1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

INDEX

Current ants

In order of acquisition
1) Opisthopsis rufithorax (strobe ant) 10mm queen - 23rd Feb 2018. First nanitic 2nd April 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-4#entry87126
2) Melophorus sp2. - black and orange 6-7mm queen - 11th May 2018 http://www.formicult...eidole/?p=90733

3) Pheidole antipodum, 14-15mm queen - 29th November 2018 - http://www.formicult...-49#entry105566
- 1 - queen 5 - first nanitic 24th January 2019 - http://www.formicult...-61#entry107701
- 2 - former Dual queen setup 2 - first nanitic 8th February 2019 - http://www.formicult...-64#entry108282

4) Myrmecia fulvipes, bull ant 17-18mm queen - 8th November 2018 - http://www.formicult...-45#entry104685
first worker 5th February 2019 - http://www.formicult...-63#entry108134

5) Pheidole sp. red 7mm queens x 2 - 5th October 2020 - https://www.formicul...-85#entry165168
 

Queens

Iridomyrmex - not logging her


termites

Heterotermes cf brevicatena termite pet/feeder journal =  19th October 2018 http://www.formicult...feeder-journal/
 
 
 
Past ants
 
1) Camponotus Aeneopilosus - 28th February 2018 to 5th march 2018
queen death - RIP   http://www.formicult...ce-ant/?p=85069
http://www.formicult...rip/#entry85069
 
2) Camponotus Humilior - 22nd Feb 2018 - sold 18th March 2018  http://www.formicult...ge-2#entry86009

3) Doleromyrma sp. colony - 27th match 2018 http://www.formicult...ce-ant/?p=86637
possibly Doleromyrma species, ID thread http://www.formicult...tralia-2732018/ 
 Released back to wild - 2 April 2018 - queen seems to have disappeared... dead or killed...
 
4) Tetramorium bicarinatum queen  - 28th March 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-4#entry86734
released
5) Pheidole sp. smaller red  6mm - 6th April 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-4#entry87419
 released
6) All black Pheidole queen, 7mm - she was with the above queens, and they munched on her, moved to new test tube, but even missing limbs and part of one antenna she laid eggs - 13th April 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-5#entry88027
RIP - drowned in honey
7) large Melophorus sp. queen 12-13mm http://www.formicult...ge-7#entry89321
 Queen died RIP  http://www.formicult...eidole/?p=90978
8) Iridomyrmex reburrus? - 11mm queen (red headed meat ant) - 12th April 2018 http://www.formicult...ce-ant/?p=87955
traded for my black and orange melophorus colony
9) Iridomyrmex biknelli - 19th April 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-6#entry88557
released http://www.formicult...-10#entry91246 

10) Camponotus suffusus - colony1 - 22 May 2018 http://www.formicult...-11#entry91958 
to 29 May 2018 queen death - RIP  http://www.formicult...e-12#entry92480
Merged the surviving 2 nanitics and 4 larvae with colony 2 - http://www.formicult...e-13#entry93245
 
11) Iridomyrmex purpureus queen - 29th May 2018 http://www.formicult...ifemur/?p=92647
 Queen RIP 5th June 2018 http://www.formicult...e-14#entry93448

12) Camponotus humilior, part 2 - 19th April 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-6#entry88557
released 12th May 2018 http://www.formicult...e-15#entry94197
 
13) Camponotus suffusus - colony2 - 30 may 2018 http://www.formicult...3#entry92882   
to 11th July 2018 queen death - RIP  http://www.formicult...mur/#entry97156
 
14) Iridomyrmex bicknelli - colony 2 - 22 July 2018 - http://www.formicult...e-21#entry98024
released http://www.formicult...mex/#entry98378

15) Polyrhachis femorata colony, dual 11-12mm queens 11 July 2018 http://www.formicult...e-19#entry97176
sold 13th August 2018 http://www.formicult...mex/#entry99526
 
16) Lioponera ruficornis/larvata 5mm queen - 6th July 2018 - http://www.formicult...mur/#entry96674
released  13th August 2018  http://www.formicult...e-24#entry99530

17) Rhytidoponera species 6-7mm queen, 6th July 2018 - http://www.formicult...e-18#entry96625
sold 29th August 2018 
 
18) Iridomyrmex sp. black 8.5mm queen - 26 august 2018 http://www.formicult...-26#entry100545
sold 9th September 2018

19) Rhytidoponera species - 9mm queen - 30 August 2018 http://www.formicult...-27#entry100829
sold 27th September 2018 http://www.formicult...-33#entry102589

20) 2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8mm queens - 25 June 2018 http://www.formicult...e-16#entry95457
sold 13th October 2018

21) Pheidole sp. red 7mm queen - 19 August 2018 http://www.formicult...e-25#entry99993
sold 14th October 2018

22) Pheidole sp. red headed, black body 9mm queen - 24th April 2018 http://www.formicult...knelli/?p=89085
traded 15 October 2018

23) Pheidole sp, all black 8mm queen - 26th April 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-6#entry88557
sold 6th November 2018 http://www.formicult...ex/#entry104602

24) Rhytidoponera cf metallica 8mm queen1 - 22nd September 2018 http://www.formicult...32#entry102266
Sold 7th November 2018 http://www.formicult...ex/#entry104652

25) Rhytidoponera cf metallica 7-8mm queen2 - 28th September 2018 http://www.formicult...-33#entry102639
first worker eclosed http://www.formicult...-45#entry104643
Sold 7th November 2018

26) Camponotus consobrinus 16-17mm queen - black thorax colour scheme variant - 19th April 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-6#entry88557
RIP http://www.formicult...ge-6#entry88557

27) Pheidole cf antipodum 13mm from Western Australia - 23rd October 2018 - http://www.formicult...-41#entry103909
RIP http://www.formicult...ex/#entry105124

28) Rhytidoponera aspera Gamergate colony - possible 2 or more gamergates 29th Septmber 2018 http://www.formicult...-33#entry102693
released 25th November 2018 http://www.formicult...-48#entry105384

28) Pheidole cf antipodum 15mm - 5th June 2018 - http://www.formicult...e-14#entry93324
RIP 29th November 2018 http://www.formicult...-49#entry105558

29) Pheidole sp, light red head, dark red body, 6-7mm queen - 14 September 2018 http://www.formicult...-30#entry101712
Sold 1st December 2018 - http://www.formicult...-50#entry105682

30) Myrmecia nigrocincta 20mm bullants x14 - oldest 9th october 2018 http://www.formicult...-36#entry103094
youngest 20th October 2018 http://www.formicult...-40#entry103704
last one sold on 3rd December 2018 - http://www.formicult...-50#entry105786

31) Camponotus cf nigriceps 18-19mm queen - 3rd December 2018 - http://www.formicult...-50#entry105810
RIP - 9th December 2018 - http://www.formicult...-51#entry106057

32) Aphaenogaster longiceps 12-13mm queen - 19th December 2018 - [http://www.formicult...-53#entry106448
Sold 1st January 2018 - http://www.formicult...ia/#entry106895

33) Rhytidoponera aspera, dark blue/purple/green 8-9mm queen - 19th December 2018 - [http://www.formicult...-53#entry106448
Sold 4th January 2018 - http://www.formicult...-56#entry106983

34) Iridomyrmex species - dark red head/throax, iridescent bronze gaster, 10-11 queen - 5th December 2018 http://www.formicult...-50#entry105919
first nanitic 9th January 2019 - http://www.formicult...58#entry107167
sold 14th January 2019 http://www.formicult...ia/#entry107380

35) Pheidole sp. red headed, black body 8-9mm queen - 19th April 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-6#entry88557
first nanitic 30th September 2018 http://www.formicult...-34#entry102749
Formerly triple queen, kicked bad apple queen out... http://www.formicult...-37#entry103211
Second queen removed on 4th January 2018 after being attacked by workers... and then sold http://www.formicult...-56#entry106972
Sold 18th January 2018

36) Iridomyrmex purpureus (meat ant) 14mm queen - 4th September 2018 - http://www.formicult...-28#entry101171
colony 2 - first nanitic 21st December 2018 - http://www.formicult...-54#entry106528
colony 2 sold 22nd January 2019
colony 1 - first nanitic 27th January 2019 - http://www.formicult...-62#entry107994
colony 1 sold 11th Feb 2019

37) Melophorus sp1. (furnace ant) black and red 6-7mm queen - 15th March 2018 http://www.formicult...ge-2#entry85809
RIP queen died 30th January 2019 - http://www.formicult...-62#entry107931

38) Pheidole antipodum, 14-15mm queen - 29th November 2018 - http://www.formicult...-49#entry105566
Queen 3 - first nanitic 13th January 2019 - http://www.formicult...-59#entry107325
gave her to a friend
Queen 6 - first nanitic 29th January 2019 - http://www.formicult...-62#entry107898
sold 10th February 2019
queen 7 - first nanitic 8th February 2019 - http://www.formicult...-64#entry108282
sold 22nd February 2019 - http://www.formicult...-67#entry108847
queen 8 - former partner of Dual queen setup 1 - first nanitic 18th January 2019 - http://www.formicult...-60#entry107482
queen 9 - former partner of Dual queen setup 1 - separated on 20th march 2019 after a fight http://www.formicult...-70#entry110539
both sold on 23rd March 2019 http://www.formicult...ia/#entry110967
queen 4 - first nanitic 28th January 2019 - http://www.formicult...-61#entry107857
infertile - passed away 9th June 2020 - https://www.formicul...-84#entry150030


38) Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17mm queen2 - 24th October 2018 - http://www.formicult...-41#entry103920
first nanitic 21st December 2018 - http://www.formicult...-54#entry106528
sold 22nd February 2018 - http://www.formicult...-67#entry108847

39) Camponotus nigriceps Queen 19mm - 18th December 2018 - http://www.formicult...-53#entry106380
first nanitic eclosed 7th Feb 2019 - http://www.formicult...-64#entry108277
Sold 2nd May 2019 http://www.formicult...-73#entry113453

40) red Pheidole 6-7mm queen - 27th March 2019 - http://www.formicult...ia/#entry114957
first nanitic - 14th June 2019 - http://www.formicult...ia/#entry117639
sold 17th Sept 2019 http://www.formicult...-79#entry127005

41)Colobopsis macrocephala 9mm queen - 2nd January 2019 - http://www.formicult...-55#entry106874
first nanitic eclosed 20th Feb 2019 - http://www.formicult...-66#entry108738
queen passed away 9th Dec 2019 - https://www.formicul...ia/#entry132660

42)Pheidole, red headed black body 9mm queens - 19th September 2019 - http://www.formicult...ia/#entry127247
passed away 21st December 2019 https://www.formicul...-82#entry133122

43) Rhytidoponera metallica 9mm queen - 6th September 2019 - http://www.formicult...ia/#entry125887
first worker 17th November 2019 - https://www.formicul...mecia/?p=131904
sold 6th Jan 2020 https://www.formicul...-83#entry133660

44) Camponotus aeneopilosus, aka golden tail sugar ant, 12mm queen - 11th December 2018 - http://www.formicult...-52#entry106188
first drone eclosed 4th Feb 2019 - http://www.formicult...-63#entry108131
RIP 16th Jan 2020 - https://www.formicul...mecia/?p=134289

45) Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18 mm queen - 10th October 2018 http://www.formicult...-36#entry103159
first nanitic 23rd December 2018 http://www.formicult...-54#entry106556
Sold 25th April 2020 https://www.formicul...-84#entry143668

46) Polyrhachis rufifemur - 9mm queen - 22 May 2018 http://www.formicult...e-12#entry91959
passed away without workers 19th January 2021 - https://www.formicul...mecia/?p=175900


47) Polyrachis ammon 12mm queen - 14th February 2021 - https://www.formicul...-88#entry178780
Passed away with 3 donated workers 19th March 2021 - https://www.formicul...-89#entry181809

-------

Intro post
 
 
 
Currently I have Camponotus Humilior (maybe, ID thread http://www.formicult...ane-australia/)
When I received them there were 5 nanitics, one died the day after and go eaten by all, and the dead body got put against the water cotton wool in the tube and the cotton started going red...
see this thread for complete saga and all the juicey details!  
http://www.formicult...e-acting-weird/
 
In hindsight I should have put them straight into an outworld, and for a while I did try to feed them inside the test tube...
Anyway this ant was not something I really wanted, it was just a spur of the moment thing, so I don't really "love" them.
The whole nocturnal thing with them is off putting and they are so timid and passive
On the other hand, vibration and light, being exposed etc doesn't bother them too much.
 
Right now she has 4 nanitics, 1 egg and 2 larvae as of yesterday, one larvae a bit bigger than the other,
 
They are currently in a ghetto Chinese takeaway container "outworld", test tube and straw entrance setup.
I bought a plastic container that I will move them into, once I get an hole made, and add some sand.
 
----
 
I also have an Opisthopsis Rufithorax (strobe ant) queen and brood, and Camponotus Aeneopilosus (golden tail sugar ant) queen with brood and nanitics
 
The strobe ant queen is so "cute", with a fetching orange colour, and apparently has good eyesight,  she gets restless even in a red test tube holder, which is supposed to cut down light
But she sees through it and all. She's fine though when I have her half in/out of a rolled up foam tube
When I first took a look at her, all her brood and eggs were scattered all over the test tube.
It was very cool seeing her collect all her brood and stack them neatly into a pile near the water side cotton.
 
She will sometimes come out of the dark side of the test tube and have a look around in the lit side of the test tube at the entrance, I think she maybe looking for a way out..
Anyway she has much more personality than the above queen which is very passive.
 
Her brood are about about medium sized so it will be a while till nanitics arrive. I hear strobe ants are very slow to develop.
 

 
---
 
The Camponotus Aeneopilosus queen was about me wanting a fun large'ish ant that would respond and be active during the day, unlike most Campontous ants around here
 

 
I'll try and get some photos of them soon.
And give them some names
 
 
I have two Tarheel Ants Atom C that I will most likely move the Opisthopsis strobe ant and Aeneopilosus queen into.
The strobe ant should be easy enough, and have her sit in it, all plugged up like a test tube setup - does she need water, when set up like this?
Then when she has nanitics I can drop it straight into one of my two outworlds, and it'll be like an Inception Chamber.

Edited by CoolColJ, March 19 2021 - 7:09 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Pics - some with Sony RX100 which look better and others with Samsung Tablet, but neither is crash hot with macros especially handheld and indoors....

Might try with my Panasonic GH2 later, can zoom in a bit more
 
 
Camponotus Humilior family and one small spider carcass, plus some spider limbs near the cotton wool,

Queen is about 12 mm

 
And their ghetto setup

 

 

Opisthopsis Rufithorax - isn't she just a cutie?  Whoops, pulling out the test tube and sitting it down at an angle, caused one larvae to roll down the test tube

I think there are 5 larvae and 2 eggs right now

 

She is about 10mm in length

 

click for larger versions

Edited by CoolColJ, February 27 2018 - 1:51 PM.

[CoolColJ]

I bought some freeze dried Bloodworms today

You can buy these from pet shops and aquarium places.

I tried feeding these to Camponotus Humilior, after soaking them in purified water for 10-15 mins.

At first I had them sitting on the foil you see, on the right corner

 

 

Left 3 worms overnight and they were untouched.

In the middle of the night after a toilet sleep break, I moved the worm to their straw nest entrance.

When i woke up a few hours later the nanitics had taken them

 

it seems these ants don't like walking on the foil for some reason, so I'm going to have to use a feeding dish for moist food

and wax paper for honey or a dish.

 

Anyway these bloodworms makes for a nice easy to use,  alternative protein source than insects
And they are small and thin enough, about the size of a medium sized ant that small nanitics can drag and chew them up. And completely finish, eventually, since it's such a small serving.
Each container has tonnes of them inside.

 

 

----

 

 

edit - I had some crushed almonds on the foil, but they never touched it, which you can see in the abive pic.

But after I removed the foil and left one small piece by accident, they actually took it inside the test tube and are nibbling on it throughout the day.

Even the queen is digging into it.

Did not expect that from Camponotus sugar ants

 

Have since put in a wax paper with raw honey smeared on it via a toothpick, which seems to ball up into blobs due to the wax paper

 

Will try other crushed nut types

Edited by CoolColJ, February 27 2018 - 3:19 PM.

[anttics]

that is one sick looking ant. it's colors are amazing. how big are they?

[Hunter]

that's one hell of a title name you got

[CoolColJ]

that is one sick looking ant. it's colors are amazing. how big are they?

 

 

She is about 10mm in length. Workers will be about half her size

[CoolColJ]

I move the Humilior to a new plastic container, and rubbed a water diluted fluon mix on the walls, and so far the workers can't even begin to climb it

 

New Humilior family pic - compared to the above pic, it seems like one of the larvae became a big pupae overnight (top, near cotton wool) after the ants gorged on bloodworms, small spider remains, and crushed almonds!

There is always one worker feeding it or working on it.

And now there are 2 eggs and one larvae or is it two larvae and 1 egg, not sure.

But you can see the two black dot eyes in the middle.

 

Even with my LED lit magnifier it's hard to tell the exact count of brood.

Still, I'm surprised there is any brood left after all the stress I inflicted on them, over the last few days, and I do not keep them covered up most of the time.

 

Also you can see the bits of pieces of the spider and bloodworms (i think) on the cotton wool. I saw the queen herself put a piece up there.

Been thinking of adding some of my white sand substrate to the container

 

 

For some reason, the ants did not find the raw honey I put on the new wax paper in the corner

So I moved it right in front of the entrance, and then finally they started to sip it.

After a few trips back to the nest, and feed sharing, the word spread and a second nanitic came out.

Even mama ant wanted in, but she did not want to come all the way outside...

 

Edited by CoolColJ, February 27 2018 - 5:34 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Camponotus Aeneopilosus aka golden tail sugar ant, family pic - Queen with 2 nanitics and 5-6 eggs/larvae, quite small and hard to see

Queen is fairly big, about 15mm

One of the workers looks a little larger

 

They had their first proper raw honey meal today and boy the workers gorged themselves and kept feeding mom over and over, as you can see from the pics

I'm trying to get them to move into the Atom C, but not sure if I should just put them in myself.

 

The workers will just enter the entrance and then go back out without exploring it.

Maybe they are just too hungry right now....

 

Well the workers of this species are a hell of a lot more active and curious than the other Camponotus I have, and that's with only 2 workers.

Ok they are not nocturnal, but they do act like how most ants do in the wild

 

 

click for larger pics

 

 

 

Edited by CoolColJ, February 28 2018 - 6:27 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Well I did end up moving my Opisthopsis Rufithorax queen into the Atom C, by force....
 
I just tipped them all into a tissue padded container, then put the queen back into the test tube while I manually moved the brood with a wet cotton bud into the Atom C ontop the water tower.
Then slide her into the Atom C
 
She clutched one larvae in her mouth and ran around a bit, but later settled down and clumped all her brood into a neat pile against the wall in the middle side of the water tower.
I hope she did find all her brood, and that I didn't stress her out too much....
 
Saw her do the strobe/blink like movement - more space in the atom C to do so

After collecting her brood, she's been exploring the enclosure.
 
I hope I don't regret this move... the Atom C does smell quite a bit...even after rinsing it out
It comes with a plug for the entrance, but if you do use it, I don't know how air would get in.
So I used a cotton wool plug instead

 

Edited by CoolColJ, February 28 2018 - 1:25 PM.

[anttics]

Camponotus Aeneopilosus aka golden tail sugar ant, family pic - Queen with 2 nanitics and 5-6 eggs/larvae, quite small and hard to see
Queen is fairly big, about 15mm
One of the workers looks a little larger

They had their first proper raw honey meal today and boy the workers gorged themselves and kept feeding mom over and over, as you can see from the pics
I'm trying to get them to move into the Atom C, but not sure if I should just put them in myself.

They workers will just enter the entrance and then go back out without exploring it.
Maybe they are just too hungry right now....

Well the workers of this species are a hell of a lot more active and curious than the other Camponotus I have, and that's with only 2 workers.
Ok they are not nocturnal, but they do act like how most ants do in the wild


click for larger pics

dude you have ants I would love to have. you Camponotus is my favorite amongst all. yogi and modoc are there, but the golden camp. looks better in my opinion, and are bigger

Edited by anttics, February 28 2018 - 11:39 AM.

[VoidElecent]

Is hue enhanced in those photographs? is Opisthopsis rufithorax really that bright?

[CoolColJ]

Is hue enhanced in those photographs? is Opisthopsis rufithorax really that bright?

 

Yea she is really that bright

Well it depends on the lighting, but if you look at other photos of the ant on the net, they look that bright

 

 

My favourite queen so far, seems to have a nice personality and character.

[CoolColJ]

Just had the fastest ever test tube transfer!

My Camponotus Aeneopilosus were housed in a 20mm test tube that is very dirty, molding cotton with body parts, and the water is half empty.
Plus I wanted to put them in a 16mm test tube so I could use the test tube port grommet in my outworld properly, instead of having the 20mm test tube sitting losely in the hole without a grommet.
I thought about just dumping them into the outworld and let them make their own way into the new test tube, seeing how hard to was to move my other Camponotus family, earlier.
But I decided to try the good old method to see if things would go better.

So I put my 16mm test tube into the 20mm, and blue tacked them together, quick and easy, but I did forget to keep a hole for air...
Then stuck a torch right next to the test tube, while tapping the glass, and then putting a towel over the lit side to intensify the light, while covering the 16mm side with pipe insulation foam roll.
 
Damn, within a minute the larger of the workers was already rushing around with a larvae in its mouth and heading to the other side, then came back and grabbed a bunch of eggs
Then the other worker joined in and all the brood was moved within a few mins, while the queen stood still twitching
It allowed me to notice that there are a lot more eggs than I thought, maybe closer to 10
 
After that the workers came back and tapped the queen on the gaster to tell her to get moving, but she stayed put, they repeated this a few times, and she started to shuffle slowly towards the other tube, only to turn back and stay
Worker came back to scold her, and she eventually moved across.
Had to wait till the workers eventually stayed in the other test tube before I could unplug it and seal up with cotton wool
 
These ants are a lot more assertive and lively, and it shows in how fast the move compared to the other Camponotus I have!
Maybe I'll use the same technique to get them to move into my Atom C, after I finishing soaking and airing it out, to remove the smell it has.

 
I also noticed the queen constantly does a weird twitching with the left side rear leg. Just tapping her leg up and down.
I hope it's not from an injury of some sort.

Quick and dirty pic from my Samsung Tablet, not the best quality
Also switched to Aussie outback red desert soil, shows the eggs and brood a lot better through a test tube

Edited by CoolColJ, March 1 2018 - 4:56 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Something weird happened yesterday -

 

I have my one Atom C airing out, and when I picked it up to do a sniff test, there was a small bug, beetle like critter hiding under the Atom C!

I picked it up with tweezers and dropped it into Humilior nest - the workers did zip but the Queen grabbed it with her jaws, killed it and then planted it into the top part of the cotton wool test tube water dam

 

Apart from that, these Humilior do nothing during the day, or early evening they just sit next to the queen motionless pretty much all.

Really no fun to keep...

And don't eat anything I give them, so I guess once a week feeding might be enough for them now.

 

Now, when I'm asleep they get up to no good...

when I woke up this morning - I see

 

 

The beetle has been dumped outside, the dark thing outside the test tube entrance.

They also moved the dead black ant body from the left side to the right, under the beetle.

Emptied some rubbish on the wet cotton wool I put in the corner for this purpose, not in pic, but not the beetle for some reason...

There is still one blood worm I fed them a few days ago in the cotton wool at the back

 

And they decided to pile up some subtrate chunks in the test tube entrance, which I didn't think the dirt had!

I guess they feel the entrance is too open with all these critters showing up inside the nest

Gotta stop doing that... also makes it a pain when I have to move them..

 

 

 

---

 

On another note

 

I noticed in both of my Camponotus famlies, the workers do not do anything if a "threat" shows up in the nest.

They leave it up to the queen to attack any critters I put in there, dead or alive.

 

It is kinda funny to see the queen get into a guard dog stance and prowl the entrance after such an incursion with my Golden tail sugar ants.

And the workers get really jumpy around critters that are already dead.

They will cautiously approach and tap the body with the antennas and pounce backwards in panic

Edited by CoolColJ, March 2 2018 - 4:47 PM.

[YsTheAnt]

Most camponotus are nocturnal, which is why they aren't that active when you usually look at them.

[Canadian anter]

Ooh Finally! I've always thought Othispopsis and Gigantiops were really cool

Edited by Canadian anter, March 2 2018 - 6:23 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Most camponotus are nocturnal, which is why they aren't that active when you usually look at them.

 
Yeah I know now, hence I went for Aeneopilosus over some others, because they are fun and sun loving.
Still it is annoying
 
I think the best combo of ants for me to keep are Opisthopsis Rufithorax, Camponotus Aeneopilosus and a Pheidole
A nice combo of types, that are active and "fun"

I have 2 different Pheidole species in my backyard, and their nupital season is towards the end of this month.
Pics from 2 such nests in my backyard
I like the red ones the most, a lot more aggressive and the majors come out way more often.
The black/red majors actually "play dead" if you poke a stick at them
 

 
 

Ooh Finally! I've always thought Othispopsis and Gigantiops were really cool

Indeed they are! I love my Queen, she is more interesting than the others here.
I've been squirting water into the cotton wool that plugs her entrance, and I know she will find it, as I see I see her explore her enclosure every few hours.
Unlike the other queens which just sit still, or twtitch their legs constantly (Aeneopilosus queen)

Edited by CoolColJ, March 3 2018 - 7:18 PM.

[CoolColJ]

So yesterday I noticed a bit of a water drop infront of the cotton wool in the Aeneopilosus test tube.
I thought it would dry out, but it keep progressively moving further down and the ants kept moving the eggs and themselves further towards the opening.

So I figure it was now of never to move the ants into the Atom C, I had been airing out, which doesn't smell too bad anymore, but still has a smell.
Well the ants haven't died and seem happy inside it so I think it should be fine.

I moved them using the same technique here http://www.formicult...nal/#entry84750

I put a 1.5 inch 13mm tubing into the Atom C which fits snugly into the opening, but the other end was a bit loose into a 16mm test tube.
Tried putting some cotton wool in to make it fit tighter, but that didn't work too well.
So in the end I just push the tubing into the test tube at an angle, and that was enough to close up the gap.
At least for these sized ants.

So torch against test tube, towel over the top, Atom C covered, and tapping test tube.
The workers started moving the eggs within a couple of mins
First a single egg, and then the second worker grabbed the whole remaining stack of 9 or so eggs, which looked soaking wet.
After that the ants again, had to get the queen to move twice, as she turned around and moved back, just like last time

I thought they moved into the Atom C, but instead parked themselves and eggs inside the connected tubing...
So I left it on when I put the Atom C inside the small outworld

They were still there the next morning, but did eventually move inside, in the afternoon.
Not sure if all the eggs are inside, but they gravitated to moving themselves on top the water tower.




I can see some eggs here with the worker, but I'll wait till tomorrow before I remove the tubing, just in case.
The queen seems to have some spots on her caster, not sure what they are....

Edited by CoolColJ, March 3 2018 - 7:38 PM.

[CoolColJ]

5th March 2017

Yesterday afternoon, Aeneopilosus family moved from over the water tower to the left side, of the Atom C, towards the entrance hugging the wall and overhang, guess they don't like the humidity

About 10 eggs, 1 nanitic, and 1 larger worker

Opisthopsis Rufithorax - 3 larvae looking much bigger, 1 smaller one, and 2 closer to eggs

constantly shifts brood from middle of the water tower in the Atom C, to a bit off the side onto the subtrate surface

Humilior - just 2 larger larvae, and 1 egg, 4 nanitics

Edited by CoolColJ, March 4 2018 - 2:09 PM.

[CoolColJ]

OH my Camponotus Aeneopilosus queen just died!! 
 
I saw her lying on her side and shone the LED light from my magnifier on her, and she moved her antenna a bit, but now she is motionless on her back
I was wondering why she moved from ontop the water tower to the side last night....
 
Now I'm second guessing whether the Atom C odour killed her or she died from natural causes 
One worker is still fussing over her.
I squirted some water on her from a syringe and she didn't react
 

Edited by CoolColJ, March 4 2018 - 5:22 PM.