are still jumpy around it though, and won't come near it

Queen dragged it out toward the entrance, but later pulled it back, and is now munching on it.

So much for workers doing the work and feeding the queen

Edited by CoolColJ, March 6 2018 - 9:31 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Humilior Workers not working...

that larvae is getting quite big

 

 

 

Edited by CoolColJ, March 5 2018 - 7:36 PM.

[CoolColJ]

The Queen was munching on the roach for a bit of the day and then dragged it out back to the nest entrance.

I thought that was it.

 

Then they dragged it back in and had more munching, and now some of the workers joined in.

They are still going at it, the next day, and will likely last them the whole week.

 

I noticed some roach legs on the cotton wool.

They also moved the larvae away from the cotton wool and put them straight on the test tube floor and are feeding them continuously.

I think there are 3 big larvae now and a bunch of eggs that must have been laid recently

 

---

 

Been thinking of getting some  Melophorus ants, aka Furnace ants.

They look interesting, with majors as well - cute heads and eyes

Almost Pheidole type difference between minor and majors (10mm in the larger species)

They love heat and move really fast when it's hot

 

Edited by CoolColJ, March 10 2018 - 3:03 PM.

[CoolColJ]

I've applied and reapplied Fluon on this outworld, and this stubborn Camponotus Aeneopilosus worker just walks right through it!

 

She will sometimes slip on some patches but for the most part, she just works her way around and can straight climb out of the outworld through it!

So I've had to keep it shut all the time now

 

Pure or diluted, it doesn't matter, I've tried it all

Only thing I think that can stop her is an upside down lip with fluon

 

--

 

While the Humilor workers don't even attempt to try and climb the walls

 

---

 

captured one of these workers - apparently some type of Aphaenogaster

At the start of a bush trail down from my house

 

 

 

I put it into Aeneopilosus outworld and it settled on the cotton wool of my water feed test tube.... that's probably more water than she has seen in a while

While my 2 queenless Camponotus Aeneopilosus workers and brood, are in the Atom C, unaware.

 

I moved her around with these Featherweight Entomology Forceps I got from Ebay, and she appears to be unhurt from them.

Holding and applying pressure right at the back end, so only minimal pressure on the ant

I'll be using them to handle and move ants from now on

 

https://www.ebay.com...5?ul_noapp=true

Edited by CoolColJ, March 8 2018 - 5:09 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Monday 12th March 2018
 
Man these Opisthopsis Rufithorax brood grow slow, they look barely any different from the start of the journal, about 3 weeks
But she hasn't died from the AtomC fumes, and seems happy enough despite my frequent looks at her, and the nest is not totally dark.
She still takes frequent trips around the nest, looking through the glass top.
 
I see she as laid maybe 3 new eggs?!
And one larvae is quite a bit bigger than the rest and has a different surface appearance
 
click for larger pics

 

 
 
 
 
 
While the Humilior brood have gone from just about eggs to worker sized larvae, in that time, well 2 of them anyway
One of them looks like almost pupae stage, well they have been well fed recently
I can't tell if she has laid any new eggs, since the workers are always in the way, but there maybe at least 2 eggy small larve things
Still with the 4 timid workers, who don't forage much or leave the nest at all, I think.
 




edit -
 
The 2 queenless Aeneopilosus are still chugging along and quite content, I saw one of them feed from the raw honey dish.
And feed the other, which tends a bunch of eggs, which don't look to have progressed much.
I figure they won't need any protein at this stage.
 
That Aphaenogaster worker I put into their outworld was living quite happily in the water feeder test tube, and sipping the raw honey as well
It moves real slow and did explore into the Atom C, but never got close enough to the 2 workers to freak them out.
I released it into the wild today.
 
I put in a half injured Pheidole major and a dead spider a few days back and that freaked them out.
Even when the Pheidole major was dead, one of them would take flaying jabs at it when they came near and spray fomic acid.
And toss the body around while doing so

Edited by CoolColJ, March 11 2018 - 5:50 PM.

[FeedTheAnts]

That queen in the top pics is so pretty. Love your journal, keep it up.

Edited by TennesseeAnts, March 11 2018 - 4:29 PM.

[CoolColJ]

That queen in the top pics is so pretty. Love your journal, keep it up.

 
thanks
Indeed she is, my fav so far
 
But I do have a Melophorus SP. queen that may rival her in chubby cuteness
And they move just as fast if not faster

Edited by CoolColJ, March 11 2018 - 4:46 PM.

[CoolColJ]

So there was this bird dropping on my backyard loose brick pavement

On closer inspection, there were a bunch black Pheidole workers on it, and then further away I spotted 3 black/red head majors as well.

From the bigger of the 2 species of Pheidole in my backyard, but the more passive of the two

 

But the trail of ants led to a new nest I hadn't known of till now!

The entrance was inbeween two bricks.

I pulled the brick out and spotted some fairly large larvae (plus a few winged males)

Ran back into the house and grabbed some vials and my featherweight forceps.

I took 4 of the larvae.

 

I popped two of them into the Humilior nest.

Didn't know what to expect - part of me was wanting them to raise the larvae up before killing it for food.

But the workers freaked out, and the queen started to spray some fomic acid on them and gran them with her jaws.

She moved them around, but eventually dragged the larvae out toward the nest entrance.

Later on a few workers timidly approached, lunged attacked. and squirted more fomic acid.

 

Well they may drag them back for food later tonight.

I also left them a small black ant worker I found in the bathroom earlier.

 

Their cotton is starting to turn a bit yellow on one side, mold/bacteria setting in already?!

Damn, I just changed their tube a few weeks ago...

 

Also gave one of those small black ant workers to the Aeneopilosus nest and they also freaked out...

The body is still there, which they may feed to the brood later on, which seems to be moving out of the egg stage and into small larvae from what I can see.

 

 

------

 

edit - yesterday after some rain, I was turning over some stones and loose bricks in my backyard, and found a small worm.

I chopped a bit of it's tail off, for possible ant food. Knowing the worm will grow back the tail, at least that's what I remember from science classes

 

Then when I went to rinse the piece of worm, held with my feathweight forceps, the water washed it down into the drainage hole, never to be seen again.... DOH!

Edited by CoolColJ, March 14 2018 - 1:50 AM.

[CoolColJ]

So last night...

 

It was pretty amusing seeing one of the Humilior workers looking at the 2 Pheidole larvae (not sure if they are still alive), then grabbing one, moving to the brood, and then hesitate, turn around and put the it back down, stare, and repeat for 30mins..

While the queen looked on wanting to grab one, and thinking WTF are you doing

 

A bit later when I looked, one of the larvae had disappeared, so I'm guessing they ate it.

And the queen was chomping on the other larger one - I think

While some of the workers were nibbling on the small black ant worker I dropped in earlier.

 

The queen still has that larvae this morning, so I'm not even sure if she is actually eating it or feeding it...

 

----

 

Still have 2 more Pheidole larvae in a vial with a wet cotton, keeping them for my Melophorus Sp. queen I'm getting today

[CoolColJ]

Sigh the one that got away...
 
Was out in the backyard munching and checking up on my backyard Pheidole colonies, I usually carrying 2 vials and my featherwight forceps on me,
for just in case moments to grab ant food etc, but not on this occasion.... 

All of a sudden a big fat gaster black ant came rushing out on the brick pavement, and I had a feeling it might be a wingless queen, so i chased it a bit, and got it running on my hands...
but DOH I don't have anything to contain her... I let her down and she ran into the short grass, and just disappeared!
 
I went back to my car to grab one of the vials I keep there, and just about dug up the whole area where I last saw her and nothing
I still don't understand how an ant that big could just disappear!
And that whole area is crawling with Pheidole nests, black crazy ant trails and other red/black ants, so I don't think she would have made a founding chamber in that grass or survived for long.
LOL, I sat there for 30mins just looking for any sign of her.
 
In hindsight I should have just cupped her in one hand and went to the car for a vial
 
 
She looked at least 10mm, so I thought maybe a Camponotus, but it's daytime, and she doesn't sting, spray fomic acid nor bite when she was on my hands.
Maybe an Iridomyrmex queen, they did look like they were flying a few days ago based on the nest activity in my front yard
 

 
she looked a lot like this, but more slender with a plump gaster

Edited by CoolColJ, March 14 2018 - 6:01 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Well today I let my remaining two Aeneopilosus go into the wild, seems a bit cruel, but I need the space and outworld
They took a few eggs/small larvae with them, a few remained, which I gave to the ants below, but they seem scared of them...
 
 
15th March 2018
 
Got some Melophorus Sp. ants!
This species is a lot smaller than I expected. I know there is one that is quite a bit bigger than the rest, I'm not sure the one I have is one of those
The queen on the left is supposed to be the bigger one - which do you think I have?

 
Queen is about 8mm, workers 3mm and tiny.
There is one worker that is a bit bigger, maybe 5-6mm, not sure if it's a non-nanitic worker or a major.
There are only 4 workers total, so I didn't think they would birth a major so early, but it does have a different shaped head
Currently one larvae, and maybe some eggs
 
At first the queen was freaking out and trying to run up the ceiling of the test tube, reach the top and fall down, she kept doing this over and over at the exit of the test tube.
Then one of the workers came and grabbed her, dragging her back to the cotton wool side
 
These ants seem have problems running on the glass.
Hopefully they find the blue sugar water soaked cotton bud head I left on a dish outside the test tube opening.
The test tube is huge for them.. so I'm worried, as they never seem to go all the way to the opening
 
click to enlarge

 

 
 
Bigger worker vs smaller - major, or nanitic vs normal worker?

Edited by CoolColJ, March 17 2018 - 12:53 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Some vids on how Melophorus Sp. ants act in the wild - cute zippy critters!
They are actually bigger than my current workers, so I guess it's probably a nanitic thing

https://www.facebook...6551559915/?t=8

Watching one of them carry the other to the top right at the start is amusing
https://www.instagra...gged=melophorus

Edited by CoolColJ, March 17 2018 - 12:54 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Melophorus Sp.

 

Gave them some raw honey, and sugar water, they ignored both so far

 

But the small piece of raw almond I left on the end of the test tube, they dragged to the other end

And I can see two workers munching on it now

 

Interesting

 

 

edit  - Well it looks like a worker put the larvae on the small piece of almond and it's eating it

Now queen is also eating it

They are quite a bit like Pheidole

Edited by CoolColJ, March 15 2018 - 8:11 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Three-some Melophorus Sp. Queen, worker and larvae enjoying a small piece of raw almond

 

 

Edited by CoolColJ, March 15 2018 - 9:07 PM.

[CoolColJ]

17th March 2018 - Camponotus Humilior

 

Humilior family may have 2 full cocoons, not 100% sure, but at least one is a cocoon near "hatching" time.

The other looks to be a pupa in the process of cocooning.

Maybe 2 smaller larvae, 1-2 eggs and possibly some more eggs on the cotton - I see something shiny there and organic, but hard to tell

And one of the workers seem to be attending them.

 

Looks like about a month to go from egg to cocoon for them, but it's still fairly warm right now, over 30 degrees Celsius today.

Winter will be in a few months time.

 

They moved one of two the Pheidole larvae I left on the foil in their test tube, and dumped it on the sugar water cotton bud head at the test tube entrance, and it doesn't look like they ate it.

I guess they're treating it as rubbish. Strange, they ate the first two I gave them....

 

Been thinking about selling them, so they may not be here by the end of next week.

 

click to enlarge

 

 

 

Melophorus Sp.

 

Man they love that piece of almond I gave them yesterday, there is always one worker or the queen on it.

Or they put it against the larvae to feed it.

I can see it getting smaller, but it sure takes them a while to whittle it down.

 

When they're not on it, they drag and drop it near the test tube entrance.

And drag it back when someone gets hungry.

 

These ants are by far the most active ants I've had, and the workers are so curious, even the queen will rush to the test tube entrance and check things out

Edited by CoolColJ, March 17 2018 - 12:38 AM.

[Jadeninja9]

Man your colonies are lookin nice

[CoolColJ]

Man your colonies are lookin nice

 

They are doing OK, but I wish they had as much brood as yours

And one queen died....the Camponotus Aeneopilosus

Edited by CoolColJ, March 17 2018 - 12:36 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Looks like I have a buyer for the Camponotus Humilior coming over today

 

The current test tube is looking a tad yellowish on the cotton wool side, so I decided to move them to a new one

 

 

easiest moving method yet -

 

I blu tacked the fresh tube on the current one, leaving a tiny gap for air, put the good side in a pipe insulation foam to make it dark, stuck the other side in direct sunlight on my bed.

Boom, they moved within a few mins, in fact the the lead worker and queen moved to the other side pretty much at the same time carrying one cocoon.

And then the worker came back and got everyone else to move.

And they actually moved all the way to the other water side cotton

 

No fuss!

 

I'll leave the two tubes attached for a bit just in case they left anything behind, because the workers are coming back to check.

One worker keeps digging around the bottom of the old tube, not sure what he is doing.....

 

This allowed me to take a good look at the old tube, and I see the ants actually removed some of the rubbish and molded cotton wool and placed them near the entrance.

And some of the water side cotton has changed dark yellow, same for the water vs the fresh water.

 

And I see 2 cocoons, 1 larvae and a small clump of eggs

Edited by CoolColJ, March 17 2018 - 4:00 PM.

[CoolColJ]

The buyer may or may not come today - so these are either farewell shots or a better look at the Humilior brood

 

click to enlarge

 

Edited by CoolColJ, March 17 2018 - 5:18 PM.