1787 replies to this topic

[CoolColJ]

Spring 8th October 2018

Nylanderia sp. 6mm - triple queens
16mm Test tube with aquarium filter wool dam, cardboard floor substrate - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
13+ eggs

Single pool of 13+ eggs now. Added another winged queen I found today, and they accepted her no problems
I'm sure the new winged queen is mated as she was looking for a nesting space

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole Colony G - 3x Phediole sp. red head/black body 8-9mm queens
heat cable
2 nanitics - small pile of pupa, larvae and eggs
 

1 pupa going yellow so another nanitic soon.

 

So I see 2 of the 3 queens hanging out on the heat cable yesterday, looks normal, but today they are hanging out at the front of the test on the cotton double chamber entrance.

Which is 3 inches from the water side cotton, so does it mean they are banished?!

WTF the more active queens have been banished in place of the lazy one... sure looks it.

 

If this is the case I'm going to kick out the queen on the water side and hand the colony over to the 2 queens.

Been wanting to get a multiple queen setup of this species going as my main Pheidole colony that I will keep!!

Triple queen colony dreams dashed...

 

I don't want to be nursing banished queens again...

 

Plus the water is getting quite low, so I may just dump them all out, kick the lazy queen out, and set up a new test tube for the two queens along with the brood and 2 nanitics

Really weird how 2 workers have the power to banish 2 much larger queens

Edited by CoolColJ, October 7 2018 - 8:23 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Polyrhachis rufifemur 9mm queen
16mm test tube connected to outworld via grommet
3 eggs, 1 nanitic, 1 small Camponotus larvae

 

Queen laid another egg, and the Camponotus larvae is getting big

[CoolColJ]

Rhytidoponera, green/gold 8mm queen
16mm Test tube with aquarium filter wool dam, cardboard floor substrate
10 eggs

laid 4 more eggs!

Rhytidoponera sp2, green 7-8mm queen - gold gaster iridesence
16mm Test tube with aquarium filter wool dam, cardboard floor substrate.
12 eggs

laid 5 more eggs

 

Rhytidoponera sp2, green 7-8mm queen2 - purple/blue gaster iridesence
16mm Test tube with aquarium filter wool dam, cardboard floor substrate
10 eggs

laid 1 more egg

 

--

 

exposed all setups to light now, queens didn't mind.

 

last setup seems to have hairy mold growing on the left over food left against the water dam... grr will have to move her to a new setup.

The eggs are on the card board, so it'll be easy, slide it out, transfer.

Might just replace the cardboard and reuse the same  test tube

Edited by CoolColJ, October 7 2018 - 11:50 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole Colony A - Phediole sp. red head/black body 9mm queen
heatcable

40 workers, first major pupa

 

Major pupa starting to turn yellow, so quite a bit slower to develop than Colony B and C's majors

 

 

--

 

Fed my 3 largest Pheidole colonies larger portions of crickets today, and the increased number of workers plus majors, make it a fun frenzy and spectacle to watch!

Before there would be only 1-5 workers on a small piece of cricket.... now it's like 10-20, plus a major (for colony B ) and they start ripping legs off and carrying them back to the brood

Edited by CoolColJ, October 11 2018 - 4:15 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Looks what I found today!

 

https://www.instagra.../p/Bosy_5TlYYH/

 

I captured 2 Myrmecia nigrocincta workers along the trail at first, in a plastic test tube, and jewellers loupe says no queens, but the third one, she was walking on the track, I knew she was a queen straight away, much larger, and bulky thorax, wing scars confirmed - so bag one nigrocincta queen!

 

 

 

--

 

Seems everything was out and about today - concentrated into one warm and humid day, after a week of rain. I came back from the bush and at 3pm the Iridomyrmex were still forming, same for my yard.
I saw a lot of maroon Camponotus out and about today. Day time forager, smaller than intrepidus, very fast.

I hope I can get a queen of these

I saw a nest of those strobe moving Iridos, and they didn't fly

It was inside a broken dead branch

 

And while I was watching Rhytidoponera alates and all types were landing and taking off around me. I decided to ignore them, unless it was a bright green R.aspera

 

going back out late afternoon to see if Aphaenogaster longiceps fly, and maybe some Camponotus

Edited by CoolColJ, October 8 2018 - 9:17 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Spring 9th October 2018

Nylanderia sp. 6mm - 5 queens
16mm Test tube with aquarium filter wool dam, cardboard floor substrate - in styrofoam and heat cable incubator
13+ eggs

The Third winged one, pulled one of her wings off, so definitely mated. Found another wingless one, and added her, and now it's one happy family of 4 queens

Make that 5 now, saw 2 more but this is enough

[Leo]

COOOOOOOL

[CoolColJ]

They are a bit scary as they can hop and jump, but they are not that aggressive at least a single queen is not...

[Leo]

My queen is big and constantly pissed. but doesn't jump.

[CoolColJ]

My queen is big and constantly pissed. but doesn't jump.

Same species? Myrmecia nigrocincta can jump, one of two species that can do so.
Only 3-4 inches vertically, but can reach 6-12 inches off a tree.
I had one jump off a tree at me, and it moved pretty far off the tree, and I went even further back

[Leo]

My queen is a bull ant. She has one larvae and tends to freak when I check on her. Her first action is to pick up her larvae and fling it out of the test tube as hard as possible. Which can be funny, but raises concern for the mental health of her child.

[CoolColJ]

My queen is a bull ant. She has one larvae and tends to freak when I check on her. Her first action is to pick up her larvae and fling it out of the test tube as hard as possible. Which can be funny, but raises concern for the mental health of her child.

Bullants are not good mothers at first they have to learn to be one, hence why they tend to eat their first few batches of brood and not look after them well

Anyway I did find two of these Myrmecia nigrocincta yesterday!
The second larger one I found when I went back just before sunset to check for Camponotus and A.longiceps.
She was walking on the track, and as soon as I saw her, I knew she was a queen for sure!

The second one has larger head and gaster than the first one and slightly longer.
I had to double check both had wing scars to make sure both were queens and they are.

Anyway I'm not keen on keeping these. They are a bit scary to me and I don't have space for them
So will trade them away for other ants I can't find around here.

The bullants I want are Myrmecia fulvipes, smaller, so faster growth and easier to house, and that nice gold gaster.
Workers are 10-12mm and queens are 15mm so more Camponotus sized, but I think these do jump.

Or Myrmecia mandibularis, again that fluffy gold gaster and similar small size, and cute toothless factor

Edited by CoolColJ, October 9 2018 - 9:56 PM.

[Leo]

keep one!

[CoolColJ]

keep one!

I already have put one aside to DaveJay. We will be trading a bunch of ants with each other
I'll keep the smaller one for now, but I may trade her for another Camponotus suffusus, even though I did just get one today

I have both in a 20mm test tube with a 3d printed raw honey dish inside, and both have dragged all the cotton from the block and covered the honey up...

[CoolColJ]

Spring 10th October 2018
 

 

Pheidole Colony C - 2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 7-8mm queens
heatcable
30 workers - 1 major, 1 major larvae pupating

Tons of brood.

 

Their test tube is getting low on water, into fumes, just a tiny drop hanging onto the cotton with surface tension.

I figure it will be dry in 2  weeks time.

So I attached a new test tube with cotton wool dam, instead of aquarium filter wool, as Pheidole like to put their brood on the cotton... which was my mistake with the Pheidole antipodum queen...

Also has a cotton double chamber entrance to make feeding and containing them much easier.

 

Used vinyl tubing that stretches over the 16mm test tube to join them.

The new test tube on the heat cable, which did cause mass amounts of condensation, which created a puddle that trapped a few workers.

But after wicking the water up with a tissue paper the workers woke up.

 

Now the waiting game.... workers have explored it, and some hang out inside the new test tube.

Using a bright light could help, but I don't have one that is mains powered that I can leave on all the time.

I did try an LED touch, but it drains the battery even when plugged into a charger.

Edited by CoolColJ, October 9 2018 - 10:19 PM.

[CoolColJ]

Pheidole cf antipodum 15mm queen
20mm Test tube with aquarium filter wool dam - heat cable - red film

80+  brood/eggs

 

I think she will be ok, she has stored some 70 eggs on the aquarium filter wool, which is not as good as cotton for doing so, lesson learned... for Pheidole always use cotton for the water dam...

Only 10 or so remained scattered around the test tube

[Leo]

 

keep one!

I already have put one aside to DaveJay. We will be trading a bunch of ants with each other
I'll keep the smaller one for now, but I may trade her for another Camponotus suffusus, even though I did just get one today

I have both in a 20mm test tube with a 3d printed raw honey dish inside, and both have dragged all the cotton from the block and covered the honey up...

 

They tend to do that.

[CoolColJ]

Camponotus suffusus bendigensis 17-18mm queen
20mm Test tube with aquarium filter wool dam - heat cable
 
I received this gorgeous Camponotus suffusus bendigensis queen today from Davejay, we are trading a bunch of ants
 
Well she is certainly different from my other 2 dead suffusus queens, she is a subspecies of suffusus actually.
The maroon patch on her thorax is much more clear and distinct, as are her red legs, but no red on her head.
The other queens I had, were mostly black looking, with a hint of maroon on the thorax and head in bright light.
The gold hairs on her gaster are on the top part vs on the lower part of a regular suffusus

Her workers will have the same colour differences to a regular suffusus
 
She measured 17-18mm
 
When she left for me, she did not have any eggs, but the trip much have stimulated her as she arrived here with 2 eggs
And after I moved her to a new 20mm test tube, manually, she settled down so fast that she laid a third egg 30 mins later, completely exposed to light!
So I won't bother covering her up
 
Right now she sits on the heat cable, but the eggs are placed a little behind the heat spot.
I have my suffusus queen next to the meat ant queen (Iridomyrmex purpreus) on the heat cable, and boy the meat ant queen looks so small next to her.
It's amazing how your perceptions can change... while I thought the suffusus queen looked normal sized when she was by herself
 
 
click to enlarge
 

Edited by CoolColJ, October 10 2018 - 3:24 AM.

[CoolColJ]

Spring 11th October 2018
 
 
Pheidole Colony C - 2x Phediole sp. red head/black body 7-8mm queens
heatcable
30 workers - 1 major, 1 major larvae pupating
Tons of brood.
 
Hooray I finally got them to move into a fresh new test tube on their own after a day or so!

Didn't even use a bright light....

There were workers hanging out in the new test tube's chamber, more and more over time, so I guess the word spread eventually
Seems like they moved overnight, but a large major larvae that has starting pupating remains in the old test tube surrounded by 10 off workers - I think they can't manage to move it so left it there.....
 

They seem to be really liking the new cotton double chamber setup, the heat cable warmth should be even better trapped inside this chamber setup

Instead of keeping half the brood on the cotton water dam, they have them all sitting on the floor on or near the heat cable.

 

The major stands guard near the double chamber entrance, plus a few more workers.

While a few are in the old tube trying to move the large major larvae 

 

 

edit - gave them a helping hand and tapped the larvae towards the test tube opening, seems it was stuck on some water

Now some are pulling it towards the new test tube and others towards the old...

Edited by CoolColJ, October 10 2018 - 1:49 PM.