1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

released the queen I found yesterday - too small and too weird to look after

[Karma]

released the queen I found yesterday - too small and too weird to look after

  too weird? hahaha

[CoolColJ]

18th May 2018
 
Melophorus sp.- red black 6-7mm queen
 
Oh man, it looks like that smaller larvae/cocoon has died, I see it's skin on a big pile in the middle of the test tube on what looks like a big chunk of moldy cotton.
Maybe the mold killed it and the ants started to pull some of the cotton off.
They have partially covered it with dirt as well

So that leaves one big larvae, possible major, no eggs, 1 nanitic and one regular worker
And I suspect the last nanitic will die within 2 weeks.

Please queen start laying eggs!

Their cotton is getting really moldy, and the glass near it fuzzy, sigh.
Maybe time to move them into the Atom C nest, but it's a bit too big for them...
Then again the Strobe ants did fine in it

Edited by CoolColJ, May 17 2018 - 8:46 PM.

[CoolColJ]

released the queen I found yesterday - too small and too weird to look after

  too weird? hahaha

Well I think this one has specific needs from what I've been reading.
And so not worth the time with her being so small, and only ever going to have a small colony

[CoolColJ]

The brick "queen ant trap" that has been netting me queens from my backyard
 

 

[CoolColJ]

Colony update - 19th May 2018
 

Melophorus sp.- red black 6-7mm queen
 
No eggs
Smaller larvae died and they disposed of it. Larger major looking one is still OK for now, but it's into week 5 now, and still no cocoon.
They are down to one nanitic, which may die at any moment and one regular minor worker, which should live for at last another 1-2 years

I removed the lump of moldy stuff in the test tube, it appeared to be a piece of raw nut that was placed next to the moldy cotton, and so got mold on it...

I guess I will just try and disturb them as little as possible and hope things return to how it was at the start where the queen was laying 2 eggs every 4 days!


Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen

No eggs. 5 workers
They moved right next to the water mesh of the acrylic nest

click for larger


Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen
 
5 nanitics
They have been shifting the brood to the left side of the nest for some reason
Other than that, everything is on autopilot.
They don't seem to eat much, I saw a worker sipping the raw honey a few days ago, but since then none.
They don't even touch the raw nuts or baby cricket.

Two guards are posted at the nest entrance now
 
 
Camponotus humilior
 
4 nanitics
Arghh, queen ate another egg, so back down to a single egg after she laid 3 in the last month.
I think me shining the LED lit magnifier against the red/transparent test tube rack bothers them too much.
So I just took their test tube out, and Blu tacked it next to my Pheidole one.
At least this way their environment is constant, they will get used to the light.
Seems like it so far, and I get to keep an eye on them....

One good thing about this colony, is that they put all the garbage next to the entrance or on the foil, so I can clean it
So their cotton is rather clean as a result.

 
Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm
 
8 nanitics, and I can see one pupa almost ready to eclose today or tommorrow.
This colony is gearing up fast, especially considering it is almost winter now.
 
Not only a lot of larvae, but queen has been laying eggs as well

 
Pheidole sp, all black  7mm
 
Up to 2 nanitics, and one brown pupa, which should eclose this week.
 
You can see how they like it dry, brood wise, but they are also lining larvae on the ceiling away from the rest

 
nanitic finally disposed of the queen leg that was on the ceiling from the queen that I moved out, that died.

Edited by CoolColJ, May 18 2018 - 10:35 PM.

[CoolColJ]

19th May 2018 - Queen update


Banished Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm

Whoop! The banished queen from the dual queen setup, laid 3 eggs of her own this week!

click to enlarge



Pheidole sp. red 7mm

So after 6 weeks of no eggs, she laid last week. And I can confirm she has 7 eggs, but she hasn't laid anymore since then, so this may stay the course till nanitics.
Not too fertile genetics I guess



 
Iridomyrmex sp. 7-8mm
 
Into week 7, some large size larvae now.
Much slower than I expected, looking like another month till nanitics maybe.
I thought she would take a month+ for nanitics.



 
2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8mm
 
Much the same as last week
 
 
3x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8-9mm
 
Most of the eggs have finally hatched into small larvae


  
 
Camponotus consobrinus 16-17mm
 
No eggs

Pheidole sp, light red head, dark red body, 6-7mm
 
Queen 1 - no eggs
Queen 2 - no eggs

Edited by CoolColJ, May 18 2018 - 10:14 PM.

[YsTheAnt]

I would put the tube or formicarium of the melophorus in or attached to an outworld, and cover the nest up so it's completely dark. Feed them consistently and leave them be for a few weeks, check maybe 1 time per week if you want to be careful. This might help them become more settled in, and kick them into egg production.

Also, you might want to consider adding some substrate to they're nests. It helps with some very sensitive species. Keep up the great work, I enjoy reading your journal!

[CoolColJ]

I would put the tube or formicarium of the melophorus in or attached to an outworld, and cover the nest up so it's completely dark. Feed them consistently and leave them be for a few weeks, check maybe 1 time per week if you want to be careful. This might help them become more settled in, and kick them into egg production.

Also, you might want to consider adding some substrate to they're nests. It helps with some very sensitive species. Keep up the great work, I enjoy reading your journal!

Their test tube is directly connected to an outworld with red dirt.
The workers have carted in a lot of red dirt into the tube, mostly to block the entrance off.
But they rarely forage, and rarely drink from the honey I have outside.
I had been dropping food inside, which tends to freak them out a bit, so I should stop that.

Pic from a few months back, right now the tube is covered in red cellophane, and there is a cotton wool half blocking the entrance

Edited by CoolColJ, May 18 2018 - 10:32 PM.

[CoolColJ]

What the hell.....my humilior queen laid 3 eggs in the last 3 weeks, then two eggs disappeared over the course of that time.
I thought the queen was eating them. Well i just saw 3 workers sharing the last egg between themselves....!
When they were almost done the queen came over to take a look, but did nothing.
I've been feeding them as well!

click for larger 

 
yummy

 
this tastes good

 
Queen, you get left overs

[AntsNewZealand]

One thing about amblyopone is that it takes about 8 months from egg to worker

[CoolColJ]

One thing about amblyopone is that it takes about 8 months from egg to worker

 

 

Yeah, I decided to nope out of that idea

[CoolColJ]

I may release my Camponotus humilior colony.
 
I did sell my first one of these because they were just annoying to raise, very timid and plain boring for my style.
They are quite small for a Camponotus, 10mm queen
 
This other colony I have doesn't change my opinion.
Although I see others with nice queens that lay a lot of eggs and have big brood.
They do have very fast growth times for a Camponotus, 1 month or so from egg to worker in my last colony.
 
Like this guy who only feed his honey one week and then protein the next, so each on 2 week cycles, which does not look like the frequency is high enough, but ants store their food, and his results can't be argued
The very first colony

Edited by CoolColJ, May 20 2018 - 3:54 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Might have some Camponotus suffusus coming this week.
 
Large ants. Queen is at least 18mm, majors have large heads.
So slightly bigger than my consobrinus queen
Gold/yellow gasters, with dark purple heads in sunlight. Queen is all black though
 
They kinda look like a larger version of the Camponotus aeneopilosus I had earlier in this journal, when indoors
 
major

 

Edited by CoolColJ, May 20 2018 - 2:37 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen - 20th may 2018
 
They moved their brood from the right side of the nest to the other side, last night for some reason.
And today was the first time, since the queen used to do it, they spread the brood out onto the nest water tower mesh.
 
It finally allowed me to get an idea of brood count
A lot more than I expected, and in all stages, so queen has been laying regularly.
 
3 cocoons, less than I thought. There is one cocoon with black eyes now, so maybe a week or two off eclosing.
I think these are the last of the nanitic batch
 
7 large larvae, second gen workers for sure. A lot more than I expected
A few smaller larvae.
And a clump of at least 5 eggs.
 
They don't eat much, but the queen has a bloated gaster so the few times I have seen a worker at the raw honey dish is keeping her topped up.
Like once a week if that.
And they have only eaten one baby cricket a couple of weeks ago, and nibble some raw nuts once in a while.
 
 
click for larger
 

 

Edited by CoolColJ, May 19 2018 - 10:14 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Pic of Camponotus suffusus I found, hmm the queen is not as black as I thought, at least under bright light.
Although it could be a colour variant

Edited by CoolColJ, May 20 2018 - 3:32 AM.

[KBant]

Man if I found one of those suffuses when I was in Sydney it could have someway found it’s way in my luggage.

[CoolColJ]

These are pics of a suffusus queen and her nanitic which made me think they are all black, but if you closely you can see a dark red tinge.
Just needs a bright light to bring it out.
And that worker is big for a nanitic, around 7-8mm, I can expect the second gen minor workers to be around 9-10mm.
And nanitics sometimes lack the colour of the regular workers

Anyway my ants will be here tomorrow hopefully, along with the Polyrhachis rufifemur - gold bum ants galore



Some of their nests in the wild

This is a colour variant, instead of purple heads they have redd'ish legs, but majors have the same large heads

Majors are around 14-15mm from what I read.

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis, never seen these ones

Edited by CoolColJ, May 21 2018 - 3:18 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Most Camponotus consobrinus look like these, and the queen is closer to 15mm

 

 

The only pic of my queen, currently eggless, but she is waiting till spring to lay eggs most likely.

I need to shoot a better one, but she is 16-17mm, and mostly black.

Only the orange band on the gaster makes her a consobrinus

 

I think her workers will look like these, which look better to me, and a rarer colour pattern

(credit - Brendan Cameron)

 

 

Edited by CoolColJ, May 21 2018 - 3:52 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Got the Camponotus suffusus today

 

Camponotus suffusus vs black consobrinus size

I have a black consobrinus, currently eggless, who I feel is on the top end of the size range for her species, 16-17mm.

And the suffusus, is a little longer, but quite a lot thicker.

Hopefully the pics will convey this, but 2D doesn't quite translate the 3D image I'm seeing.

 

click to enlarge

 

Just the queen, some brood and two nanitic workers

 

Also these suffusus workers are quite a bit more energetic and feisty compared to most Camponotus I have seen, apart from aeneopilosus . Actually they are kinda like a larger version of aeneopilosus in both appearance and manner.

I put a foil of honey inside the test tube, and one of the two workers pushed it onto the vinyl tubing section attaching another test tube
Then she sucked on it for ages.

This suffusus queen doesn't seem to have the an obvious of a dark red tinge in her head/torso than pics of others I have seen. It could be colour variation.

The workers look the same as others I have seen though.
pretty big for a nanitic as well, 7-8mm

 

Some quick pics. The test tube is fiflty, so I'll try and get better pics later on

Finally a Camponotus worker that doesn't have that delicate wispy look

 

Angry looking queen

 

quick and blurry video...

Note the puppy dog pounce of the worker - they are full of pep [ ]

 

I attached a 20mm test tube via small section of 16mm vinyl tubing to the 15mm test they are in, the queen can turn around in this somehow.

I dropped in a semi crushed small wood roach and the queen attacked and munched on it. Looks like she will actually finish it all

 

While the queen was busy, the workers were hanging out in the vinyl tubing segment.

And while I wasn't looking moved all the brood there...

I can see 6 larvae, 2 of which are quite large. 1 egg I saw the worker hold, may be more.

 

edit - and now the queen moved a larvae back ... and worker tried to move the wood roach, but the queen stopped her and grabbed it back. Then the worker grabbed the larvae and moved it back to the tubing

repeat this a few times. It seems one of the workers is clutching a larvae or egg and can't decide if it should put it into the new test tube or not

Edited by CoolColJ, May 22 2018 - 4:50 AM.