1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Polyrhachis rufifemur queen is super bloated but she's still munching on a baby wood roach

 

click to enlarge

 

Edited by CoolColJ, January 23 2019 - 5:44 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Already sold em, but here is a pic of the Meat ants feeding strips of roast chicken they shredded up to the larvae

 

click to enlarge

 

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis queen 2's super bloated nanitic worker

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum 14mm queen 3
20mm test tube with coco coir, styrofoam double chamber entrance - heat cable
- moved all the coco coir against the cotton dam, wicking the water into it
4+ nanitic majors of different sizes, 20 nanitics, lots of brood
 
More nanitics eclose, including at least 2 larger majors.
These newer majors look different from the first one, so likely a different caste
Different structure, with larger head, thicker body and muscular bulges on legs!

I captured newly eclosed worker cleaning the queens face




More mini majors have eclosed, they appear to be all different sizes so.
Funny seeing these larger head workers nursing the brood and eclosing others.
They also have Podomyrma muscle bulges on their legs.
Test tube is horrible for macro pics and videos, it seems to have ripples on it... so much for cheap test tubes...

click to enlarge


check the bulgey mini major under the queen - beef cake
little worker giving the queen a facial massage



muscular mini majors of different sizes, check the Podomyrma leg bulges of the newer and larger mini majors
A minor worker rides the first smaller mini major and gives her a clean on the right

Edited by CoolColJ, January 23 2019 - 6:13 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 24th January 2019

quick check on some ants in my incubator

Camponotus cf nigriceps 19mm queen 1
20mm test tube, in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1 cocoon, 2 eggs

Woohoo she laid some more eggs!
There is hope for her yet.


Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 9
All setups have a styro foam double chamber entrance

in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1) Dual queen - red dirt - cleared all the red dirt and heaped up it into a low wall at the middle of the test tube
1 nanitic - huge stack of eggs, larvae and some pupa
2) Dual queen - cardboard insert and aquarium filter wool water dam
big stack of eggs
4) Queen with red dirt - moved the red dirt to block up the double chamber entrance
small clump of 15+ eggs
6) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of queen 5
big stack of brood, some pupa, one yellow one
7) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of setup 2
big clump of eggs

Heat cable
3) Queen with coco coir - moved all the coco coir against the cotton dam, wicking the water into it
big stack of brood - 20 nanitics, 4+ mini majors
5) Queen - bare test tube
6 nanitics - huge stack of brood

Woah queen5 has 6 nanitics, that eclosed this week!
She laid her first 3 eggs on the 12th December 2018, so that's about 6 weeks.
Moved them out of the incubator and onto a heat cable outside, which is run from the same thermostat as the incubator.
Put in a dish of raw honey comb, and gave them the back half of a small cricket.
Queen went straight to it and is munching on it

Dual queen setup1, has 3 more nanitics, 4 total now.

Queen6, former partner of queen5, has some pupa, and one yellow one, so she should have her first nanitic by the weekend.

No change in the other queens

click to enlarge - queen 5 and dual queen setup 1


cleaner better quality test tubes = much clearer pics!
queen 5 and her 8 nanitics. Small and larger minor workers

[CoolColJ]

Summer 25th January 2019

 

Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 nanitic - 1 cocoon, 1 large, 1 medium, 5 small larvae, 2 eggs

 

Woohoo, that large large has cocooned overnight!

 

This larvae was a small one in a pic I posted some 11 weeks ago.

I did not know that these had a brood time closer to 4 months, heated....

Let's see how long it takes for this cocoon to eclose...

 

this cocoon was one of these eggs back on 14th October last year... so 14 weeks

[CoolColJ]

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17mm queen 2
20mm Test tube - heat cable
7 nanitics - 6 cocoons, 1 large, 1 medium, 10+ small larvae/eggs
 
2 cocoons with a dark ant underneath looking ready to eclose soon.
One looks larger than the other, possibly a medial worker or just a regular sized minor worker.
There is also one really light, cream coloured cocoon, that has been like that for a while.
Much lighter than the other ones, and I don't think it will darken as much as the others.

1 large larvae looking ready to cocoon soon, plus a bunch medium and small larvae.
So they have nice production line going now.
Should be able to get to 20+ workers before winter hits.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 26th January 2019


Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 9
All setups have a styro foam double chamber entrance

in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1) Dual queen - red dirt - cleared all the red dirt and heaped up it into a low wall at the middle of the test tube
4 nanitics - huge stack of eggs, larvae and some pupa
2) Dual queen - cardboard insert and aquarium filter wool water dam
big stack of eggs
4) Queen with red dirt - moved the red dirt to block up the double chamber entrance
small clump of 15+ eggs, 15 donated brood from queen 5 - mostly pupa
6) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of queen 5
big stack of brood, some pupa, one yellow one
7) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of setup 2
big clump of eggs

Heat cable
3) Queen with coco coir - moved all the coco coir against the cotton dam, wicking the water into it
big stack of brood - 20 nanitics, 4+ mini majors
5) Queen - bare test tube
8+ nanitics - huge stack of brood

I donated some of the brood from queen 5, mixture of larvae and pupa, to queen 4.
The one who only has 15+ eggs that haven't hatched yet.
The lowest brood count of the lot, and she laid pretty early. Hopefully this will get her going, when the workers eclose.
About 15 brood and a few eggs, most of them pupa.. which was a [censored] getting them in there, had to use a single bristle poking out of a small brush to stick the brood onto!
The queen, suprisingly did not freak out from the intrusion
She's cleaning the donated brood now. She has motherly instincts, and her own eggs are neatly clumped together, so is probably not infertile.
Don't understand why her eggs take so long to develop though...
She's one of the prettier ones, with the lighter brown, striped orange gaster.

I was watching my queen 5 last night, carrying and dumping the cricket bit I gave them yesterday.
Their test tube has a styrforam chamber entrance. And she gingerly climbed it and put it there.
Then I saw her cart the little pieces of debris she created from munching on earlier, one by one to the same area, While her nanitics watched
This morning it's all in the front part of the honey dish, and not a trace of any rubbish in the nest

[CoolColJ]

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17mm queen 2
20mm Test tube - heat cable
8 nanitics - 5 cocoons, 1 large, 1 medium, 10+ small larvae/eggs
 
Another worker has eclosed.
I was watching the queen work on the cocoon, late last night at first.
She got the top open a bit, and then a worker joined in.
Then the queen stopped and 2 more workers helped out
The ants sure eclose quite dark already. This one is still around 9mm so still a smaller nanitic.

Next one should eclose soon.
The largest larvae is looking ready to spin soon.


Melophorus sp.- red black 6-7mm queen
refillable gypsum plugged test tube connected to outworld - heatcable
1 Major, 3 minor workers - 2 cocoons, 1 small larvae, 6+ eggs?

Another cocoon spun yesterday. Same medium sized one as the other.
So production is speeding up.

[CoolColJ]

Got a winged Anonychomyrma alate fly onto my computer screen just then in my room.... 10:20pm.... So they must be flying.....
Put her into a test tube for now...

 

But my windows have been shut all day, with the aircon on... Where did this lady come from!?

 

Same species as this, not my pic

 

Edited by CoolColJ, January 26 2019 - 3:29 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 27th November 2018
 
I put the Anonychomyrma I found last night, briefly into my strobe ant outworld, and she wanted to fly.
So I figured she hasn't mated so I released her.
Still puzzled how she got into the house...
 
 
Camponotus consobrinus queen that ate all her eggs is still eggless, as is C.nigriceps queen 2.
So I decided to release them both.
Dug a little claustral chambers under stone slabs and released both into them.
Would be cool to have colonies of both side by inside in my yard
 
Meanwhile Camponotus cf nigriceps queen 1 laid 8 more eggs to compliment her single cocoon.
I haven't seen her in a while, and she is a pretty one, her gaster is so light it makes her look like a Camponotus eastwoodi
Nigriceps normally have a dark/black gaster.
 
click to enlarge - note the dent in her mouth area in the second pic. Pics of nigriceps I have seen do not have this dent so maybe she is something else.....

 

 

Edited by CoolColJ, January 27 2019 - 10:38 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Colony update - Summer 27th January 2019

Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen
Atom C nest inside circular outworld - tip of heat cable pressed against side of nest
50 workers, 10+ cocoons, tons of brood

I reckon they are around 50 workers now.
Brood pile just keeps looking big, but I haven't done a recent count yet.


Melophorus sp.- red black 6-7mm queen
refillable gypsum plugged test tube connected to outworld - heatcable
1 Major, 3 minor workers - 2 cocoons, 1 small larvae, 6+ eggs?


Melophorus sp.- black orange 7-8mm queen
Acrylic founding nest - heatcable
5 workers, brood?

I can't tell if they have any brood
Not too interested in food lately
They don't provide me with much excitement, I am getting closer to moving these girls back into a test tube and selling them...


Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube - heat cable
1 nanitic - 1 cocoon, 1 large, 1 medium, 5 small larvae, 2 eggs

Second large larvae getting close to cocooning size.


Pheidole Colony H - Pheidole sp, light red head, dark red body, 6-7mm
16mm test tube, styro foam chamber entrance - heatcable
11 workers, small clump of brood

up 1 worker. Progress is so slow.
I may release them soon.


Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen 1
20mm Test tube - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
3 nanitics, 4 cocoons, 2 large, 1 medium, 4 small larvae, 6 eggs - raw honey dish

Third nanitic eclosed! This is the last of the 3 donated brood.
So the rest is all hers.

click



Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17mm queen 2
20mm Test tube - heat cable
9 workers - 4 cocoons, 2 large, 1 medium, 10+ small larvae/eggs

9th worker eclosed last night.
This one is a little larger, which I did not expect, as she was not fed with food.
So probably not full size yet.

The light cocoon has remained cream coloured, compared to the other dark brown ones.
Not sure why the difference in colour.


Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queen colonies
20mm Test tube - styro foam double chamber entrance - heat cable

Dual queen with red dirt - cleared all the red dirt and heaped up at the middle of the test tube
5 nanitics - huge stack of eggs, larvae and some pupa

Queen 3 with coco coir - moved all the coco coir against the cotton dam, wicking the water into it
big stack of brood - 20+ nanitics, 4+ mini majors

Queen 5 - bare test tube
10+ nanitics - huge stack of brood

All setups outside on heatcbale except for the dual queen setup, which I'm keeping in my incubator until they get a few more workers.
Then I definitely want them outside on the heat cable so I can keep tabs on the queens in case one gets banished or the workers try to kill one...

Queen 3 setup is the most developed.
The mini majors have dark red heads now.
And they have become active. I fed them some cricket bit today at the front on a 3D printed dish along with raw honey comb.
They carted some coir and covered the cricket bit... just the front section of it...
On the bright side, they did dump all the cricket bits I put inside their chamber onto the dish as well.
And this is one way to get them to eventually move all the coir out of the test tube

[CoolColJ]

Queen update - Summer 27th January 2019


Myrmecia fulvipes, bull ant, 17-18mm queen
20mm test tube - in small outworld
1 cocoon

Camponotus cf nigriceps 19mm queen
20mm test tube, in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1 cocoon, 9 eggs

She laid 6 more eggs since a few days ago
See pics further up


Camponotus aeneopilosus aka golden tail sugar ant - 12mm queen
16mm test tube - styrofoam double chamber setup - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1 cocoon, 11 larvae

She moved all her brood into the front chamber of the test tube...


Colobopsis macrocephala 9mm queen
16mm test tube - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
2 small larve, 4 eggs

She laid 2 new eggs!
And her first two eggs have hatched into small larvae

click to enlarge





Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 9
All setups have a styro foam double chamber entrance

in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1) Dual queen - red dirt - cleared all the red dirt and heaped up at the middle of the test tube
5 nanitics - huge stack of eggs, larvae and some pupa
2) Dual queen - cardboard insert and aquarium filter wool water dam
big stack of eggs
4) Queen with red dirt - moved the red dirt to block up the double chamber entrance
small clump of 15+ eggs, 15 donated brood from queen 5 - mostly pupa, some ready to eclose
6) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of queen 5
big stack of brood, some pupa, one yellow one
7) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of setup 2
big clump of eggs

Heat cable
3) Queen with coco coir - moved all the coco coir against the cotton dam, wicking the water into it
big stack of brood - 20+ nanitics, 4+ mini majors
5) Queen - bare test tube
10+ nanitics - huge stack of brood

I thought queen 6 would ahve nanitics by now, but nope.
Queen 7 still on eggs, but she laid a few weeks after the others as I separated from setup 2

Setup 2 and queen 4 still have eggs that haven't hatched.
But queen 4's donated pupa, look ready to eclose.... hopefully it gets her going!

click

Edited by CoolColJ, January 27 2019 - 10:52 PM.

[ponerinecat]

You should have kept the alate. I had a prenolepsis alate try to fly away, but then she laid eggs and got workers.

[CoolColJ]

You should have kept the alate. I had a prenolepsis alate try to fly away, but then she laid eggs and got workers.

She was in my room, and the whole house has been shut up all day, so chances are good she wasn't mated but you never know


---

Pic Pheidole antipodum queen 5 this morning, taken with my Pixel 2XL phone with Blitzwolf clip on macro lens.
Her brood pile is still decent after donating 15 to queen 4.
And her worker count is starting to blow up already

[CoolColJ]

Check the size of the Camponotus suffusus major heads
Looking forward to seeing some in my colonies!
One reason why I prefer them over other Camponotus species here.

Although a slightly different species, mine will have red legs.
And a more golden gaster

Pic taken by Paul Hailes

Edited by CoolColJ, January 27 2019 - 7:43 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Summer 28th January 2019



Pheidole antipodum 14-15mm queens x 9
All setups have a styro foam double chamber entrance

in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
1) Dual queen - red dirt - cleared all the red dirt and heaped up at the middle of the test tube
5 nanitics - huge stack of eggs, larvae and some pupa
2) Dual queen - cardboard insert and aquarium filter wool water dam
big stack of eggs
4) Queen with red dirt - moved the red dirt to block up the double chamber entrance
2 nanitics, small clump of 15+ eggs, 13 donated brood from queen 5 - mostly pupa
6) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of queen 5
big stack of brood, some pupa, one yellow one
7) Queen - bare test tube, former partner of setup 2
big clump of eggs

Heat cable
3) Queen with coco coir - moved all the coco coir against the cotton dam, wicking the water into it
big stack of brood - 20+ nanitics, 4+ mini majors
5) Queen - bare test tube
10+ nanitics - huge stack of brood

Queen 4 has 2 nanitics eclose, from the donated 15 brood from queen 5.
And 3 more to eclose by tomorrow.
They are already attending her pile of 15+ eggs.
This may not get her own eggs to hatch, but it's better than nothing...

So queen 5 could have had 5 more workers this week at least

I may donate some pupa to the the dual queen setup 2 as well.
Who still have a big batch of unhatched eggs.
There are two queens, previously 3, so all 3 queen's brood can't possible be this slow?!

--

So far Queen 3 and 5 seem to be most fertile and have the fastest growing brood genetics.
Queen 6 looks to be decent. Queen 7 unknown at this stage.
Everyone else is super slow.

Out of 12 queens 3 have died, 25 % death rate so far.
And only a 33% good colony founding rate.
My previous 3 queens all died.
Yeah, not good odds for this species...

Edited by CoolColJ, January 27 2019 - 11:05 PM.

[Karma]

 

You should have kept the alate. I had a prenolepsis alate try to fly away, but then she laid eggs and got workers.

She was in my room, and the whole house has been shut up all day, so chances are good she wasn't mated but you never know


---

Pic Pheidole antipodum queen 5 this morning, taken with my Pixel 2XL phone with Blitzwolf clip on macro lens.
Her brood pile is still decent after donating 15 to queen 4.
And her worker count is starting to blow up already

 

 

Wow that looks really good for a phone with macro clip on. Way better than the ones I try and take haha.

[CoolColJ]

Yeah the Pixel 2XL camera software stacks multiple shots, 9, together at every pic taken and merges them together to improve low light and noise performance.

But with moving ants this can be a problem

I used the Open Camera app, and adjusted some settings manually.

 

The Blitzwolf lens is pretty good as well, doesn't seem to have the distortion on the sides I see in some clip ons.

And cheap too.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole antipodum  queen3's nanitic mini majors fully darkened.
They have a darker red head now

These are still small, there will be much larger ones later on

click to enlarge

Edited by CoolColJ, January 28 2019 - 3:07 AM.

[Rstheant]

Good job with your ants!

Edited by Rstheant, January 28 2019 - 6:52 PM.